Friends in Aam Aadmi Party, Beware of the Pitfalls Ahead!

For the last few weeks since Delhi election there is a torrential flow of people to the Aam Aadmi Party, some are ordinary people (aam  aadmi) and others, well-known social activists and leaders from main stream political parties. To tell you the truth, I am a bit worried about the phenomenal growth of the Party.  Before Delhi election we, the members of Aam Aadmi Party in Thrissur District, used to meet in a class room of Maharaja’s Technological Institute, Thrissur.  There would be some forty or fifty people in the meeting and one or two cars besides mine in the MTI compound. After the Delhi election result, as usual I went for our routine meeting. I was a bit late. When I reached the venue, the compound was full of cars. My car could not enter the compound of MTI and so I had to park it outside, in front of the nearby zoo. Going inside I could see a large crowd assembled there. I thought another function was going on there and never expected even in my wildest of dreams such a huge crowd for our meeting. But much to my surprise and shock I found out that the crowd, which was unmanageable, came for our meeting. Since then it has been an unending flow of people to our party. Last Sunday the Thrissur Thaluk Convention of Aam Aadmi Party was a grand success with such an overflowing crowd that could not be contained in the Sree Sankara Hall, we booked for the meeting. That day itself more than four hundred people took the party membership.

                        I am not a pessimist. My optimism and positive thinking are the only factors which sustained me in my various other fights in the social life of Thrissur. In nurturing the growth of another social organization, I alone personally used to distribute notices and leaflets of that organization to more than 3000 houses in my locality. Some people used to wonder why this man, a retired Class I Officer of the Government of Kerala, is doing this menial job of distributing notices. Some might have thought I have gone out of my mind. But those friends in my organization, who knew me intimately, were aware of my commitment to the cause and mission I pursue. Even I used to distribute the leaflets in hostile territories discarding friendly advice and anxiety of my fellow members of the organization for my personal safety. But the lesson I wanted to teach them was, as President of the organization, if I am not prepared to do such menial jobs like distributing leaflets for the sake of the cause, I have no right to ask other ordinary members to do this.  I tell you this now from my personal experience to prove the fact that building an organization from grassroots level is not an easy task. So the easy way the Aam Aadmi Party is growing and developing creates in my mind some forebodings.

                        During the India Against Corruption (IAC) Movement I could not witness such enthusiastic crowds. From August 16^th, 2011 when Anna Hazare started his indefinite fast in Delhi for Jan Lokpal, we organized a day and night relay fast in front of Thrissur Corporation Office and continued it till Annaji stopped his fast. In those days there would be some 20 people during day time at the site of the fast and in the evenings only a small crowd of around a hundred people were there for the candle light procession and the public meeting. At that time there were four or five people in whole of Kerala who were in the forefront of that movement. Still I have with me the list of those five persons which was sent to me by the Team IAC, Delhi.  I wonder how many of the present AAP leaders in Kerala participated in the India Against Corruption Movement. One thing I can say is that I don’t remember seeing any of them in front of Thrissur Corporation Office for the fast, candle light processions and the meetings. Nobody can deny the fact that Aam Aadmi Party is a morph of India Against Corruption Movement. And those who were in the forefront of the IAC movement know well the difficulties in organizing a people’s movement and finding out the resources to sustain it. Money was not flowing into the movement then as now it is flowing into the coffers of AAP. I hope the present young leaders of AAP won’t be a prey to the belief, seeing the present rush for membership, that it is an easy task to build a party politically and ideologically out of nothing.

                        As a senior member (not in position but in age) of Aam Aadmi Party I have to warn my young comrades in the party about the pitfalls ahead when the party moves forward. Every day thousands come into the party fold and now a days there is no TV news without mentioning the name of Aam Aadmi Party and announcing the names of VIPs and VVIPs joining the Party. Last Sunday it was announced that National Secular Conference and its sole MLA  P. T. A. Rahim are joining AAP. I personally know that this party was formed with the blessings of Sri Pinarayi Vijayan, CPM Kerala State Secretary, to have a foothold for CPM in the Muslim and Christian minority communities. P. T. A. Rahim was the Party Chairman and one of my friends,  a colleague in a social reformation movement, was its General Secretary (after some time he resigned and left the party). At the time of the formation of that party I was discreetly offered a leading post in the Thrissur District Committee of the party, but I politely refused since I was not interested in joining hands with a breakaway group of the communal Muslim League. I don’t know who conducted negotiations with P. T. A. Rahim and who authorized these people for it. According to TV channels Adivasi  Gothra  Mahasabha leaders C.K.Janu and Geethanandan, Revolutionary Marxist Party  leaders like K.K. Rema and Venu, former Personal Assistant and now a critic of Ex-Chief Minister of Kerala, Sri. V. S. Achuthanandan etc. are joining  AAP. Various individuals, social activists and political leaders have openly declared that they have already joined or are going to join AAP. There is nothing that succeeds like success and they know AAP is a success story now. If AAP had got only five seats in Delhi, as predicted by mainstream political parties, some of these people who rush to enter the party membership now before the doors are closed, wouldn’t have touched it with a pair of tongs. There is no proper mechanism in the party to screen, filter and separate good corn from the chaff. It will be suicidal if all disgruntled and corrupt political leaders and individuals and disruptive and anti-social elements find their way to, and infiltrate into, the ranks of the party. So I must warn the young leaders of the AAP as a senior person and a volunteer of the party to beware of the pitfalls ahead.

