Kerala: The power of symbols

Kochi: One of the electoral planks on which the Aam Admi Party fought elections in Delhi was that the party would remove the lal batti or red beacon light atop the official cars of ministers if elected to power. Arvind Kejriwal got the mood of the people when he declared war on the babus and netas whom people felt take undue advantage of democracy. But in Kerala, which otherwise has an irreverence for the show of power, never minded the red beacon lights that even ineligible officials and nominated men on the board of companies in which government has some stake flaunt. It took Transport Commissioner  Tomin J. Thachankary to throw the rule book at the men and women who felt lesser mortals without the red beacons and blue flags.

It could well be an end to display of such ‘signs of authority’ for many babus in a couple of months with Mr Thachankary taking a step further to check use of flag poles by IAS officers or unauthorised usage of name boards by those including government pleaders. “We’ve now written to the Chief Secretary requesting steps to issue a Government Order restraining such unauthorised usage of symbols in their vehicles,” Mr Thachankary told DC. “There is already a law regarding usage of beacon lights and flag poles and these sections of bureaucrats are not allowed to use the same. Now the trend (among IAS officers) is using flag poles depicting pictures of the Lal Bahadur Sastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. Such practices cannot be seen in other states.”.

Earlier, the Transport Commissioner had proposed that IAS officers take off flag poles from their official vehicles. He had also written to the Advocate-General citing that some government pleaders are using boards displaying ‘High Court’ or ‘Kerala State’ and even beacon lights. The letter urged A-G to take necessary steps to remove such boards. A model of the board, which stipulates the permitted size, colour and the thickness of the letters, has also been handed over to the AG.

The Transport commissioner has also written to the Raj Bhavan, asking official vehicles except that of the governor to put number plates instead placing a ‘Raj Bhavan’ board. Governor P Sathasivam,  a former chief justice of the Supreme Court, immediately asked his staff to comply. However, the directive to remove the beacon lights is stuck on the argument that they involve security concerns. Though the department is empowered to act against such unauthorized usage of power signs, it hopes the concerned section would remove such decorations by themselves, he said.

“We’ll also try to implement the same when it comes to display of beacon lights and number plates. The Government of Kerala has already decided which officers should be extended the privilege and in what form. We’re just carrying out the laws already in force and not bringing in any new restriction,” the commissioner said. Godspeed, Commissioner!

The beacon lights and its usage by select dignitaries

The restriction of use of ‘Power Signs’ is included in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which however empowers the state government to specify the ‘high dignitaries’. While the ‘VIPs’ specified in ‘Schedule 1’ of the notification issued by the state government are permitted to use red light with flasher on the top front of the vehicle while on duty anywhere in the state, those included in ‘Schedule 11’ can use red light without flasher in their official vehicles. The vehicles specified in Schedule ‘111’ are permitted to use blue light with or without flashes, those included in ‘Schedule IV’ are permitted to use multi-coloured red, blue and white light :-

Schedule 1 – The Governor, the Chief Minister, Kerala High Court Chief Justice, Speaker, Leader of Opposition, Ministers, Vice-Chairman of Kerala State Planning Board, High Court Judges.
Schedule 11 – The Deputy Speaker, the Chief Secretary, Advocate--General, State Election Commissioner, Kerala Public Service Commission chairman, Kerala State Commission for Minorities Chairman, Kerala State Commission for Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Schedule 111 – Police vehicles used as escorts or pilots, Members of Kerala Public Service Commission, members of the Kerala State Planning Board, secretaries to government of Kerala, district judges, district collectors, vice-chairman, NORKA- Roots, police officers of and above the rank of district police chief, the transport commissioner.
Schedule 1V – Vehicles of operational agencies which require unhindered access to the roads for performance of their duty, those engaged in emergency duties such as ambulance services, fire services, emergency maintenance and the police vehicles used for law and order duties

‘Work, not symbols, brings recognition’

The IAS Officers Association Kerala would like to play it cool when it comes to the directive to remove the blue flag IAS officers fly on their vehicles now. “We haven’t given it a serious thought as of now,” said N Prasanth, Association secretary. “The Association has taken no view on it.” Such signs are not essential for the functioning of the officers, he said. Signs of authority, however, come handy in certain occasions, he pointed out. “They help an officer handling a law and order situation as they have some psychological impact. They also matter to some extend officers on the field. It matters little for an officer who goes out of office only for the lunch.”

Mr Prasanth said officers of the armed forces have their flags and stars as per the rules they made for in-house use. “They will have to remove them if you strictly implement civilian rules on them, too,” he said. Former chief secretary Jiji Thomson said some IAS officers of the Kerala cadre had felt that they did not get the recognition their counterparts got in other states, and mooted the idea of a flag. “The government agreed to the suggestion,” he said. “I believe an officer gets his/her recognition not by such symbols but by the work.” The government should first stop unauthorised persons wielding such symbols, he said.