On May Day, more than 20 former child labourers and their parents, poured their hearts out at a meeting conducted in Hyderabad by NGOs. Many persons involved in saving such underage boys and girls were present; all except officials from the Labour Department.
The organisations which conducted the meeting said that Labour Department officials were invited, and some had said they would attend it. “However, it was May Day, and we were then told that they had other meetings to attend. So we could not insist. But they should have been here because it would have shown that the government is interested in the issue,” said a member from one of the NGOs, requesting anonymity. Even the Telangana State Labour Minister, who was invited, failed to show up at the event, said the NGO member.
Governor at his
self-deprecating best
More often than not, it’s quite difficult to remain humble when one is holding a prestigious public office.
Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh E. S. L. Narasimhan, however, was at his self-deprecating best during a public programme in Hyderabad. The meeting was about providing affordable healthcare and the Governor in his talk quite humorously brought out his humble side.
“I am not a rich man like Gireesh (Gireesh Sanghi), who can afford to get admitted to a five star hospital and pay costly medical bills anywhere in this world. Governments take care of the health of the poor through welfare schemes while rich people like Gireesh can take care of themselves. What happens to persons from the middle class like me when we get sick? There should be enough options for affordable health care too,” the Governor said.
The Governor’s comments, lined with self-deprecating humour, made in the presence of the industrialist and former Rajya Sabha member Gireesh Kumar Sanghi and other top industrialists, won applause from the audience.
Media gets an earful
Media personnel are an intimidating lot and often have their way with the administration.
However, the Hyderabad Metro Rail, which took the media on a tour of its facilities at Nagole, proved a tough nut to crack last weekend. When the media’s request for a ride on the train was turned down, some cameramen decided they would capture never-before-seen angles of the trains and began scaling the shed. As they neared the overhead power lines carrying 25,000 kilovolts of electricity, metro rail officials ordered they come down immediately as the power lines were capable of electrocuting from five meters away. One official gave the media an earful which the pressmen had no choice but listen.
The cat is out of the bag
It is not for no reason that our Met department is ridiculed in movies or receives bad publicity for inappropriate prediction. Recently, the city was swamped by unseasonal rains, which lasted a couple of days. When the weathermen were asked for information regarding the rainfall, they meticulously shared the readings recorded at their main office in Begumpet.
However, when asked about the rainfall reading at a station on the outskirts of the city, the staff member mentioned a measurement, which was almost 1/10 of the rainfall recorded in Begumpet. A little probing, and the official declared that the measurement equipment seems faulty and suggested that an average reading could be taken based on the data available from other centres.
Complete overhaul at HMDA
It’s time for a complete overhaul at Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), which in recent times has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. With Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao paying special attention to its affairs, the newly appointed Metropolitan Commissioner, Shalini Mishra, is learnt to be engaged in preparing a blueprint on what ails the HMDA and suggesting remedial measures.
The first step was to do away with the services of outsourced staff and a large section of officers who were on deputation from other departments. This has left the Authority with a very bare minimum staff and remedial measures are expected to come up with appropriate staffing. Will a thorough cleansing revive the HMDA?
A win-win situation
Cordon and search operations being carried out by the police is turning out be a good opportunity for scribes to interact with cops. More so in the present context when there are hordes of journalists descending at every press meet. While on one hand they get to cover the day’s development, on the other, they get to meet police officials to discuss various issues plaguing the city. Indeed, a win-win situation for both.
Reporting by Yunus Y. Lasania, M. Sai Gopal, Rohit P.S., Rahul Devulapalli, T. Lalith Singh and
Asif Yar Khan