Modi’s Pain and Agony 12 years after Gujarat Pogrom

Twelve years after Gujarat’s gruesome, barbarous and unfortunate tragedy, Narendra Modi, Gujarat’s Chief Minister has come out with a statement through his blog that he was “shaken to the core by the grief, sadness, misery, pain, anguish, agony and the absolute emptiness he felt on witnessing such inhumanity”. His personal feelings have come out only after 12 years, that too at the time when he is near the stepping stone to the Indian Prime Minister’s throne. His pain now can only be described as “too little, too late”.

                        He quotes a Gujarat lower court’s verdict as a triumph of truth and portraits it as his victory just like Pinarayi Vijayan, State Secretary of CPM In Kerala said when he was exempted from the list of the accused in Lavallin case. Modi is celebrating the lower court judgment just like Pinarayi and his party celebrated the CBI court judgment. (One of the members of E.Balanandan Committee which probed Lavallin case, a few years ago confided to me that Pinarayi is involved neck-deep in Lavallin scam and he will be undoubtedly punished for this.)  These leaders must know there are other higher courts in India. Mrs. Zakia Jefri, wife of late Ehasan Jefri, Congress MP and the petitioner in Gulbarg Society massacre case has already made it known that she will go in appeal to higher courts.

                        In Gujarat riots Narendra Modi has undoubtedly failed on fifteen counts. 

1) Willfully ignoring messages from state intelligence about violent repercussions of the RSS-VHP organized ‘Mahayajna’ just before the Godhra incident.

2) Deliberately concealing knowledge of the provocative anti-Muslim sloganeering of Kar Sevaks at the Godhra station when Sabarmati Express reached there.

3) Conspiring with VHP to plot and allow reprisal killings all over Gujarat.

4) Brazenly supporting the bandh call of VHP and allowing the streets and public places of Gujarat to be used for mass attacks and violence.

5) Cynically and illegally allowing postmortems out in the open at the railway yard.

6) Personally instigating RSS-VHP men and women at the railway yard at Godhra assuring them that enough time will be allowed to extract a revenge.

7) Directing that the unidentified bodies of Godhra train victims be handed over to Jaideep Patel of VHP to be brought to Ahmedabad where aggressive funeral processions in full public view were allowed.

8) Specifically instructing top police officers not to act and to “allow Hindus to vent their anger”.

9) Preventing the imposition of curfew.

10) Making pretence of verbally calling in the Army on the late evening of 28-2-2002 but not actually allowing its deployment until 3-3-2002.

11) Fourteen out of 25 districts of Gujarat were allowed to burn as Ministers were specifically deputed by Modi to interfere with police functioning and sit in the police control rooms. Those police officers who tried to control violence were given on the spot punitive transfers to send the real political message. Officers who acted in a manner Modi preferred were rewarded with plum government posts or post retirement benefits.

12) Modi allowed violence to continue unabated until early May 2002 when KPS Gill was sent by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to the State. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Central Election Commission (CEC) were misled about the spread and intensity of violence. This was willful subversion of justice system.

13) Partisan prosecutors belonging to RSS-VHP were appointed to ensure that cases were aborted in the womb itself.

14) Hate speeches were indulged in by Modi himself like Becharaji speech made at the top of election campaign on 9-9-2002.

15) Modi is guilty of ordering the destruction of crucial documents including wireless intercepted messages, vehicle logs, police control room records etc.

                        Modi’s own Party’s Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee rebuked him for his negligence of raj dharma in one of the most haunting events in the collective memory of India. Modi’s present pain and agony to make his access to Indian Prime Ministership easy have evoked anger and skepticism among victims of the Gujarat Pogrom. One of the victims Rupa Mody whose son went missing and was lost after the Gulbarg Society massacre – her story inspired the Hindi film Parzania – described Modi’s letter as “crocodile tears”. She says, “What sort of pain is this that he claims to feel? What sort of pain is it that for 12 years he has not expressed it and now on hearing of a court judgment he decides to express this great pain. The man has a heart of stone and he is not capable of pain.”

Attack on Aam Aadmi Party Office in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad

Today around 30 personnel belonging to a group called Hindu Raksha Dal came to Aam Aadmi Party Office: A-119, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, at 10:55 am and started shouting negative slogans and derogatory comments against Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and the Aam Aadmi Party. These violent protestors carrying sticks and bricks in their hand entered our office premises and tried to attack Aam Aadmi Party volunteers. Thankfully the volunteers rushed inside the room and they closed the doors from within. Then these protestors started damaging the property with their sticks and bricks, they also hurled stones, bricks and flowerpots aimed at the volunteers inside the office with the intention of physically hurting them. This whole act of violence continued for around 25 minutes which has been captured in CCTV camera installed in the office premises. We beleive the protest was led by Bhupendar Tomar (Pincky Chaudhary), who is from that Hindu Raksha Dal, whose president is Vishnu Gupta, the same person who attacked Mr. Prashant Bhushan during the India against corruption movement. This violent crowd disappeared before the police PCR van arrived. The details of the vehicles which were used by those violent protestors are:

1. Tata Safari – DL 7C K 3230
2. Mahindra Scorpio – UP 14 BW 0234
3. Hyundai Eon – UP 14 CB 8565
4. Skoda Fabia – DL 7C K 7092
5. UP 14 R 4577
6. UP 14 BJ 3482

Aam Aadmi Party condemns this attack. Violence in any form should not be tolerated and it can never be the solution to any of our problems.

