Madurai: How Long Will Its Grandeur Last?

One of South India’s great temple towns, Madurai, is synonymous with the celebrated Meenakshi Temple. Situated on the banks of River Vaigai, Madurai has a rich cultural heritage passed on from the great Tamil era more than 2500 years old. Madurai was an important cultural and commercial centre even as early as 550 AD – it was the capital city for the great Pandya kings. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu.

The city attracts a large number of tourists from within the country and abroad. As high as 7,000,000 tourists visit Madurai every year, out of which foreigners number 4,500,000. I am certainly honoured to have spent the most part of my life there.

Whenever I go to the Meenakshi Amman temple or to the Gandhi Museum, or any other tourist spot for that matter, I see always see a bunch of excited tourists with guide maps in one hand, digicam in the other, with a smile on their faces and excitement in the eyes. No matter where the tourists are from, ladies invariably wear sarees and jasmine flowers, while the gents weardhotis to respect the tradition of this place. In this current situation where Indians prefer foreign tradition and pick spots to spend their vacation, seeing those people come to Madurai is certainly an honour and pride.

Though I get all elated to be a part of this amazing heritage, there is one part of me that is cursing the authorities very severely. Would you prefer differential treatment at your own house, that too for dumb reasons? That is exactly what’s going on here.

While standing in queue for Darshan, if you look like a wealthy, born-with-a-silver-spoon kind of person with jewels in every possible part of your body, then you get to see the Lord from the front row. But if look like an ordinary, I-belong-to-this-place person, then you will certainly not get more than a minute to pray. Isn’t this atrocious? Give a few hundred bucks extra; you can even get those specially-blessed garlands and holy ash. That is not all. The entry fee for any tourist place depends of the location you are from, probably the lowest rate to people from Tamil Nadu, a bit higher for other state tourist and few more hundreds for foreigners. Had these extra bucks been utilized in development of these areas, then I would have certainly appreciated it. But, like any other form of revenue in India, they are only going to the pockets of the already-rich.

The cleanliness of the city is also getting degraded by huge leaps. The boundary wall of the very divine Gandhi Museum is studded with pan spits and cigarette bud marks. Who is to be blamed for this? When foreigners visit this place to get tranquillity, why aren’t the locals realizing the importance? The look on the faces of these tourists when they find a local urinating or defacating is indeed, humiliating. I am not insisting the people to go on to do community service of cleaning the city and picking up the wastes. It is more than enough if each person just puts the waste in appropriate places. That itself is a huge contribution.

However, if no action is taken to improve surroundings and this current situation continues, Madurai will not only lose tourists, but only lose the charm that has been preserved for all these centuries.

Read full article at: http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2012/03/madurai-how-long-will-its-grandeur-last/

THE DEATHS OF RTI ACTIVISTS IN RECENT TIMES:

The Right To Information (RTI) is derived from our fundamental right of expression under Article 19. The elementary values of democracy are awareness, information and knowledge. Information is wealth and hence the right to seek it is extremely vital.  

Though this right has been in existence since the time India became a republic, it was difficult to enforce without going to court. After a decade and a half of struggle, the codification of this important right was done in the form of the RTI Act. A crucial component of the Act is the penalty clause that punishes, both financially and through disciplinary action, the government officials who fail to provide the requested information within the time limit of 30 days. The effect has aided numerous citizens to get their legitimate pending government work done with use of RTI instead of the usual under-the-table palm smearing. Thus RTI allows the common man to participate in the democratic process and provides vigilance over the governance process. This would in turn lead to good and flawless governance.

The media plays a very crucial role in making this information to reach the common man. Journalists play the dual role of both RTI activists and as monitors, to pore over the implementation of the law in rural and urban areas.  These activists work directly or indirectly to get those required information that will otherwise cost them a fortune. By being an RTI activist, a change can certainly be brought about in the society.

From a clerk working at a governmental office to a big-shot, who has the entire state or even the nation in his palms, should be aware of the punishment that one has to face if one violates the law. This is not a kid’s stuff. But it can be made possible by the involvement of RTI activists. Having a few people to represent the millions of us is not correct. Each and every one of us should get involved in this. Even if people are ready, the only thing that is preventing them from doing so is the fear of losing their lives. It is shocking to know that at least 12 RTI activists have been killed in the line of duty since last year. The cases involving the murders are either mysteriously closed or mysterious people have gotten involved in it, eventually closing these files. Certainly something has to be done. But the authority and influence are playing hide-and-not-seek game where the only people who get tagged are the RTI activists.

As the power and wealth of the people increase, the number of wrongs they do also increase. But then, not all people have the guts to fight them back. Some wail about the situation, some report to higher officials while only a few fight back. But what is the use when these fights only end up taking away the lives of those who wish to bring a change. To put an end to this brutal killing, the situation in India has to be changed. Governmental transactions have to be transparent. Only when there is a flaw, some tend to hide it while some others tend to reveal it.

The other practical way to stop this atrocious killing of RTI activists is to change the process of managing the RTI applications. It is every citizen’s rights to know the information. The applications, not pertaining to individual issues, need not contain any personal identification of the applicant.  Thus the individual confidentiality is protected. This will help realize the rights of the citizens and at the same time protect the lives of those who fight for it.