The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Holiday mood grips employees!

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Holiday mood grips employees!

With Christmas festive fever gripping the city, government employees too have found a reason to make most out of it. Enter any government office, one is greeted by empty seats and piled up files on tables as a majority of employees had taken leave on Monday as it will get them three consecutive holidays starting from Sunday to Tuesday, the festival day. In some departments, senior officials are also on leave for almost four to five days. A few employees opted to stay away from the office till December end to completely utilise their pending leave. So it is vacation time indeed for Government staff!

Forget about the service at government hospitals, or rising prices which no way makes things easy for the common man.

But at least in one aspect, there is some respite for the ‘Aam Junta’ in the State capital.

The introduction of digital meters which the autorickshaw drivers have begun to install indeed is making a positive difference to the commuters.

The digital meter fare on an average is anywhere between Rs.5 to Rs.8 less than what one would have shelled down travelling by an autorickshaw with a tampered meter.

It goes without saying that commuters are happy and relieved.

Of course the going is still slow as only a small percentage of autorickshaws are fitted with digital meters. But once all the autorickshaws begin plying with digital meters, the government sure wins brownie points from the citizens. At least on this count!

The Louisiana University killings of two students -- Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam -- from Andhra Pradesh has spawned instantaneous reactions, discussions, accounts of personal interactions with the two students by the their friends and associates in the blogosphere.

At few blogs, some of their close friends related ‘heart- wrenching’ accounts of their personal friendship with the two.

For instance, Chandrasekhar was fondly known among his friends as ‘Bujji’ and for his amazing sense of humour. One blogger friend of his wrote “He can split you in laughter with this most amazing banter. He keeps cracking you up all the time with his chatter.”

The blogs also became an outlet for debate on the ‘gun culture’ prevalent in American universities.

“He had recently purchased a car and was planning to drive his wife around the campus and city in the car. I am outraged at how much the country is ready to endure and how many of such students are sacrificed, before maturing and stopping the gun culture,” wrote another blogger.

Heartbreaking accounts indeed.

M. SRINIVAS, M.L. MELLY MAITREYI, M. SAI GOPAL

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