Election Manifesto of Aam Aadmi Party, Kerala

No body has asked me to prepare an election manifesto for the Aam Aadmi Party Kerala. This manifesto is purely imaginary. Suppose I am asked to prepare a draft manifesto for Aam Aadmi Party, Kerala Unit for the next Assembly (not Parliament) election it will be along the following lines.

Formation of Government

            The Aam Aadmi Party Government will have a small cabinet having only 11 ministers including the Chief Minister instead of present 20 ministers. This will reduce government expenditure considerably.

            As far as possible ministers’ quarters will be government owned buildings and if at all any private buildings have to be rented, they will invariably be small houses. Only minimum amount will be spent for the repairs and maintenance of government buildings. Ministers will not use red beacon lights on their vehicles and there will be no police escorts for ministers. Instead Police will be spared for more useful works of keeping law and order and investigating crimes than waiting on the roads for smooth travel of ministers. The ministers are people’s servants and their shield for protection is the love, trust and respect of the people. The day they lose these, they don’t deserve to be ministers.

Functioning of the Kerala Legislative Assembly

Legislature is meant for making laws to regulate the functioning of the state and public affairs of the citizens. Only if proper and detailed discussions take place in the Legislature, good laws can be created. But the Kerala Assembly met only for 37 days last year. If Aam Aadmi Party comes into power in Kerala, it will be made mandatory for the Assembly to meet at least 150 days in a year. Dies non (No work, no pay) will be implemented in the case of MLAs also as in the case of government servants. Those MLAs who boycott the Assembly on any day will not get their pay and allowances for that day.

Political work is voluntary work and a MLA works as a volunteer only. So he is not eligible for a pension like a full time permanent employee of the government. Soon on coming to power in the state, the party will abolish pension of MLAs. Personal staff of ministers is political appointment from ruling parties and temporary in nature unlike permanent employees of the government. So the pension of personal staff of ministers will be abolished.

Similarly MLA fund has become one of the sources of corruption and mismanagement of government money. Practice of allowing MLA fund will be discontinued immediately if AAP comes to power in Kerala. Instead an equal fixed lump sum amount will be allotted to all constituencies in the state and this fund will be utilized for the development work of each constituency under the direction and supervision of a representative Jana Sabha constituted for this purpose, comprising representatives from various ward sabhas or gram sabhas in the constituency.  

Corruption in government offices will be wiped out within 6 months after formation of government.

For eradicating corruption in government offices and weeding out the corrupt officials from government departments following steps will be taken. Soon on taking charge AAP government will ask all officials to submit a personal asset and liability statement including that of their wives, children etc. Random vigilance examination of at least 25% of these special asset statements will be conducted and explanations called for, for any substantial variations found out. If it is proved beyond doubt that an official has amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, he will be enquired, summarily dismissed and prosecuted. His ill-gotten wealth will be confiscated. From then onwards every year all the government officials will be asked to submit their asset and liability statements.  Detailed verification and scrutiny of the statements of at least 10% will be done and on the spot search and seizure will be conducted. If it is proved beyond doubt that any official has made disproportionate income and assets during the year, explanations will be called for and if explanations are found unsatisfactory, the person will be dismissed from service. Apart from this, traps will be set by the Vigilance and anti-corruption department to verify the honesty and credentials of officers and those found failing will be dismissed.

Independence of the Police Department.

            Police will be given full freedom in implementing law and order and prevention of crimes. In order to ensure the freedom of the police department the transfers and postings of police officers of and above the rank of District Police Superintendents will be taken away from Home Department and vested with a Police Commission. The members of the Police Commission will be the home minister, leader of the opposition, Chief Justice and another Judge of the High Court of Kerala and the Chairman of the Lok Ayukta. The Vigilance and anti-corruption department will be brought under the control of the Lok Ayukta. No political interference will be allowed in the functioning of the police department or vigilance and anti-corruption bureau.

Education

            The efficiency and standards of government and aided schools and colleges will be substantially improved. Though unaided public schools will be allowed to function, utmost care will be given to improve the functioning of government and aided schools and colleges. The teachers and lecturers of these schools and colleges will be appointed purely on the basis of merit. The teachers of aided schools and colleges are paid by the government and so the authority to appoint them must also be vested with the government. Therefore henceforward the teachers in aided schools and the lecturers in aided colleges will be appointed by government through Public Service Commission. The standard of the government and aided schools and colleges will be improved so high that nobody will need to send their children to unaided schools and self-reliant colleges. Education will not be free. Those who can afford to pay fees will be charged a fee for their wards’ education. Those who are below poverty line and also scheduled caste and scheduled tribe children will be given free education.

