It was a sorry sight when paralized persons were brought in stretchers and wheelchairs for the Chief Minister’s interaction with the people. There is nothing wrong in spending government funds on these unfortunate people but was it necessary to make a show of it?
Critics say that the Chief Minister is doing a tehsildar’s job during the People’s Interaction programme and this essentially reflects the ineffectiveness of administration. I do not buy that argument. We can’t help congratulating a leader who tries to get the job done when bureaucrats leave it unfinished for want of either will or resources. I can’t see anything wrong in a leader’s attempt to listen to the people and solve their problems.
Even though courts of law work every day, adalats are held to clear the backlog. No one can find anything objectionable in it. The Chief Minister’s programme is also a people’s adalat. For a leader who finds joy in mingling with people and solving their problems, this interaction would be energizing.
But the Chief Minister and his staff should consider the propriety of making the sick and the handicapped wait for hours to meet the Chief Minister and televising their misery.
I remember that such people were not required to come in person to the interaction programmes. The Chief Minister himself had allowed them to send an application along with their photo. A group of medical officers in the respective taluk would go to their houses and prepare a report, which would be the basis for granting them aid.
Then how did such scenes occur?
The Chief Minister should ascertain if this was due to a lapse from the part of the bureaucrats. It is also possible that people who could not send the applications on time had come to see him. They might be thinking that help would be ensured if the Chief Minister sees their plight for himself. Or it could just be the overenthusiasm of local leaders who bring the sick and the handicapped to the much publicised event.
The Chief Minister may be attending to all of them since it would be cruel to send them back. However, such publicity can be avoided in future interaction programmes at least.
(The writer was Additional Chief Secretary and General Education Secretary)