The brief programme of O. Panneerselvam in Madurai on Friday had no signs of a Chief Minister’s visit. It had no parallel to the visits of Chief Ministers, belonging to the rival Dravidian parties, to the Temple City in the last one decade.
At the airport, there were neither drumbeats nor scores of cars to welcome him. A handful of elected representatives, that too from Madurai district, and officials gave him a quiet welcome. AIADMK workers also gave him a silent reception with no slogan-shouting. Very few policemen were deployed at the airport and all along Ring Road leading to the city. The Chief Minister’s convoy had a bare minimum of vehicles: an advance pilot, a pilot and an escort vehicle. Only because the local Minister, K. Raju, accompanied him, two more vehicles joined the convoy.
Traffic on Ring Road, a two-way highway, was not diverted. All vehicles zoomed past his convoy in both directions. Unusually, not only the officials but also the ruling partymen tried in vain to keep his visit a secret.
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They choked even as they took the oath as members of a new Cabinet headed by Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam after the conviction of their leader and former Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa. After she was released on bail, a few Ministers, including Minister for Co-operation Sellur K. Raju and Minister for Municipal Administration S.P. Velumani, tonsured their heads in an act of thanks-giving to the Lord Almighty. The pleasant-faced Panneerselvam has grown a beard, manifesting a sense of loss.
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The Health Department and its officials are out of synch with the administrative changes in the government. The State-run medical university’s website best exemplifies the disconnect. It appears the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University has not found time to update its website. It continues to list Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister. Also, at the bottom of the page, the university has provided a link to ‘former Chief Minister Dr. M.G. Ramachandran (MGR)’ that traces his life story through his achievements as an actor and politician.
The 27-year-old university has provided a history of its genesis with a photo of MGR. There is, however, no mention of why the university was named after him. Nor is there any mention of the contribution by various physicians and surgeons to healthcare in the State. In contrast, other State-run universities with professionally designed websites offer better insight into the administrative setup.
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For nine IAS officers of the Tamil Nadu cadre, the next one month is going to be a combination of experience involving the old and the new.
These officers, along with their batch mates from other parts of the State, will go back to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, where they cut their teeth in administration years ago. Beginning November 10, they will be there for three weeks for training, and it is quite likely that the officers will turn nostalgic. Before undergoing the training at the Academy, they will be in the United States for a week or so, from October 27. Their U.S. stay is meant for getting a “deeper perspective” of emerging global trends from academics and other professionals. A tie-up with Harvard University has also been proposed for classes in policy formulation. All these are part of their mandatory mid-career programme.
Principal Secretary (Finance) K. Shanmugam, who has been in the post for over four years, is among the Tamil Nadu cadre officers undergoing the programme. The others are Meenakshi Rajagopal, Rajeev Ranjan and P.W.C. Davidar, all of the rank of Principal Secretary.
