The Hindu Business Line : One hundred days of melodrama

Buffeted on all sides by the political fallout of the charges against one of his key colleagues, the least the Chief Minister can do is to fish into his magician's hat for some dazzling figures to camouflage what has been, in reality, a less than astounding hundred days in power.

FEW political leaders have had such an encouraging and supportive start at the helm of Kerala's government as did Oommen Chandy when he became Chief Minister around three months ago. Barring perhaps his predecessor, A.K. Antony, no other Chief Minister has come to occupy the exalted position at a time when the Kerala citizenry was so palpably tired of political shenanigans that it was ready to wholeheartedly back any leader who would deliver the goods as far as Kerala's industrial and social development was concerned.

As it happens, the Chief Minister and his team believe they have done precisely that. The State Government has claimed that most of the targets set under its 100-day action plan, which came to an end on December 17, have been met. The Chief Minister told newspersons in the capital recently that the plan was meant to complete 104 projects and schemes within 100 days.

Explaining the achievements, Oommen Chandy, who took personal pride in launching his 100-day meet-the-masses contact campaign, said that the programme had managed to dispose of 68,180 pending files, out of nearly 1.25 lakh files, during the period. Of the remaining, 36,180 files are under litigation. On the matter of creating jobs, the Chief Minister had much to announce. The Government reported to the Public Service Commission, 19,976 vacancies in various departments and institutions. They comprised 14,793 vacancies in government service and 5,183 in various public sector undertakings. This amount came to 94.47 per cent of a total of 21,156 vacancies available.

During his `Mass Contact Programme', which covered all the 14 districts of the State, the Chief Minister received 96,901 petitions and the government has managed to take decisions on 42,152 of them, it is claimed.

During the 100 days, the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) gave new connections to 1,81,169 households against the target of 1,50,000 connections. The board also gave 30,812 free connections to those below the poverty line, against the target of 15,000 connections envisaged by the Planning Board.

On the agricultural front, the Chief Minister announced, the Agriculture Department re-planted pepper on 2,028 hectares during this period. Further, 48 floriculture clubs were formed to benefit 1,200 persons.

On the issue of land holdings, the government had targeted 25,000 families for title deeds It was able to distribute title deeds to 17,691 families and possession certificates to another 8,408 families, taking the total achievement to 26,099 families.

So enthused has the Chief Minister been by his round of "pressing the flesh" of the citizenry that he has asked the Government to go ahead and toy with the idea of a new `Transparent Kerala' programme to continue the thrust begun by the mass contact exercise.

It is easy to see why Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is so enthusiastic. Buffeted on all sides by the political fallout of the charges against one of his key colleagues, Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty, the least he can do is to fish into his magician's hat for some dazzling figures to camouflage what has been, in reality, a less than astounding hundred days in power.

With the principal domain of industry and business - including the all-time favourite sector, information and communication technology - lying in limbo, Kerala's developmental health is far from satisfactory. Most departments that deal with industry and corporate affairs are going slow, in the absence of clear and unambiguous leadership.

Judged against such larger standards, Oommen Chandy's first hundred days in office is far from perfect. For the sake of Kerala's industrial salvation, he needs to do much more.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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One hundred days of melodrama