Recently, TNIE came across a police officer in Chennai who was financing the education of two children from a poor family. The officer was collecting money from his friends and acquaintances to provide for the family. Unlike many others, however, he begged for anonymity. The reason? He was scared that his senior officers would question him for hogging the limelight through media attention. For he knew what happened to one of his colleagues who gained media popularity for helping a girl from a settlement colony. The officer was questioned for two weeks by intelligence personnel, and was asked how he could gain more media attention than the deputy commissioner of the zone. It is unfortunate that the good samaritans in khaki end up courting trouble for themselves.
United in tiredness
As Rahul Gandhi went around Tamil Nadu with his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, State Congress leaders were busy posting their selfies, clicked while resting on tables and benches, on social media. TNCC president KS Alagiri, MP Vijay Vasanth and others posted their pictures. Obviously, these gave enough fodder to social media activists, including a section of Congress cadres, who went at it hammer and tongs.
Schrödinger’s report
The construction of an integrated bus terminal along with a multi-utility centre and a truck terminal at Panjappur in Tiruchy is one of the prestigious projects of the DMK government. Tiruchy City Corporation is spending a total of about `350 crore for it. Meanwhile, the AIADMK leaders recently petitioned the district collector alleging that the soil test done at Panjappur raised some “serious safety concerns”. Though the petition got the attention of the public, nobody knew which report in fact made such a claim. According to the mayor, the tender was floated only after getting a soil test report from NIT, Tiruchy, which didn’t raise any safety concern. But as the petition managed to create some doubts among councillors, they contacted some senior corporation officials to get the soil test report that raised safety concerns. The officials, however, kept on explaining to them that there was no such report. Maybe it exists for some and not for all?
A quick fix
Recently, Chief Minister MK Stalin shared the dais with BJP MLA and legislative party leader Nainar Nagendran, along with a battery of ministers and bureaucrats, in an official event in Tirunelveli. Speaking at the event, Nagendran urged Stalin to visit Tirunelveli frequently, adding that the corporation roads are repaired only when the CM visits the town. This embarrassed KN Nehru, the Minister for Municipal Administration, who was on the stage. Nehru called Corporation Commissioner Sivakrishnamurthy and Nagendran separately and discussed the issues on the stage itself. Stalin, who realised what was going on there, wore a smile.
(Contributed by S Kumaresan, Sahaya Novinston Lobo, Jose K Joseph, Thinakaran Rajamani. Compiled by Maneesh T)