Monday, May 30, 2005

Smart City

Hello Friends,

Hot and sensational talks are going on around Smart City. I have one humble request to our Greatest politicians. Please don’t see this issue as a stage to make political benefits. Don’t let this project which is a dream of thousands and lakhs of IT Professionals in Kerala, go away amidst political warfare and corruption and red tapism.

I'm not for or against any political party, and i think that many of us are not having any extreme political stands now a days. We have work to do, build up a career, and have ambitions. We don’t have time and energy to spare for politics, strikes and quarrels. This is a major factor that probes political parties to go against our dream - Smart City. If the youth of Kerala are employed and well settled, they won’t get enough people to conduct Strikes and Hartals. They find it hard for their existence. Coz their existence depends on the ignorance of general public. Most of the political leaders own Bungalows, Estates and all in their name or as binami. Some of them may have inherited these properties from their ancestors, while most others are not. Their children are provided the best education while the same is denied to the general public. Why they show this double-dealer attitude? Pure and simple, they need to prosper. Do u know any politicians who have a job along with serving people? Well my answer is "No". What do they do for a living? They do have a family which depends on them. So Politics is a job for these people. Even more we can call it "Business", where the qualifications are "courage to lie looking at ones eyes", "Ability to flatter a mass by words", and above all "Skin as thick as that of a Rhino or more". The investment is nil and if u are smart enough and makes the right move at the right time, then the returns are enormous. No education is required, the one who have the least is the most qualified one here. No retirement for politicians. Cemetery is the limit. Here even the job of a sweeper demands educational qualifications. (Please don’t take it in the wrong sense. I’m not saying that the job of a sweeper is bad. Every job does have value.) Every one asks for qualifications when we go for a job. It is a pity that we don’t have any rules to prevent illiterates handling key positions and ruling people. The ministers need to look after the matters of the state, they need to go through various files a day. If they can’t read them, and understand what’s in it? Then how are they gonna rule a state. I know there are exceptions, but a very few exists today. Does any political party have the courage to introduce a bill which prescribes a minimum educational qualification (preferably a Post Graduation or at least a Graduation) for the candidates for an election? Will any political party be ready to introduce a maximum age limit (in any case don’t set it to 100, maximum of 65 or at the most 70 is preferred) for those candidates? No party will. It’s bcoz all political parties have such oldies, and they need to accommodate them. All the government jobs have retirement age. Y do these people stay an exception? Is it mandatory that they can serve the people only if they have power? I think “No”. I’m not saying that old politicians need to stay at home and stay away from politics. Let them serve the people. And let other qualified persons who are young, who have bright ideas, who have ample education, who knows about moving trends of today rule our state.

Those people who oppose this Smart City and Express Highway doesn’t know that they are digging their own graves. In this regard, I’m very much against the stand of left front parties. They opposed detaching pre-degree from colleges when the previous government tried to implement it. And when they came to power, they shamelessly implemented it. Our Honorable VS once said that one computer will make 10 persons jobless. This was when IT industry started flourishing in India and when computerization was brought to our state. He now owns a Laptop. What a great contradiction no? When Richard Stallman came to India, he raised voice against the use of Microsoft products and cried against the monopoly Microsoft enjoys. His laptop is having a Windows Operating System. The Children of the legendary left leaders who oppose Management Colleges have had their education in the most expensive Self financing Colleges. They raise voice saying that they do all these for the poor. Very true, coz they all are rich and can afford these. The only one who suffers is the general public.

Smart City if it comes to reality will definitely fetch thousands of jobs to people. More over it will fetch more and more foreign investment. Corporate giants like Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle will be coming to our small state. Isn’t that a great thing? Not only IT professionals will prosper. The living standards of the entire community will go up. We have the proud name of introducing the first IT park in India - Techno Park in Trivandrum. But what is our current status? Why have we gone backward after a good start? Simply because our leaders are not good enough. Let’s learn from our neighboring states. See how they are developing, how they move according to the trends. One last word to those who oppose Smart City – “Please shed this anti development mentality. If you have real commitment towards the state and the public, dont be a barrier in it's development. ” This is a request. What makes Kochi a favorable location is the proximity of airport and seaport, Abundance of Well Educated Professionals and workers and the low cost of living and low wage rates. These factors favor Kochi and make it compared to Shanghai, China. When others show us a way to succeed and develop, Please don’t shut the door at their face. Those who criticize Smart City are doing so like criticizing a film without seeing it.

Come on Comrades, let’s fight against this injustice. Let’s fight those who are against the development of the state. Let’s deny them votes and funds. Please sign the online petition in favour of Smart City.

http://www.petitiononline.com/it_dvpt

Find related documents in the links section here.
Your valuable comments are always welcome.

Warm Regards

Febin Joy