Health

            Quality health services will be provided in government hospitals and government medical colleges. This will be at par with any private speciality hospitals and patients will voluntarily come to government hospitals for treatment. Here also those who can afford will have to pay required fees. All below poverty line will be given free treatment. Government doctors will be given attractive salary, but private practice will be strictly forbidden.

Industry

            Aam Aadmi Party will not be against free enterprise. AAP believes that like clean politics, clean business is also needed for the development of the country. Competitive capitalism will be encouraged but crony capitalism will have no place in the scheme of things of the AAP government. The scarce resources of the nation belong to all the people of the country including the vagabonds on our streets. This is the common property of all. This will not be given to the crony corporate industrialists at throw away prices. They will have to give due price to the government and this amount will be utilized for the welfare of the poor of this country.

Labour

            Labour will have the right to form unions, put forward their rights, protest and strike work. But one industry will have a single union which will include all the workers of the factory. The union leaders will be democratically elected from among the workers of the factory. No outside politician will be allowed to head the labour union in a factory.  In government service also one union will be allowed for one class of employees. Unions of government officers affiliated to any political party will be banned. Officers paid from government treasury will not be allowed to have any open allegiance to any political party except voting right. Government officers found working for any political party overtly or covertly will be dismissed from service after enquiry by competent authority.

Civil Supplies

            Civil Supplies department will be strengthened and corruption and mismanagement in civil supplies will be prevented. Those wholesale and retail ration dealers who divert ration supplies clandestinely to open market with the connivance of the civil supplies officers will be prosecuted and jailed. Such officials will be dismissed and prosecuted immediately.

Women and Children Welfare Schemes

            Education and welfare of women is the keystone to success of any society. So utmost care will be given to the education and strengthening of women. Their political participation will be enhanced and one-third of all political posts including those of ministers will be reserved for women. Prevention of offences and crime against women and children will be the top priority of the government. The age for juvenile justice for crime of rape and molestation of women and children will be lowered to 16 years from present 18 years.

Reservation Policy

            Reservation will be continued in education and employment for scheduled castes and tribes. For backward communities there will be a financial ceiling limit also. Reservation for employment will be only in the entry cadre of a government department, but there will be no reservation for further promotions.

Secularism

            Aam Aadmi Party will be a strict secular party. Secular means giving no favour or help to any religion. Religion is the private affair of the citizens and religious activities must strictly be restricted within the four walls of places of worship. No religion will be allowed to meddle in the affairs of the state. State and religion will have no relation as far as public policies of government are decided. During election time no AAP candidate will meet any Christian Bishops, Muslim Moulavis, Hindu Sanayasins, caste leaders of NSS, SNDP etc. etc. to gather votes of voters belonging to their religions and castes. People will have individual political opinion and these caste and religious leaders are not the persons controlling the political opinion of the followers of the respective religions and castes. AAP seeks the votes of individuals based on their political belief, conviction and conscience.

            The ownership of all temples, churches and mosques will be vested on the members of those religious establishments. The administration of the temples, churches and mosques will be under the control of trustees elected by the members of those institutions. There will be a tribunal or ombudsman to look into the administration of these institutions and any complaints of corruption of trustees can be filed before this Tribunal which will look into the charges in detail and if trustees are found to have committed fraud, they will be punished with imprisonment. The Poojaris, Priests and Mollas will be only spiritual leaders and they will have no control over the administration of properties of religious institutions and places of worship.

Hartals

            Political parties are free to declare hartal for any cause. But complying with the request of hartal will be voluntary. Those who want to close their shops can do so. Those who want to open their shops will also have freedom to do so. Nobody can compel to close shops in the name of hartals. Vehicles can ply if the owners choose so, they can also go off the road if they want to participate in the hartal. Any political leaders found involved in violent activities during  a hartal will be taken into custody and jailed. They will have to strictly compensate for any damages or losses occurred due to the hartal declared by them. Strict legal action will be taken against any political leader promoting violent hartals. Once it is seen that a political party has engaged in violence during a hartal declared by that party, all that party’s leaders will be taken under preventive detention during all the future hartals declared by that party.

            AAP is pledged to bring in a welfare state that will take all steps to improve the life of each and every citizen of the state.

THE STORY OF MY JOURNEY IN LIFE

I had the rare good fortune to have been born on India’s Independence Day, 15^th August 1947.  Born on an auspicious day as India’s Independence Day, Swathanthrakumar (Freedom Boy) would have been more apt a name for me, but perhaps since my parents were so over-whelmed with joy to have their first baby boy born on an auspicious day like India’s Independence Day, the strongest and most powerful of the Cochin King Shakthan Thampuran’s birthday and assumption day of St.Mary ( Jesus Christ’s mother), all combined together, they named me  Joy. I remember having heard that my grandfather made my birth a celebration by inviting and giving feast to all children in the neighbourhood since my birth happened to be on an auspicious day like India’s Independence Day.

