MP govt looks for alternatives to 'collector' to shed colonial legacy

In an early decision after becoming Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Kamal Nath (pictured) had said he wanted to redesignate the office of the “collector” be­cause it was an inheritance of the colonial era, when “collectors were a tool to collect revenue for the British govern­ment”. Now, after more than a year, he has constituted a committee headed by senior IAS officer I C P Keshari, for the task. He, along with four other IAS officers, is expected to suggest alternatives to the word “collector”. Some options such as jila prashasak (district administrator) and jiladheesh (ruler of district) were discussed recently by the government but no decision was taken. Most other states in India use the term “district magistrate” instead of “collector”.

Disproving slowdown theory

It’s again a Bharatiya Janata Party leader who has “proven” there is no slowdown in the world, let alone in India. “There have been dis­cussions, in Delhi and the world, about a recession. If there was any recession, we would have come here wearing kurta and dhoti, not coats and jackets. If there was a recession we would not have bought pants and pajamas,” Virendra Singh, MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district, said. Last November, Union minister Suresh Angadi had dismissed the Opposition’s criticism of the state of the economy, asserting that airports and trains were full and people were getting married, and that indicated the country’s economy was “doing fine”.

Yes, there is ‘slowdown’

While ruling party members fervently hope there is no slowdown — and have taken it upon themselves to prove there is none indeed — leaders of various opposition parties have not stopped criticising the Central government for failing to revive the economy. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about doing surya namaskar to strengthen his back. It would be good if he could suggest a similar asana (yoga posture) to unemployed youngsters,” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said at an event in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. He was picking up where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Modi had left. The prime minister, in his reply to the discussion on the presidential address, had referred to the Congress leader’s comments about “youngsters beating up Modi with sticks over the lack of jobs”, and had said he would increase the number of surya namaskar so that his back could “withstand” the beating.