Volume No 14 Issue No 4

The Supreme Court on February 20 ordered status quo on the status of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. A day after the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, commuted the death sentence of three convicts in the case, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha on February 19 decided to release all the seven convicts. The Tamil Nadu Governmnent maintained that it had the powers to remit the life sentence and release the convicts. It gave the Centre three days to respond and said it would go ahead with the release if there was no response from the Centre. However, the Centre filed a petition challenging the convicts release, saying that the Tamil Nadu

PHOTO: CENTRAL CHRONICLE.COM

SURAKSHA P

Joy shortlived for Rajiv assassins

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Government had to follow the laid down procedure and get the Centres concurrence. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government asking it to hold the convicts release and file its reply within two weeks. The courts latest ruling means that the seven convicts will still remain in the Central Prison in Vellore. The court had earlier commute the death sentences on Santhan, Murugan and A G Perarivalan. The rest -- Nalini, Robert Pyas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran -- have been serving life-term. Earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the Tamil Nadu government had been told not to proceed with its decision as it was not legally tenable. The release of the killers of a former Prime Minister of India and (From left) Muruagan, Santhan and Perarivalan: They had their death penalty commuted to life imprisonment our great leader, as well as several how will a common man get jusother innocent Indians, would be tice? However V Suresh, advocate contrary to all principles of justice, said a statement from the and National Secretary, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Prime Ministers Office. Congress Vice President Rahul said Tuesdays court ruling was Gandhi had said, If some person both historic as also a landmark not kills the PM and is released, then just because it commuted the death sentences but more for the reason that both these judgements death sentences of 15 people in the Shatrughan Chauhan case on January 21, 2014 were commuted raise the death penalty jurisprudence to a very higher level and put it on very firm constitutional grounds. The most important aspect of this Rajiv Gandhi judgement is the fact that it negatives the claim of Attorney General Vahanvati who said that these people are laughing and smiling and having fun and attending music concerts in the prison and therefore there is no torture or mental anguish in them, he said. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President B S Gnanadesikan said, There cannot be a political stand on the Supreme Court judgement. Not that these three people arent culprits the Supreme Court has said because there is a delay in disposing of the mercy petition they are entitled to getting the death sentence converted to life. But certain people in Tamil Nadu are propogating that these people are innocent. They must change their attitude. They are real culprits; only because of technical grounds death sentence was converted into life sentence. Talking about Perarivalan, one of the convicts, PUCLs Suresh maintained Personally speaking I dont think he would have known anything about the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, perhaps if he had known he would have run away; he was too young to be the hideous criminal that the CBI made him out to be. LTTE supporters and antideath penalty activists celebrate -Page 3

Chennais illegal organ market

LAB JOURNAL OF THE ASIAN COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM

Making sense of govt freebies

CHENNAI, FEBRUARY 21, 2014

Protests move to Valluvar Kottam

Booze flows freely during elections at this TASMAC

A group of NGOs have urged the Tamil Nadu government to shut down liquor shops till the Lok Sabha elections. This group, which includes NGOs like the National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), Padam and Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, have started a movement called VIZHI which calls for a shutdown. Today liquor is a socio-economic and political issue affecting the physical and mental health of our citizens. It gets even worse during elections when a lot of money is spent on alcohol and this corruption needs to stop. Liquor consumption wont go down unless these shops are closed, says Geeta Ramakrishna from NAPM. This movement comes in the wake of Justice K Chandru, retired Madras High Court judge, demanding this ban and asking all politi-

UDAY SINGH RANA

Elections: NGOs demand closure of liquor shops

India Post and information technology companies are at loggerheads over collecting the mail delivered by postmen; the staff at the reception counters of the buildings where the IT companies are located, are refusing to take over and sort the mail if they exceed 20 pieces, forcing the postmen to return with sacks full of letters and packets. The staff at the reception counter in Ascendas said that there were more than 120 IT companies in the complex and that they did not have the manpower to sort out the mail and distribute them to these companies. In such a situation India Post offices have started writing letters as-