            I had my schooling in Tharakan’s High School, Aranattukara and St. Aloysius High School, Elthuruth in Thrissur District of Kerala. I passed my Pre-Degree examination from St. Thomas College, Thrissur and took degree in engineering from Govt. Engineering College, Thrissur.  I was considered bright in my studies by my parents and teachers since I stood first in almost all my classes and I was school first for my S.S.L.C. exam. I was also considered a good public speaker during my school and college days and got many prizes and awards in public speaking and essay writing in all Kerala competitions. I was elected school leader during my school final year and also won in engineering college the first election I fought with thumping majority. For a short period of three years I worked in the student wing of the Congress Party, Kerala Students Union. At that time I was classmate and associate of Sri V.M. Sudheeran, now a veteran Congress leader, Ex-Speaker of Kerala Assembly, Ex-Minister and former Member of Parliament. I took part in the meeting of the K.S.U. in which Sri A.K. Antony, present Defense Minister of India, was elected as State President of K.S.U.  I was a member of K.S.U. during the period when Oomman Chandy, present Chief Minister of Kerala, Sri Kadannappilly Ramachandran former Left Front minister and Sri Kottara Gopalakrishan (He became the youngest MLA in Kerala at the age of 25.) were State Presidents of K.S.U. My close friend Sri. V.M. Sudheeran was then Thrissur District Presdinent of K.S.U.  When he became State President, I was out of K.S.U and joined my engineering degree course.  I quit active politics to concentrate on my engineering studies and also because politics was unknown and forbidden in the professional colleges in those days.

Even then I continued as a Congress sympathizer but the declaration of emergency by Smt. Indira Gandhi and suspension of civil liberties caused my final break with the Congress. I was on my way to the railway station to go home from my work place when the news of declaration of emergency reached me. I was shocked, angered and grieved and drops of tears were actually rolling down out of my eyes, thinking anxiously about the future of India and its democracy. I had the feeling that the country is entering a prolonged period of darkness. Even though I was a government official I openly criticized the Internal Emergency for which I had to pay a price later. Finally when the emergency was lifted in 1977 and general election was declared I heaved a sigh of relief. One of the happiest moments in my life is when the news of the election defeat of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi reached me over radio. There was no television at that time.

            After completing my engineering degree course, though I got appointment orders from Central P.W.D., Indian Railways , Central Water and Power Commission and Kerala P.W.D., I preferred Kerala P.W.D., since at that time I didn’t want to leave Kerala to be a support to my family and younger ones who were all studying in various colleges. (Had I been given a option now, I would have opted All India Services because it would have helped me to discover India more.)  It was not very long after my entry into government service, emergency was declared. I was bold enough to openly criticize emergency at that time. This angered some of the staff members of my office affiliated to the Congress-backed NGO Association. At that time the prestigious P.W.D. Guest House of Shoranur, where usually ministers, film stars and celebrities camp, was in my charge. Outdoor scenes of many of the famous Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films were shot in Shoranur in those days in the picturesque background and beautiful locations of Bharathapuzha River. As the officer in charge to allot accommodation in the Guest House, the film production executives approached me for booking the guest house for one or two weeks for the stars and technicians to camp. Thus I was then known to film people and in those days I had the good fortune to get acquainted with famous film stars like Prem Nazir, Shivaji Ganeshan,Bharath Balan.K. Nair, M.G. Soman etc. etc.  

I was strict in enforcing rules and regulations in the Guest House and prohibited any unlawful activities there. I came to know that some of my staff members used the Guest House for immoral activities and I warned the caretaker of the Guest House that he will be charged if such activities were repeated. This again infuriated my already antagonized Congress supporting staff due to my open criticism of emergency and they send an anonymous petition against me to Vigilance Department on some false and flimsy grounds. One day when I was returning from inspection of roads under my charge, vigilance raid was going on in my office and residence. It was the dark days of emergency and there was unwritten  instructions to the Vigilance Department that a certain number of government officers must be suspended daily and the news broadcast over radio to instill fear in the officers. So a vigilance inspection meant sure suspension. One of my friends, who was  actually innocent, was suspended for dereliction of duty for a fraud committed by his subordinate officer without his knowledge and the news was broadcast over All India Radio. After long hours of search and inspection the vigilance people couldn’t find even an iota of evidence in the charges against me in any of the allegations in the anonymous petition. The Vigilance officers became convinced  that I, a young man of only 26 at that time, was innocent and the petition was sent by people who  had personal scores to be settled with me. They reported so and I was fully cleared of all allegations. Thus I had to suffer during the Emergency for no fault of mine except for openly criticizing the declaration of emergency and also for preventing Congress people from committing immoral activities in the Guest House in my charge.

My service story will not be complete if I don’t describe three more instances where I tried to protect public interest. At that time I was an Assistant Engineer in charge of Peechi Dam Project. There was an old rusted dilapidated  steel aquaduct of about 100m long in the Left Bank Canal of Peechi Dam which had to be renovated. Tenders were invited from contractors and the lowest tender received was at 40% above estimate. Retender was invited and this time we got tender at 50% above estimate. The contractors were in collusion. So in consultation with my superiors I took up the challenge of executing the work departmentally under my supervision. I approached Steel Authority of India for departmental purchase of steel materials for the work and they allotted the necessary steel. I took delivery of steel from Cochin Ship yard and transported departmentally to the work site. I got the work done through piece work contracts for erection, welding etc. The work was completed in record time and also the government saved lakhs of Rupees in the execution of the work. Considering my tremendous efforts and sincerity in executing the work departmentally and for making substantial savings of public money, Government of Kerala awarded me a Good Service Entry. It is recorded in my Service Register.

