The Oscar euphoria and death of a ‘slumdog’

The authorities could dig only a little more than 20 feet,while the child was stuck at a depth of about 100 feet. As their efforts continued through the night,almost everyone in the village and neighbourhood spent the night near the borewell,praying for the child’s safety. At least a few of them hoped for a miraculous escape like another five-year-old Prince,whose accident and rescue was covered live by the national media over two days a couple of years ago.

Finally on Monday,even as the state erupted in cheer after AR Rahman’s double Oscar victory,the lifeless body of the child was brought up from the well,reducing the whole village to tears. For at least a few here,the award was immaterial.

‘Sting’ exposes minister,govt looks other way

ON Friday,Poongothai Aladi Aruna became the first minister for information technology in Tamil Nadu. However,it was not the new portfolio that raised eyebrows here; rather,it was her previous stint as minister and the circumstances that led to her resignation that became a talking point.

Though a political novice,this doctor,daughter of slain DMK leader Aladi Aruna,was made the Social Welfare Minister after the DMK-led alliance won the Assembly elections in 2006. More importantly,she is a member of the influential Nadar community. While she had taken up several initiatives for the welfare of transgenders in the state,the minister was mired in controversy when a taped conversation was made public by Janata Party founder and Karunanidhi baiter Subramanian Swamy last May.

The ‘sting’ exposed the minister’s conversation with the director of Vigilance and anti-corruption,asking the official to go easy on one of her relatives,who was caught on bribery charges. The minister admitted that it was indeed her voice,but stuck to the line that she was not putting any pressure on the official. It soon became a huge controversy and Poongothai was forced to put in her papers following the incident,which Chief Minister M Karunanidhi himself termed “painful”. But from then on,the expose took a different route.

Notwithstanding the minister’s own admission,the judicial inquiry ordered by the state Government was entrusted with the task of finding out how the telephone conversation between a minister and an official was tapped. (This was the second such conversation that became public; the first one was the telephone conversation between the then chief secretary and the same Vigilance official.)

The commission report ensured that the official was transferred for his role in taping the conversation,while Poongothai cooled her heels outside power,attending almost all major party functions in the meanwhile.

The re-induction of the minister was reportedly due to pressure from some in the Chief Minister’s family,said sources. With general elections scheduled for April-May,the move is also expected to placate the Nadars,an influential community that has largely been supportive of the AIADMK.

After Jaya,Karunanidhi govt targets honest officer

WHEN the Chief Minister announced the formation of Arasu Cable TV Corporation,it was clear that the corporation was to be a political weapon against the Marans and their Sun Group,which had fallen out with the ‘first family’.

Over the years,the Sun TV group and its distribution arm Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV) had gained monopoly of satellite television in Tamil Nadu,which was done not just through business strategy. Allegedly,SCV’s competitors were either forced out of business or brought into its fold using the party’s muscle. Hence,there were many — both small distributors,big players and political rivals — who were happy when the tables were turned against the Marans after their bitter quarrel with the Karunanidhi family,especially M K Azhagiri.

As bloodline — and political sense — prevailed over public good and propriety,there are also those who are at the receiving end of this family drama.

C Umasankar,one of the better bureaucrats in the state known for his honesty and hard work,was appointed as the managing director of ACTVC,after being shifted from the post of MD of Elcot,the nodal agency for IT development in the state.

As a junior officer,Umasankar had exposed a cremation shed scam during the first regime of Jayalalithaa in 1995,where many public servants had siphoned off money from the Government coffers. For his good work,he was made to wait without a post for several years,and was finally rehabilitated after the Karunanidhi Government assumed power in 1996. After he took charge of ACTVC,Umasankar soon realised the actual situation on the streets,wherein the Government corporation had suffered a whopping damage of Rs 15.67 crore in just one month due to damage in its optical fibre cable. He then did the unthinkable: he urged the state Government nationalise SCV as it was slashing the cables belonging to ACTVC operators.

In days,Umasankar was shunted out and made the director of small savings department,a relatively insignificant post. Over and above this,the Government also slapped a charge memo for allegedly canvassing for a job for his wife in a US-based IT company when he was MD of Elcot.

“After his first expose,it was clear that he would never be at ease with an AIADMK Government. Now,after he took on the mighty Marans,perhaps it requires a third front if this official is ever to find himself in thick of action,” said a senior bureaucrat.