‘15 seconds Darshan was all I got’

Bangalore Mirror

Bangalore, 12 May 2011: The police have been sitting on the passport application of Anjala Bai’s son for close to a year. She hoped to get the CM to intervene, but was asked to move on within seconds. She now faces an agonising wait Fifteen seconds to explain her worst problem. That’s about all the time Anjala Bai was given during chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s Janata Darshan programme. Anjala’s son, Nagesh K, had applied for a passport almost a year ago. But the Hanumanth Nagar police have thrice rejected his application for no good reason. Anjala had approached Yeddyurappa about two months ago at the same forum. Nothing came of that visit. The CM’s intervention is her only hope, but a solution looks bleak given Wednesday’s farce.

 

About 80 people from various parts of the state had turned up at Krishna, the CMs residence, hoping for a quick solution to their woes. If they expected a patient hearing, they were in for a rude shock. Typical of most politicians, Yeddyurappa arrived an hour late and then went on a whirlwind tour of collecting representations. In less than 30 minutes, he heard — or at least pretended to have heard — all their petitions. On an average each person got about 15 seconds of the CM’s time. Some got even less!

 

For Anjala, it was literally a race against time. Her letter detailing her problem was placed in Yeddyurappa’s hands and officials whom the CM had in tow, placed it in a file. She now faces the prospect of another agonising wait.

 

(Anjala Bai attempts to explain her problem to Yeddyurappa, but the CM was in a tearing hurry to wrap up the programme)

 

Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Anjala said: “My only son, Nagesh, is an M-Tech from IIT-Bombay. He specialised in Energy Science. He wanted to pursue higher studies abroad and had picked Stanford University as it is the only institution which offers his subject. He applied for a passport in August last year, but he could not attend the admission process as the police have been holding on to his passport application for the last 10 months.” Anjala and her husband Krishnamurthy run a tailoring shop. Educating Nagesh was a daily struggle, but the couple gritted it out.

 

“It’s with great difficulty that we educated our son,” Anjala said. “All through his studies he obtained scholarships and passed out with merit. He secured a good rank in the GMAT exam and obtained a seat in IIT-Bombay. As soon as he completed M-Tech, he decided to pursue higher studies. He even deferred marriage plans. After his graduation and post-graduation he worked as an AEE at Bhadravathi Paper Mills and at Raichur Thermal Power Plant (RTPS) and saved enough money for his higher studies. But now he cannot move forward because the police are preventing him from getting a passport.”

 

Nagesh’s application was dispatched thrice to the Hanumanth Nagar police station for verification.

 

“On all three occasions they refused approval,” Anjala said. “When we asked for a reason, they did not not give us one. My husban had a heart operation recently and my son is closing in on the age limit. We are worried about his future. If he does not get a passport soon, whatever he has achieved till now would mean nothing.”

 

30 secs for Thalassemia

 

Hemana Gouda, who runs a pan shop in Hagari Bommanahalli in Bellary district, had a tough time making the CM understand his son’s problem. He told the CM that his seven-year-old son, Goutham, is suffering from thalassemia, but the CM didn’t understand.

 

“How can I explain about the disease in 30 seconds?” Gouda asked. “When he asked for more details I just told him my son has to undergo bone marrow transplant and I need financial help. He just spoke a word to his officials and subsequently I was asked to move out. I do not know whether I will get a response or not. They should give us at least a couple of minutes to speak. Doctors say its treatment would cost Rs 18 lakh. How can I raise that kind of money?”