When I was Executive Engineer Alappuzha District there was a long pending bridge work in the then Chief Minister A.K.Antony’s constituency. Remember he  was my former colleague in K.S.U. ( At that time my friend, classmate and former colleague in K.S.U. Mr. V. M. Sudheeran was the Member of Parliament from Alappuzha and we worked in close alliance to do substantial improvement works in that reach of National Highway 47 passing through Alappuzha District.). In July 2001 Chief Minister A. K. Antony assigned me the challenge of completing Aroor – Arookkutty bridge work in his constituency, pending for the last 10 years, before 28^th February, 2002. I took up the challenge. I took full interest to solve some technical challenges and financial bottlenecks holding up the bridge work for the last few years. I must admit that I had the full backing of the Chief Minister. He used to call me every alternate day. Some days when he called me at night 10 o’ clock still I would be in my office working and he congratulated me for working so late and so hard. As promised by me I completed the last concrete work of the bridge in the night of February 27^th 2002 ( One of the most unfortunate days in the history of India when the a coach in Sabarmati Express was burnt down in Godhra, Gujarat).  The next day there was a bandh orgnised by BJP. Even then I reached Alappuzha in my official car and sent a telegram to the Chief Minister telling “ Aroor – Arookutty Bridge  completed”. I was so happy that I could fulfill the challenge thrown at me by Chief Minister. C.M. wanted to fix up the inauguration of the bridge connecting Kochi to an Island Arookkutty in Alappuzha District. But due to an indefinite strike by non-gazetted officers of Government of Kerala the inauguration took place only in April. In my whole service life I haven’t seen such a grand inauguration with genuine and spontaneous response by the people of the island. Chief Minister A. K. Antony inaugurated the bridge and two State Ministers, K. R. Gouri, M. K. Muneer and Sri. Vayalar Ravi present Central Minister were present on the occasion.

The Aroor – Arookkutty bridge is on the same back waters over which Mattanchery bridge situates and is of the same length and specifications. The cost incurred for my Aroor – Arookkutty Bridge  was  less than half  the cost of Mattanchery bridge constructed by Gammon Indian Ltd. on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The toll rate fixed for Mattanchery Bridge was so exorbitant that the local people started an agitation against such a high toll rate. Gammon India’s estimate was boosted up so high that they can charge a high and unjust toll rate. The top persons in the department, especially the Principal Secretary, the I.A.S. man, were hand in glove with the Private company against peoples’ interest.  The agitating organizations filed a petition against Kerala Government and Gammon India Ltd. in the Kerala High Court. The advocates pointed out the huge difference in cost of construction of my Aroor – Arookkuty bridge and Gammon India’s Mattanchery bridge over the same backwaters, of the same length and constructed at the same time. The Court took into consideration the low cost incurred for the Aroor – Arookkutty Bridge as a basis for deciding the case of Mattanchery Bridge and favourably commented on the low cost of construction of the Aroor - Arookkutty bridge.

Now I come to the fag end of my government service. Usually a government officer is given an opportunity to work in his home district before his retirement. But I preferred to remain in the place where I was, since I was not prepared to hold anyone’s feet for getting a transfer. This time an unfortunate incident happened and I had to take long leave from my department till my retirement. One contractor who had taken up a major work in the N.H.47 wanted a big advance of lakhs of Rupees on the guarantee of materials stacked by him. It came within my discretionary power either to grant or deny the advance. The materials were stacked in contractor’s own yard in Ernakulam District and the work to be carried out in Alappuzha District. I had no faith in completing the work by this particular contractor.  I was sure that after taking the advance on the materials stacked in his own yard in another district, he may not do my work  and  will utilise the materials for some other works . I declined to give the advance. The contractor, a politically very influential man, brought down on me great political pressure, but I didn’t yield. I didn’t think the minister, a young man then, was personally corrupt, but I clearly knew the Principal Secretary of my department, the I.A.S. man, was personally corrupt. (After my retirement, I wrote a personal letter to the new Chief Minister, Sri. V. S. Achuthanandan, when Oomman Chandy stepped down after election defeat, warning him against posting this particular I.A.S. man in another key post, but it is not known whether any action was taken on my letter.) Under the influence of the Principal Secretary, the Minister convened a conference of the Principal Secretary, the Chief Engineer, the contractor and me. I knew that this conference was convened only to pressurize me to give the advance of lakhs of Rupees to the contractor with no written orders from any quarters. I didn’t personally attend the conference feigning illness and sent one of my subordinate officers. After returning, my subordinate told me that it was wise on my part not to attend. Otherwise I would have been pressurized somehow so intensely that I would have to yield. The next day I applied for long leave, left the place and never rejoined the department till my retirement day after 6 months. But they took revenge on me, an officer with unblemished record, by delaying my pension for more than one and a half year. After entering government service as a gazetted officer, I worked for 32 years and retired as a Class I officer of Government of Kerala. Thus I come to the end of my service story. I was offered some good postings after my retirement, one as the Engineer in charge of whole of South India for supervising the works under Prime Minister’s Sadak Yojana Scheme, second as the Senior Engineer to supervise Asian Development Bank works in Thrissur District and third as a consultant engineer by National Highways Authority of India, but I refused because I wanted to live a life of my own and to fulfill my desire to serve the people of this nation as an independent person.

