During an anti-drug awareness event organised at a government school recently, students asked a quite difficult question – What’s TN’s policy on alcohol? “Yes, people should avoid drugs. The government’s efforts to fight it are commendable. Be that as it may, why are Tasmac outlets bookending every street?” asked a student. Another said, “Alcohol is ruining families, including many of ours. The government should close them too.” The children may not grasp how much the state’s coffers are indebted to tipplers, but they are firsthand witnesses to the havoc alcoholism wreaks on families. Dear government, you owe them an answer at the very least.
Drunk justice
Hoping to avail themselves of some government service, farmers of Alangulam block in Tenkasi recently visited the Assistant Director (AD) of Agriculture office. The scene that welcomed them was the AD lying on the office floor blind drunk. Embarrassed by the situation, some women staff walked out of the building, while others tried in vain to make the AD perch himself on a chair. The people who gathered to behold the spectacle, meanwhile, found several liquor bottles inside the AD’s two-wheeler. The farmers who sacrificed a day’s work and came to meet the officer, turned away and began an unhurried walk to the bus stand.
Prison calls
An accused in the BSP leader K Armstrong murder case, currently serving a life term in Vellore Central Prison in another case, is infamous for wielding significant influence both inside and outside prison. Sources privy to affairs in the jail claimed this man has been using a cell phone inside the high-security ward, with the assistance of high-ranking prison officials, for a long time. The suspect even offered the officials lakhs of rupees to get the small-sized cell phone, often referred to as an ‘ice-cream phone’, inside the prison. The phone, which could be charged using fan wires, allows him to make calls and send messages without triggering the security jammers. Well, let’s at least not fault the powers that be for being unimaginative.
(Contributed by -Subashini Vijayakumar, Thinakaran Rajamani, Rajalakshmi Sampath; compiled by Sneha Joseph)