VSK TN
On April 7 the Tamilnadu State Government issued an order permitting essential manufacturing activity including steel, cement, sugar, and fertilizers only to take it back in a few hours ; the reason cited was confusion among officials. The state government repeated this feat on April 12 prohibiting voluntary organisations and individuals distributing food to daily wage earners and migrant workers during the lock-down. The reason cited was that curfew regulation may be affected during distribution and that purity of the cooked food would not be maintained. Voluntary organisations like RSS, Seva Bharati, Hindu Munnani and other individuals had been performing the Seva without any complaint from any quarter. Naturally there was anxiety among voluntary bodies on the question of who will feed the poor in their absence. As is its habit , the state government took back the order the very next day that is April 13. Once again tens of thousands of volunteers of these organisations are diligently distributing food packets and other necessary items to the needy poor even as the lock-down was being extended to May 3. The question that remains unanswered is that why at all the ban, and then its removal the next day. This official fiasco threw relief operations by non-governmental groups out of gear temporally. Observers ascribe this to the envy among ruling AIADMK cadre who are in the habit of attaching party stickers on relief items originating from voluntary bodies. Some analysts say that the opposition group led by DMK was jittery over the smooth distribution of relief material and wanted to throw a spanner in the spokes of the wheel by kicking up ruckus. In fact the DMK has gone to court now challenging the state government rule that stipulates two day prior permission for relief distribution. It s clear that the rudderless party wants to keep the controversy alive though it cannot lead relief work or offer unconditional support in this emergency like situation.Also doing rounds is the theory that some disgruntled NGO have leveraged the ban by the state government.It is public knowledge that thousands of NGOs were relieved of their unbridled power by steps taken through IT and ED over many months.
All the same, the state government meekly explained that its intentions were good. But whom to hold responsible for the massive confusion albeit temporally in a vital activity?