I had the good fortune to associate myself with Nava Bharatha Vedi, an anti-corruption movement founded by late Dr. Sukumar Azhikode even while I was working in the government as a responsible officer.  Even while in government, I was also bold enough to work in Hindustani Andolan (Indians in Service of India), a Gandhian organization to fight against corruption and communalism, (a forerunner of Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption) founded by late Mr. Madhu Mehta who was previously the All India General Secretary of Rajaji’s Swatanthra Party. On leaving active politics he started this movement. Madhu Mehta was the National Convener of Hindustani Andolan and I was State Convener for Kerala. My speech in a Bombay meeting of the Hindustani Andolan just before Babri Masjid demolition was described by many of my friends as prophetic. (Recently I got a hand-written manuscript of this speech among my old papers  and emailed to many of my friends.).  At that time  Sri. V. P. Singh came out of Rajiv Gandhi government as its Finance Minister on Bofors issue and formed an anti-corruption movement, Jana Morcha.  A former Congress minister of Kerala who was out of government tried to act as the spokesman of Jana Morcha in Kerala. I knew this man was corrupt to the core. I wrote directly to Sri. V. P.  Singh warning about this man with a copy to Madhu Mehta, friend of V.P.Singh. When V. P. Singh visited Bombay soon after my letter, Madhu Mehta spoke to him about this former minister of Kerala. Then V. P. Singh made a public statement that this man would have no place in his movement. V. P. Singh wrote directly to me in his own handwriting.  After the demise of Mr. Madhu Mehta, Hindustani Andolan came to a natural death. 

I had also served as the President of Thrissur Junior Chamber, State Vice-President of Kerala State Junior Chamber, President of Thrissur Rotary, President of Car Owners Association, Vice-President of Subway & Infrastructure Society, President of Investors Club, Thrissur (Still I am president.), District President of Senior Citizens Service Council, State President of Kerala Catholic Federation, State General Secretary of Joint Christian Council ( both the organizations (the former founded by me) were for fighting against the autocracy,  suppression and oppression of the ordinary believers by the Bishops and the Clergy of Christian churches, the latter, a common platform of 12 progressive Christian organizations). I founded the residents’ association of my locality named Mission Quarters Pourasamithy fifteen years ago and had been its president for 13 years out of 15 years of its existence. Mission Quarters Pourasamithy is the first and strongest residents’ association in Thrissur Corporation area. At the time of the formation of Thrissur City Corparation, there was some anomaly in the demarcation of new Divisions by the Election Commission.  The Congress Party filed a case in the High Court of Kerala. But the High Court dismissed this petition. Then as the President of Mission Quarters Pourasamithy I approached the High Court of Kerala on another legal ground against the division formation and won the case against the Election Commission. At that time I was an officer of the Government of Kerala and my superior officers, though they admired me, was startled and warned me against repercussions. But luckily nothing happened.

I could also play my humble role in the India Against Corruption Movement of Anna Hazare in August 2011.  Anna’s fast in Delhi at Ramlila Maidan was to commence on August 16^th 2011. I felt strongly that something must be done in Thrissur also. I contacted all my friends in various organisations in which I am involved and asked them to be present in front of Thrissur Corporation Office on 16^th August morning 10 am. While we were deliberating on what to do in Thrissur, volunteers and leaders of Laloor anti-pollution action council also came there with the same purpose. We jointly decided to start a relay fast in front of Thrissur Corporation Office till Anna Hazare ends his fast in Delhi. After procession along Thrissur Swaraj Round, we started the relay fast. This was a very exciting and illuminating experience in my life. On all evenings lot of people including women and children visited the shamiana where the fast was going on and conveyed their solidarity with us. Evenings we lighted candles as a symbol of eradicating the darkness of corruption in India and to spread the message of anti-corruption movement. Thousands of people responded in this symbolic candle lighting in the evenings. In those days of agitation I had direct contact with Arvind Kejriwal and other top leaders of the movement.  I wrote many articles in support of the Jan Lokpal movement and sent by email to more than 1500 people in India and abroad.

