But now it's buses for the IT nawabs as they wait in dread that the pink slip will find them.Taxi drivers might think it's poetic justice to see these youngsters being taken down a peg or two but since their fortunes are linked with the IT sector, they are also facing unemployment. There are those who say that even drivers had become arrogant and would quote humongous salaries because IT companies had "spoilt" them. Now if they get a driving job once in four days, they can count themselves lucky. "Soon drivers will bequeuing up even for Rs 4,000 a month," says the same taxi driver.
Hic Hic Hurray
Chandrababu Naidu, then CM of Andhra Pradesh, who cosied up to Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju andnow denies doing so, diluted the prohibition policy that N T Rama Rao reimposed in 1995 because he felt prohibition did not gel with attracting investments. The revenue (thousands of crores) that the sale of booze has brought in has always been an impediment although governments have outdone each other when it comes to other populist schemes. Maybe they feel that if you are high enough, the quality of cheap rice may also seem high. PMK founder S Ramadoss' mantra is prohibition and he has long irritated the CM withthis demand. He was at it again at the PMK's women wing meeting recently. If Gujarat can progress industrially despite prohibition, why not TN? he asked. Well, if industrialists Anil Ambani and Sunil Bharati Mittal are to be believed, it's because Gujarat has a CM who has what it takes to be a PM. Does TN too? Or more importantly, does Ramadoss think so?
Students Booked
Last November the clashes at the Ambedkar Government Law College shook up citizens after the merciless beating a student was subjected to by other students, as police watched uncaringly, was played out again and again on the TV. That a college campus should be used for caste politics was no surprise but what stunned everyonewas that fissures run so deep that students virtually kill each other. The Justice Shanmugham Commission of inquiry has been appointed to probe the bloody clash.
The Madras high court meanwhile has been in the forefront of measures to make the students have an attitudinal shift. Some of its directions have met with lukewarm response like the PTA (Parent- Teachers meeting) held last month. Despite the seriousness of the episode, only four parents and a handful of students came to the meeting. Among the suggestions made was : Don'tpoliticise college activities, don't allow politicians inside the college, hire more faculty so that students are kept busy. Last week, the high court granted bail to 29 students arrested in the clashes but set an interesting pre-condition-- that they spend at least two hours every Saturday and Sunday for the next four weeks reading good books at a public library. "They shall submit a report about what they had read during the period," said Justice T. Sudanthiram. In addition parents of the arrested students-- 40 were named in the two cases filed in connection with the clash -- have filed affidavits testifying that they will supervise their children so that they will not get into any other trouble.
An Asset To The Nation