Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Cracker misfires, translation wide of the mark

By S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI June 4. It was a comedy of errors at today's state conference of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, here in which the Union Agriculture Minister, Ajit Singh and party president, participated.

Organisers, who waited for him outside the venue for over an hour, mistook a VIP car, accompanied by a police convoy, as Mr. Ajit Singh's. Immediately they started playing the band and fired crackers to give a `rousing' reception to him. But the convoy drove past the venue. Only then, did they realise that the VIP was the PMK leader, S. Ramadoss.

After about 25 minutes, Mr. Ajit Singh arrived. The State president, C.K. Soman, who in his welcome address visualised a bright future for the Rashtriya Lok Dal in Tamil Nadu, said farmers in large numbers joined the party. (There were hardly 500 members at the venue). If only the Minister announced that the Centre would increase the procurement price of sugarcane to Rs. 1000 per tonne, more would join the party. But an office-bearer, who translated his Tamil speech into English for Mr. Ajit Singh said the farmers wanted a higher support price for coconut.

The State president also said many were ready to join the Rashtriya Lok Dal if the Minister nominated the partymen to agriculture committees. That would help them enjoy government benefits.

In his reply, the Minister, who went by the translator's version, said the Centre was aware of the problems of coconut farmers. Not only in Tamil Nadu but also in all southern states they were facing the same problem and the Centre would soon come out with a relief scheme.

Even after the meeting ended there was nobody to inform him that it was not the coconut farmers but the sugarcane farmers, who needed an increase in the procurement price. Mr. Ajit Singh, however, did not react to the demand for appointing local partymen to government committees.

Frustrated at the Minister's non-committal reply, the State president chided the translator for the faux pas.

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