            Now a few words on my family though not much relevant to my public life. My wife, Lucy, was a professor in St. Mary’s College, Thrissur and now leading a retired life. My son Anoop Joy B.Tech. M.B.A. is an Asst. Manager in Reliance Communications LTD. of Anil Ambani group. My daughter Amitha Joy B.Tech. is now working in Infosys Technologies Ltd. Both are married. I hope it will not be out of place to mention here that my daughter Amitha Joy was State First Rank holder in Kerala S.S.L.C. examination of 1997 out of 6.5 lakhs students who wrote the exam. She was awarded the Gold Medal of Kerala State by none other than the then Chief Minister Late Sri. E. K. Nayanar. Then Education Minister Mr. P. J. Joseph visited my house in Thrissur and congratulated my daughter personally on the day of declaration of the S.S.L.C. examination results. She also got gold medals from the then Finance Minister, Sivadasa Menon, Agricultural Minister Krishan Kaniyamparambil, Bishop of Thrissur Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy etc.  Sri. K. Karunakaran former Chief Minister and then Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly personally presented to my daughter the Gold Medal in his own wife’s name, Kallianikkutty Amma Memorial Gold Medal.

After my retirement, I started my Bharat Darshan (Discovery of India) tours which took me to most of the States in India. Subsequently I undertook my Viswa Darshan  (Discovery of the world) tour. I am fortunate in that as part of my Viswa Darshan tour I could set my foot in many countries of the five continents of the world viz. Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia and North America. I have also written a travelogue in Malayalam “Daivathinte Nattilninnu Daivaputrante Nattilekku” (From God’s Own Land to Son of God’s Land). This book was published by St. Paul’s Publications, Kochi.

At present I have joined as a humble volunteer of Aam Aadmi Party which, I believe, is the last and only hope for India, in the darkness of all pervading corruption and mismanagement of public money.

            This is the story of my journey in life so far. I have no regrets whatsoever. As long as I can, I crave to be useful in the service of my country and my people.

Revolution with broom in hands: Is it the beginning of a new Indian monsoon?

Some media people described the historic victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi as a revolution with broom in hands. Some compared it to the Arab Spring uprisings and hoped that this would be the beginning of a new Indian monsoon. One media lady asked Arvind Kejriwal,  “Congress and BJP accuse you of having no firm ideological ground.” His sudden reply was “But people like our ideology”. Yes, people liked the ideology of Aam Aadmi Party, the ideology of fighting the malice of corruption which has affected all parts of the body politic, the ideology for boosting the morale and self-respect of the ordinary people of India, ideology that detested the VIP treatment given to politicians, the ideology of helping in solving the day to day problems of the ordinary people ie. the aam aadmi. It has been clearly proved that ordinary people like you and me can also contest and win elections without the backing of a strong political party and sacks and sacks of money.

Party’s symbol, the broom was easily embedded in the minds of ordinary Indians. Broom is used by Indian women to clean their houses and courtyards in the mornings. There was no other symbol readily available and more effective than a broom to enthuse our women folk too. It was proved that a broom can be used not only for cleaning purpose alone but also for thrashing the  corrupt politicians  and make them run away for their life.

In the beginning conventional political parties criticized the style of functioning of the Aam Aadmi Party as NGO style (Non-governmental organizations). But people found this NGO style more acceptable than the conventional style of the other political parties. The conventional Left Parties are having their head quarters in the Capital of India for the last 60 years. But so far they were not able to penetrate into the slums, galys and colonies in Delhi and study the problems of the poor and fight to solve them. This created a political vacuum and into that political vacuum, the AAP has entered as an alternative political force making the Left Parties irrelevant.

The party started its campaign by pasting posters in the rear side of the auto-rikshas. Only three faces were in the posters, those of Congress CM Sheila Dikshit, BJP State President Vijay Goel and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal. The caption on the poster was “Vote for the Honest”. No names were mentioned. It was proved that you can seek votes even without naming the people. When the Dikshit  government took action against auto-riksha drivers, they resisted the officials  with the help of AAP volunteers and thus they and their families became the first vote bank of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The election campaign started with posters in the back of Autos, went through Jhadu (broom) Chalavo marches and finally culminated in placing about 2000 hidden cameras in slums and colonies to watch other parties distributing liquor and money for votes. The cameras were managed by expert AAP volunteers. This prevented undesirable practices in the election. Thus the professional style of functioning and the methodical campaign tactics of AAP were very effective in Delhi

Eminent economist and Nobel laureate hailed AAPs victory in the words, “The Aam Aadmi Party’s rise is an important departure in Indian politics”. AAP believes not only in clean politics but clean business also. The mentor of Infosys N. R. Narayana Murthy, noted for his clean business practices, praised Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party for its victory in Delhi in the following words, “What Mr. Kejriwal and his party brought to the table is that if one has a few powerful messages, you can win elections with very little money. You can get a party ready fairly quickly to have a stunning debut. Arvind Kejriwal has also given great hope and confidence to a lot of people across various cities of the country to say that we too can participate in the political process.”  Former Union Minister in Vajpayee Government, Mr. Arun Shourie described the AAP victory as a stunning announcement for political parties that the people are fed up with them.

In 1987 I sided with late Sri. V.P. Singh and his Jana Morcha since I was convinced that it was a genuine movement for a value based politics. At that time I was almost sure that after the next election V.P. Singh will be India’s Prime Minister. This time I venture to predict that in 2014 AAP will have considerable presence in Parliament and will be a corrective force there and in 2019 Arvind Kejriwal will most likely be the Prime Minister of India.