Southern Notes: High Court reads the riot act

The Karnataka High Court while hearing a petition on amended travel curbs issued by one of the districts observed that flights were operating with no restrictions, which meant anyone who could afford an air ticket was free to arrive, but those who could not were being penalised.

The amended order on road travel from the neighbouring state of Kerala gave full freedom to local gram panchayats/municipalities to decide which points of entry they would keep open or closed. “If you have money you can enter Karnataka, but if you can’t afford to buy an air ticket you will be subjected to all these restrictions. How can this be tolerated?,” Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice MGS Karnal said.

How are MGNREGA wages fixed?

Most poll-bound states have seen varying increases in the wages paid under MGNREGA. But wages have not been hiked in Kerala. Activists claim West Bengal raised the wage from Rs 204 in 2020-21 to Rs 213 in 2021-22; in TN and Puducherry, it has been hiked by Rs 17 [from Rs 256 to Rs 273] and in Assam from Rs 213 to Rs 224. But the rate has remained frozen in Kerala at Rs 291. Nikhil Dey, an activist with the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, said, “There is no transparency in how these wages are determined. The decisions seem totally arbitrary.”

People, convenience be damned

A new bus stand being constructed in Khammam, Telangana has now become mired in controversy. The new terminal, being built at a cost of Rs 30 crore on a 7.5-acre site, is being opposed by a section of people, who have formed an ‘old bus stand parirakshana committee’ and even held a ‘praja ballot’ to spearhead their protest.

Their argument is that the present bus stand is more than adequate for the town’s needs and is convenient, especially since there are several colleges situated nearby. But the government says the new bus stand will have 30 platforms, and will be the second biggest in the state after Hyderabad. A new community hall would come up at the old bus stand site. People are now arguing that the old bus stand could still continue even if the new one is inaugurated.

Vizag Steel workers up in arms

The Cenral Government’s plan to privatise the Visakhapatnam steel plant [VSP] has run into a storm of controversy in Andhra Pradesh. Apart from the workers of the steel plant, people are also unwilling to let the government hand over the showpiece to the private sector. The 100 per cent disinvestment in Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd [RINL], which operates the steel plant and other subsidiaries, was announced in March by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on the grounds of ‘improving productivity and efficiency.” All the trade unions of VSP, the first to be set up in south India, have joined together to block the move.

Road to polling booth

The road to the Kuttaiyur polling booth in Tamil Nadu’s Anthiyur Assembly constituency lies through the neighbouring state of Karnataka… literally. Located on the TN-Karnataka, polling officials and their equipment have to traverse 54 km from Anthiyur to Kargekandi in Karnataka’s Chamrajanagar district, and then travel 24 km to Jallipalayam, go a further 5 km by road to the border, cross a stream and walk 750 m to reach the government tribal school which is the polling centre for 489 voters of Kuttaiyur and Velampatti hamlets.

This takes about 3 hours according to an election official, who made the trip recently. After the polling, the voting machines have to be transported to the counting centre at Gobichettypalayam, 47 km away. The village, with a population of 450, is 27 km from the Kadambur hills; it has no mobile tower, and is connected only by a 5-km trail through the forest that crosses four streams and is strewn with boulders; EVMs and electronic voter verification machines cannot be transported through the trail because of this. Communication will be through the radio sets of the police and forest departments, given the lack of cellphone signals.