TASHI TENZIN

IT firms mail piling up in post offices

king the IT companies to come and pick up their mails, parcels and letters; India Post is planning to approach the state labor secretary to convene a meeting with heads of information technology companies in the city to sort out the issue. Mervin Alexander, postmaster general (Tamil Nadu), said they were hoping to meet with the heads concerned soon to rectify the problems. Brindha, postmaster at Taramani branch, said it would be a perennial problem unless the agencies concerned come together. Postmen go with parcel bags and often come back with them undelivered. It is not only wasting our time, it delays important mails for their employees, she said. According to Brindha, IT firms also ask for contact numbers of the senders; but all senders dont have contact numbers. Some parcels come from remote villages where senders do not provide us with contact numbers. India Posts mandate to deliver mail on time became ineffective as the postmen were not allowed to do their work, Brindha added. The only solution we have is to sent intimation letters to them when parcels, mail and letters come back from their doorstep. Murthi, a postman said, 75 percent of the IT firms in the Taramani area, often refused to take deleivery of the parcels and letters. We have to bring back them to the office and the delivery is delayed. It only affects their employees, he added. Public Relations Officer, Dharman, at the Adyar post office said, the issue had become a problem for postmen who had to carry the packed mail bags. Taramani post office delivers mail to Tidel, Ascendas, Elnet software, Ramanujar IT city and Dril Info Park. Tidel Park itself has more than 120 IT firms. An IT employee with Elnet software who came to Taramani post office to collect a parcel sent by a friend from Bangalore said it was time consuming and difficult to collect from the post office. The agencies concerned needed to solve the problem soon, he said. A receptionist with one of the IT firms at Tidel Park said it was difficult to locate people among a huge number and deliver their mail eve-

May 21, 1991: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber at an election rally in Sriperumbudur May 11, 1999: Supreme Curt sentences Nalini, Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan to death. February 18, 2014: Supreme Court commutes the death sentence on grounds of delay in disposing their mercy pleas. February 19, 2014: State Cabinet decides to immediately release Santhan, Murugan, Perarivalan, Nalini, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.

TIMELINE

Corporation going slow on temple demolition

The Madras High Court had given orders for demolition of the 27-year-old structure constructed near the court entrance
sioner, Chennai Corporation, admitting that there was a certain level of senstivity involved and there was no move to immediately remove these structures. Last year, a Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices R.M Lodha and S.J. Mukhopadaya had come down heavily on such illegal construction on roads in a way that obstructed traffic, stating that each and every citizen has a right to the public place that cannot be taken away by any person. In 2009, the Supreme Court had passed an order instructing state governments to review unauthorized constructions of any religious nature and take appropriate measures as soon as possible. Kapur remarked that since the Supreme Court judgement, there had been a greater push to remove such constructions. He conceded that although notices had been given before, the Corporation had not followed through the procedure properly and no action had been taken in the recent past for fear of backlash. The Corporation, he said, had already started the enumeration process, and identified around 1000 structures in the city. It proposed to follow a two-stage process. In the first stage, the Corporation would try to persuade the people to move and if that failed, it would resort to forceful removal. Historically, there have been instances where people have cooperated with the government in the removal of such structures, he said, although he admitted that this had not happened in Tamil Nadu. However, social activist K.R Ramasamy aka Traffic Ramasamy, who had moved a contempt plea in the High Court on the issue of demolishing the MGR Temple, alleged that the Commissioners decision was improper. It is encroachment. They cannot decide not to do something because there would be law and order problems, which the government is responsible to maintain. The Commissioner does not even have the right to negotitate with the people,he said, pointing out that the temple was situated in a high-security area. Ramasamy accused the Corporation of encouraging the temple trustees to file repeated applications so as to delay the demolition. According to him, members of the Hindu Religious Endowment Board were moving a fresh appeal against the dismissal of the stay petition filed by the Corporation. The review has been dismissed three times. Everytime it happens, the Corporation just removes some part of the roof and then leaves, he said.

cal parties to make their stand on alcohol prohibition clear. Gnani, coordinator of the movement, says The government of Tamil Nadu announced in the state assembly during the current budget session that it aimed to earn Rs.26000 crores this year from liquor levies. This would mean a total sale volume of over Rs. 50000 crores. This money comes from about 70 lakh to one crore Tamil citizens who consume alcohol daily. This trend would eventually lead to at least one alcoholic in every household leading to the destroyal of the family fabric of our society. Since liquor shops in Tamil Nadu are operated by the government, this move would mean that state revenue would take a hit. This is the worst way to generate revenue. We can use our mineral wealth and sand mining. There are so many ways to generate revenues without harming the health of society, says Geeta Ramakrishna.

