The Hindu : ADB officials face NGO Union's ire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

ADB officials face NGO Union's ire

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Nov. 11. Officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) who came to the office of the Director of Public Instruction (DPI) for a discussion this afternoon, had to face the ire of NGO Union activists who shouted slogans against the visit.

Eleven union activists and two leaders, Varadarajan and Rashid Kanichery, were subsequently arrested and taken to the Museum police station. They were later let off on bail.

According to the Additional DPI, Pushkaran, who held discussions with the two ADB officials, the team had come to enquire about the status of the various `initiatives' under the Modernisation in Government Programme (MGP).

Mr. Pushkaran told The Hindu that the team asked how the three initiatives _ assessment of student strength in institutions, community-led education audit and impact of aided school teachers in elected political positions _ were progressing in the DPI.

"The team arrived by about 2-45 p.m. and the discussions were completed in about half an hour. When the team was preparing to leave, some people shouted slogans against the visit of the team. There was no gherao, nor was the team prevented from leaving," Mr. Pushkaran said.

Mr. Kanichery, charged that the ADB team had come to discuss the downsizing of staff strength in schools. "It is not proper for a team from an institution such as the ADB to come in a State car and conduct a inspection-like visit at the DPI." The NGO Union will block further visits by the ADB teams to Government offices in the State, he said.

The NGO Union activists and those of the Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) organised a march to the Secretariat late this evening. There are also plans to hold State-wide demonstrations tomorrow in protest against today's incidents.

ADB planning harsher conditions: VS

The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, has alleged that the Government and the ADB were trying to impose more strict conditions for release of the second tranche of the ADB loan.

In a statement here today, Mr. Achuthanandan said the attempt to impose more stringent conditions was being made under the cover of the current administrative impasse in the State. He termed the arrival of the two-member ADB evaluation team to Kerala, even as the State passed through a phase of political crisis, as a clear indication of this.

The Leader of the Opposition said the administrative impasse had not deterred the State Government from going ahead with fiscal reforms sought by the ADB. It had already passed the Fiscal Responsibility Bill and the Bill seeking to fix a ceiling on Government guarantees as suggested by the ADB. It had promulgated 26 Ordinances as directed by the ADB and was planning to privatise 18 public sector units.

He claimed that a major portion of the first trance of ADB loan totalling Rs. 600 crores was being spent on training and consultancies and the current moves relating to the second tranche clearly showed that the Opposition warnings about the way the loan was being utilised were right.

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