Sudesi & Good Governance

With the State Legislative elections around, Vijayakanth, who recently floated his own party to test the waters in the elections, has come out with ‘Sudesi’ where he strives to reform the Chief Minister of the State. Though the preachy tone grates, the film has its moments. Vijayakanth takes dig at the present political culture in the State and indirectly projects him to be the savior on a mission to reform the corrupt rulers of the State.

What is significant is that the film depicts an arm-twisting a corrupt chief minister into introducing welfare schemes for the people with the help of an incriminating video. Sudesi, who chances upon the CD which has the execution of the existing Chief Minister, uses effectively for the betterment of the society at large. Though the movie is aimed at taking to masses the political agenda of Vijayakanth, it has certainly offered few sure ways for good governance. It has a few radical ideas for change and reform, such as:

• Making a year-long ‘Rural Health Internship’ mandatory for medical college students to get their degree. "They will gain experience and understand their country better," he says.

• Implementing ‘Regular, Random Surprise Visits’ by the Chief Minister to the districts periodically.

• Developing a Redressal System for grievances by which people can collect 5000 signatures to dismiss government officials in their area or re-install them, and

• Making it Compulsory for government employees to send their children to government schools, to ensure that the standard of education and quality of staff in State-run schools improve.

I am now to believe that it is not too difficult to impart a change in the system of governance. Though there are ingrained constraints in implementation of innovative plans, it is not totally impossible. “WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY’.