Experts feel that the Rs 381-crore incentive, declared in the Tamil Nadu annual budget earlier this month for reducing drop out rates among students, may not effectively address the issue. The state budget had allocated the money for reducing drop out rates among 10,11 and 12 standard students. Under the scheme, which targets approximately 24 lakh students, each student gets a total amount of Rs 5,000, with Rs 1,500 being awarded on completing Classes 10 and 11 each and Rs 2,000 on completing Class 12. The government hopes the incentive would encourage students to stay on and complete their higher secondary education. Some feel that the government policy of awarding pass certificates to all students till Class 9 might be adversely affecting their performance, leading to higher drop out

ZAYAN ASIF

Cash no solution to stop drop outs

and irregular attendance rates. Students are given pass certificate irrespective of their performance in the exams. This brings down their interest for studies and they find it difficult to adjust when they reaches higher classes, a principal at a high school under the Chennai Corporation, who did not want to be named, said. She alleged that the middle schools under the Corporation did not have any regulations and students were merely required to be present in classes, with no focus on ensuring quality education. Higher level schools found it hard to manage these students, especially since they had to prepare for their public examinations. Around 20 per cent of the total strength turn up on most days,she added. She also expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of awarding financial incentives. She pointed out that a good number of students went out for small jobs after completing Class 8, and become disinterested in studies once they started earning money. The amount might not be enough, she added. According to Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER)-2013, based on a study conducted across 553 schools, the percentage of students not in school (i.e dropped out+never enrolled) is highest among boys in the 15-16 age group. Since the study shows high levels of enrolment for younger categories, the absence would largely point to dropping out. Quality of education has become a matter of concern. The same study by ASER shows that only 31.9 per cent of Class 5 students in the state can read a text of Class 2 level while 70 per cent of the students take till Class 8 to be able to read the same. Ravishankar Arunachalam, Director of Eureka Child Foundation, which works to

ryday. Murali, an IT employee at Ascendas, however said, he had not much problem in collecting his mail from the post office as it was opposite his office. According to a recent report in The Times of India, hundreds of rakhis, letters and articles sent by Speed Post to IT companies in Sholinganallur, Perungudi and Thoraipakkam were returned with the companies saying they did not have the men or machinery to distribute the items. India Post officials were quoted as saying that more than 5,000 letters and parcels, many with credit and debit cards, Aadhaar cards and more than 1,500 rakhis were lying in the Sholinganallur, Perungudi and Thoraipakkam post offices.

PHOTO: NIVRITHA GANGULY

promote better quality education, pointed out that most students are not able to carry out even basic tasks of education like reading and arithmetic. Lack of basic skills among students should be the main concern. The whole debate on education should come after that, he said. Not failing students till Class 8 is affecting the quality of education. A lot of students stay on till that, but then drop out. It is too late to address the problem of quality from the 8th standard level. We should stress more on quality education at elementary level, he added. Money is only one of the incentives, said Pooja Kulkarni IAS, Tamilnadu State Director for Sarva Shiksha Abhayan (SSA). There were other issues, like enrolment of children of migrant labourers, that the government needed to address more effectively, she added.

The Chennai Corporation says it is going slow on removing religious structures in public spaces since the issue is sensitive. The Corporation had sought a stay on the Madras High Court order to demolish the 27-year-old MGR Temple situated in Parrys, close to the court building. The structure was built in 1985-86 for offering prayers to former chief minister M.G Ramachandran, and is situated close to the main entrance of the court. Religious structures are a separate case, said Vikram Kapur IAS, Principal Secretary and Commis-

ZAYAN ASIF

PHOTO: ZAYAN ASIF

The MGR temple near Madras HC has violated building regulations