Official on a piggyback ride... removed from Office !!

Children play ‘piggyback’…………… Piggyback transportation is transportation of goods where one transportation unit is carried on the back of something else.  Piggy back has nothing to do with pigs but is reported to have come from ‘pick pack’ – a reference to something being carried – something placed on the back. 

Remember seeing the documentaries ~ that used to be screened prior to the commencement of films in theatres….   Those were the ones produced by  Films Division of India. In a base voice, one would hear the title ‘Biharil vellam’ [floods in Bihar or some other State]…… some clippings – voice again, PM visited the affected places …. ~ again some voices of affected people…. When the Head of the State or Minister visit, the area would be better prepared to receive the VIP ~ sometimes, leaders of political parties would do aerial survey……… understand, sympathise and take actions for lessening the sufferings of the victims…the affected will have to look towards  the sky for food and aid…

In Aug 2012  Sadly more than 30 lives were lost due to the fire in a coach of the Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore.  Long years ago, a Minister by name Lal Bahadur Shastri took moral responsibility for a rail accident at Ariyalur and resigned his post..  things have changed for sure and of this accident -  the Railway Minister Mukul Roy  first spoke of ‘sabotage not being ruled out’ then spoke of the utmost care that Railways was taking for the nearly 20,000 trains running every day and then retreated to state that the cause of mishap was yet to be ascertained.

After the accident, the Railway Minister had to visit the spot and did so very reluctantly. More than 12 hours after the horrific train blaze, the Minister was still in Kolkatta citing poor connectivity to Nellore.  After inspection at Nellore, he reached Chennai in a plush luxurious train coach.  The New Indian Express reported of the royal treatment that Union Railway Minister Mukul Roy received after he arrived from Nellore in a special “luxury” train.  It was reported that the  visitors to the station fumed at the insensitivity the elaborate drama portrayed just hours after the Tamil Nadu Express tragedy that killed scores. They wondered if the minister and the officials were serious when they expressed their condolence following the tragedy.  Two workers were seen spraying room fresheners across Platform 6 where the coach was to be stationed. Ironically, it was the same platform where the train carrying survivors from Nellore arrived on Monday.  The luxury coach had fully furnished interiors with a section for resting, a meeting room and an attached kitchen. It was called a “GM Saloon”; electricians were stationed to ensure uninterrupted power supply….  When he eventually got out, a special doormat, which the guards claimed was made of wool was placed  just beneath the door for the minister to step on……

World over politicians and bureaucrats are similar perhaps….. when one reads this news item in Daily Mail of 15th Oct 2013.  It is a newsitem on a Chinese official who has been removed off his post after inspecting a place affected by flood……. Don’t raise your eye-brows……. Until you finish reading the article in full. 

Daily Mail reports that a Chinese official was removed from his post after he was pictured accepting a piggy back ride from a resident of a typhoon hit city through flood water - because he didn't want to ruin his shoes. A picture of the official, known only as Wang, sparked outrage when it was posted on Chinese social media website Sina Weibo. The photo was taken as Wang visited the city of Yuyao, in Zhejiang province, as the area suffered widespread flooding after being hit by a devastating typhoon which left 10 people dead.

Piggy back: This picture, which went viral after it was posted on a Chinese social media website, appears to show an official being carried through typhoon flood waters because he did not want to ruin his shows

Natural disaster: Yuyao City, in Zhejiang province, China, was hit by heavy flooding following a typhoon. Hundreds of thousands of people had to be evacuated from their homes after Typhoon Fitow hit southeastern China last week. The typhoon cut power in many parts of the region and high speed rail services were suspended as winds hit 125mph. According to reports, parts of the area, including Yuyao, saw up to 11 inches of rainfall in just 17 hours and were hit by extensive flooding. Around seven million people in the province were affected in total.

According to China's state-run news agency Xinhua, a caption posted alongside the photograph claimed that Wang was being carried because he was wearing a pair of expensive shoes made of cloth. But the Sanqishi Township government, which employed the official, claimed that he had been set to remove his shoes to walk barefoot to a flooding victim's house. According to MSN reports despite Wang's insistence that he would walk, the local picked him up anyway and carried him through the water. Wang was given a second piggy back by the man as the group left the house.

Whether the official had intended to walk as suggested by reports or not, the online fuss created by the picture saw him removed from his post as director of the township's construction office.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

17th Oct 2o13.