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| Defunct ambulances at the Sadar Hospital in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh |
It feels good to see politicians rising above petty party bickerings and indulging in some philanthropic activities.
On Children’s Day, two Congress leaders brought smiles on the face of hundred child labourers in the city by taking them to the Tata Steel Zoological Park. “The Centre and the state government launches several programmes for the welfare of children. But seldom does these children, who toil for most part of the day in garages and hotels, benefit from these projects. We aimed at providing these poor children with some happiness... we wanted to bring a smile to their faces. And we are happy to say they enjoyed every minute of their stay at the zoo,” said the leaders who spent the entire day with the children at the zoo. Hope other political leaders learn a lesson or two from them.
Post Foundation Day celebrations, chief minister Arjun Munda is a happy man.
Those close to him say the gathering at Morabadi worked like a magic potion. For example, when he came to the Morabadi astro-turf to watch a hockey exhibition match between Indian Airlines and Jharkhand XI, he was dressed in a designer kurta-pyjama. That he also sat through the entire match indicated his relaxed state of mind.
Later, he was at his benevolent best, announcing one bonus after another for the development of hockey in the state. His ego must have received a boost following the news that the party is considering him as a “star campaigner” for the four states where Assembly elections are just round the corner. We heard on the grapevine that Munda is pleased as punch.
“I promise to give free rice, housing, and power to all those who reside in the rural areas,” thundered Jharkhand Disom Party chief Salkhan Murmu.
“If the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Sibu Soren can promise subsidised cereals and offer sops to woo the electorate, then what is stopping me from doing so?”he quizzed.
However, Murmu conceded that such promises would not uplift the downtrodden of only taking the innocent for a ride. “Subsidised cereals will not solve the problems of the poor and impoverished tribals, scheduled castes and other backward castes of the state.We have to tackle some of the basic problems at the earliest without trying to fool either ourselves or the people” he said.
Seeing the growing incidence of atrocities against women, vice-chancellor of Ranchi University S.S.Kushwaha has laid down some ground rules that would govern the behaviour of male employees in women’s college of the state. He urged all male employees in women’s colleges to be restrained while placing their demands before the authorities concerned.
Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman recently won the hearts of the audience at the inaugural function of the International Development Congress (IDC) organised by AISEC, the world’s biggest students’ organisation, at the Centre for Excellence.
When Muthuraman was invited to deliver his speech on stage, he asked the organisers to remove the podium so that he could see the audience.“Please remove the podium so that everybody can see me,” he said.
The organisers immediately sprung into action and removed the podium and the audience applauded at the gesture.
There was a time when the police force was known for its discipline. But nowadays the junior officers not only refuse to obey their superiors’ orders but also defend their stand.
Recently a women came to report to deputy of superintendent of police Sangeeta Kumari about an officer-in-charge of a police station.
The officer had refused to lodge her complaint against her husband who is also a police official. After hearing the details, she called up the officer-in-charge and directed him to register the case of the victim. But to her utter amazement the officer told her that the women was trying lodge a false case against her husband who was innocent. “There is little that we can expect from a force where subordinates question their seniors,” said Sangeeta Kumari.
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Over 70 cobblers of the Ravidas community gathered in front of the office of the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner on Tuesday morning from different parts of the city and protested against government apathy towards their plight.
But what was amusing was that some of them even repaired the shoes of passers-by while sitting on the dharna. Bemused by the presence of such a large number of cobblers, some of the employees started enquired as to what were their demands. “We have seen political leaders, social activists and businessmen staging dharnas but never cobblers. It’s unique,” they said.
