Hoisting
the National flag on the Independence Day by the Prime Minister at Red Fort in
New Delhi and the Chief Ministers of States in the capitals of the respective
States are customary functions. This privilege for State Chief Ministers was
demanded and achieved by DMK President Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi when he was the
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Since then it has become customary at Centre and
States. No government at the Centre so far had given advertisements in dailies
for the flag hoisting by the Prime Minister. In Tamil Nadu, a customary
advertisement for a quarter page was issued so far because certain awards are
presented on the day.
But
this year the publicity-crazy Jayalalitha regime issued a full page colour
advertisement to all dailies informing her programme of hoisting the National
flag at 9 AM instead of customary 8.30 AM in order to avoid inauspicious time.
DMK President and five-time Chief Minister Kalaignar wondered why such a
publicity was made for a customary function and was bewildered that another
half a page colour ad was also given for an unusual event of the Chief Minister
placing wreath at the war memorial and paying tributes to slain soldiers, just
a two-minute event. “After all people’s tax money! Even if two pages
advertisement is given can anybody question it?” Kalaignar asked in his epistle
on August 16.
In
brazen display of arrogance as if “Who is Karunanidhi to question me when all
the newspapers and the rest of media, said to be watchdogs of government’s
extravaganza are keeping quiet?”, the ADMK regime issued two-full pages of
colour advertisements, that too on the first and last pages in all English
dailies at premium rates on August 22 for the Chief Minister inaugurating, not
even by visiting the places and attending any function in the presence of
people, Government Medical College at Tiruvannamalai and National Law School in
her constituency Srirangam on the day, through video-conference facility from inside
the Secretariat in Chennai in the presence of handful of officials. What a
criminal waste of people’s tax money?
The
media, particularly dailies are generally highly critical of lavish
arrangements for government functions as ‘criminal waste of people’s tax money
by its custodians and extravaganza even in the functions of political parties,
are conspicuously silent betraying their gullibility, or rather guilty
consciousness.
How
does this lavishness of the regime and passiveness of the media become a scandal?
It is a scandal because there is clearly a quid pro quo. The government is
paying out of the way for silencing any criticism in the media, thus failing in
their avowed duty to the cause of people and democracy, as its ‘fourth pillar’!
Take
for instance, the publication of report on the subject of this lavish two-page
colour advertisements on the first and last pages of the dailies on August 22.
The dailies faithfully reproduced the Press Release issued by the State
government as if the Government Medical College in Tiruvannamalai was planned
and executed by this ADMK regime, which is contrary to truth.
According
to an official release, “18 medical colleges are currently functioning in the
State. ‘It is the aim of the government led by Jayalalitha to start medical
colleges in districts which don’t have one, in a phased manner. Based on this,
the Chief Minister allocated 25 acres land in Tiruvannamalai and ordered to
construct a medical college at a cost of Rs 130.88 crore by following the
guidelines of Medical Council of India,’….
‘Buildings
have been constructed as per the guidelines of the Medical Council of India and
192 permanent vacancies have been filled. In addition, Rs 16.82 crore has been
allocated to buy the necessary equipment and works are on,’ …..
“…Tamil
Nadu is a front runner in medical education, and one of the important aspects
of Vision 2023 of Jayalalitha is ‘by ensuring universal access to health
facilities, Tamil Nadu is committed to attaining the health and human
development levels on par with developed nations.
Tamil
Nadu is one of the States with a high number of medical colleges in the
country, yet every year there is tough competition for admission. The advantage
of having more number of medical colleges is one of the ways of decreasing
capitation fee”.
But
what is the truth? DMK President and former Chief Minister Kalaignar exposed
the lie of the ADMK regime’s claim answering a question on August 23, which was
completely blacked out by the dailies may be due to guilty consciousness of
being willingly becoming party to the lie of the government. Kalaignar had said
that on the representation of Minister from Tiruvannamalai district E.V.Velu,
the DMK government, which was following the policy of starting medical colleges
in each district, announced in the Budget for 2010-11, “In the last four years,
approval was given for starting new government medical colleges-hospitals at
the headquarters of the districts of Dharmapuri, Villupuram, Tiruvarur,
Sivaganga and Perambalur. Further, a new government medical college will be set
up in Tiruvannamalai during the ensuing financial year”. During DMK rule, fund
was allocated for it and a GO also was issued. During the tenure of the then
District Collector Rajendran two places for the medical college were identified
and the present location was decided. Moreover, a Special Officer for the new
medical college in Tiruvannamalai Dr.Amutha was also appointed. Kalaignar also
gave details of national and international awards and acclamations achieved by
the Health department during the DMK rule.
But covering up all these Jayalalitha has claimed as if she announced
the college, allocated land and fund.
If
at all the dailies had referred their own issues of the past they could have
(they should have) on their own nailed the lie of the ADMK regime. But even
after it was exposed by the former Chief Minister, if they refuse to publish it
and conceal the truth from their reader and people, what are we to call such
dubious act?
At
least to verify the veracity of this claim of Jayalalitha regime, the dailies
have to go through their records of some years back. But there are umpteen
instances of their failure to brush up their memory on reports of few months
back when they had been huge publicity to the ‘announcements’ of Jayalalitha
which were repeated many times within few months/weeks.
For
instance, Jayalalitha’s announcement on July 24 last, of sanctioning Rs.2,950
crore for road development works across the State was given widest coverage in
all English and Tamil dailies on July 25. On the same day, Kalaignar, in a very
detailed statement, the same announcement in effect was made by the Finance
Minister in his Budget presented on 21.3.2013, during the debate on grants for
Highways department in April last the Minister concerned gave details of works
to be implemented during the year, and the Chief Minister, in a hurry, read out
a statement under Rule 110 in the Assembly on 1.4.2013. As usual the ADMK
regime or its Chief Minister Jayalalitha did not respond to the queries raised
by Kalaignar. Possibly they were confident that the ‘servile’ media in Tamil
Nadu would cover up the exposure by Kalaignar.
So,
the announcement made by Jayalalitha on July 24th and the wide coverage given
by dailies on 25th is in fact for the fourth time within a span of four months
every time as if it was a new one. People were duped by repeating the same
announcement as new every time by the ADMK regime and the dailies, obviously,
are abetting it.
Because,
while they traverse back by even 40 years at times to bring out ‘seeming
contradiction’ as they see, in the stand or averments of the DMK, these dailies
scrupulously avoid masking any such ‘investigation’ in the case of Jayalalitha.
They do not even refer to their own reports in the past three or four months
and bring out the dupe played by the regime on the people of the State.
As
committed journalists they are expected to expose such cheatings on their own
but when it is done by the DMK President they carefully black out his statements.
Legally speaking and morally too, does not this amount to abetting the dupe of
the regime for the reward of ‘liberal’ advertisements at the cost of people’s
tax money?
If
this is not a scandal what else is? If this act is not ‘in connivance’, what else
is?
(N.B:
If this is the condition of dailies in Tamil Nadu, the affairs of the party of
working people, the CPI in the State is not much different. The ADMK government
banned a meeting to be addressed by R.Nallakannu and D.Pandian on 26th at
Tiruturaipundi organised by their Tiruvarur district committee. What if? On the
same day this report appeared in dailies, their daily ‘Janasakthi’ was also
lavished with the two pages ads on the first and last page, which was enough
for them to forget the ban and continue to lavish praise for the regime. This
is the regrettable condition of the party nurtured by leaders like Manali
Kandasamy, M.Kalyanasundaram, P.Manicam and KTK. Thangamani.)
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