CHAPTER II
BEGINNING OF CORRUPTION
In this chapter an attempt is made to analysis the
/.-
credib~l~ty
of Newspapers, Newspaper culture, Morphology of press
and InvestigativeJournalism. The Political scenario, the Party system
and the religious groups In Kerala during the 1950's has also been
discussed In this
cl-mpter. The first general elections in Kerala
were conducted in 1 9 5 7 and
power.
Very soon
thie
the
Communist Party came to
Communists who were hailed
as
ideolog~stscame ink1 cr scandal known as 'Andhra Rice Scandal".
An attempt has been made here to go through the
circumstances that let1 to the Rice Deal, its after effect and the
enquiry Commiss~on'!; lieport The newspapers of Kerala played
a significant role if\ unearthing the hidden stories of the Rice
Deal and giving inne news to the readers,
The press is cc=lllied
the Fourth Estate, It enjoys a very
important place in the society and plays a very significant role in
a democracy, The homological relation of press and society is
like that of a
Dictionary and Language. Dictionary corrects the
society1.Credibility is an essential factor of journalism. Journals and
periodicals in Maloyaiam were first started by Christian Missionaries
in the 19th century. h e y had lofty ideals and people believed in
the writings of
missionaries. By stheearly years of the 20th
century these jwrncrls and newspapers came into the hands of
native laymen. Bythis time the Kerala press had acquired credibility.
The laymen who operated the Kerala press in the space of
credib~llty,which w a s (1 misslonary construct got wide acceptance
arnong the mass. The Dress became the voice of the people
and a watchdog of .their interest.
Newspaper culture
To the Maluyalis politics is the very breath of their
nostrils, but as c i v i k d men they prefer to fight their political feuds
with the spoken and the printed world
,
For in this land, violence
is confined to the k~shinghuman tongue and to the barbed
columns of the newsptaper2. With its literary power and capacity
tor sarcasm, the
1
inriuendo and pun, Malayalam lends itself
Elizabeth L Essetnstein, Printing press as an agent of change,
London,1 98'2. %~ssirn.
2
D.R. ManWar The Red Riddle of Kerala, Bombay, 1965 FI
14.
admirablv, as an effectwe and sophisticated weapon, to wordy
guerilla warfare, to which most Kerala politicians are subjected
by the c~llpowerful press ? This is a land where people seek to
run or ruiri their Government, by public discussion in the market
place, in the coffee house and in the columns of the press 4.
In Kerala a coffee house is no mere place to imbibe
1
the liquid that cheers but does not inebriate. It is an institution where \
public opinion on vital arid non-vital matters of state is moulded,
and thus one of the major functions of democracy performed 5.
The coffee house is the focal point at which every morning the
elders and grownups of the village and town gather to read,
and to be read to, the news, comment and gossip of the day,
to discuss public aFdfarr:; and dissets the public and private lives of
politicians and ofFic:ictls
humble in appearance:,
Every coffee shop in Kerala, however
subscribes to half a dozen newspapers,
There are piled up on (1 central table, which is only a higher and
broader bench.
Or1 either side of it are placed lower and
nclrrower benches, serving as seats for the patrons.
'
.J
40
In Kerala everyone from the labourer to the landlord, reads
rlewspapers a minimum of
read more.
Keralites
two newspapers, of course
many
Chewing the political cud is a passion with the
There weie 28 daily newspapers, apart from scores of
weeklies and montnlies In 1957.
All these newspapers were
politically ~nclined,c:lc~iming to adhere to one ideology or another.
A,t one end of the sc:ale are the highly respected newspapers
with great integrStt/, and a record of sacrifice in the country's
cause
l~ke the Mathrubhoomi of Calicut and the Malayala
blanorarna of KOttayurn. At the other end of the scale are the
rags, some of which subsist on purveying scandal and indulging
in blackmail
rrlarket,
or selling part of their newsprint quota in the black
Some newspapers compete with each other with
sensational gossip arid news centering
goings on and scarrdals,
round official doings,
served up in witty, delectable slyle,
dripping with sarcasm, innuendo and often vitriol. But all these
newspapers are jealous and zealous of their freedom of expression
and make the fullest use of the boons of democracy, often to the
discomfiture of democracy
Tabie - li - i
Leading Malayalam Newspapers in 1957
4
5.
6
7.
i
Kerala Kaurnudi
i
Deshabhimani
Chandrika
Dinamam
-!rivandrurr
.
i
1
K
Sukumarar:
i __
I
Keraia Kaurniidr L i d .
II
Kozhikode
Kozhikode
V.T. lnduchoodan
Quilon
Trichur
R.Sankar
K. Krishnan
~uilon
Kottayam
Quilon
Trichur
Trivandrum
Gopinathan Nair
K.C. Zachariah
N. Chandrasekharan Nair
TKG Nair
Sunny Sebastian
Janayugam Publications
A.V. George & Company
SRV Press 81Publishing
Communist Party
E.A. Fernandez
C.H. Muhammad Koya
Commmunist Party of India
Muslim Prlnting 8r Publishing Co
R Sankar
K. Krishnan
1940
1947
1946
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Janayugam
Kerala Bhooshanam
Malayalarajyam
Navajeevan
Navakeralam
Pothujanam
Trivandrum
K. Karthikeyan
K. Karthikeyan
1957
1949
1953
1944
1936
1953
1957
1957
15.
Kaumudi
Trivandrum
Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai
Socialist Publications
1957
8
1
Express
I
'
I
Source - Malayala Manorama, Year Book, 19.59,~4 4 6 $ 4 4 7
i
i
ClRCULATlON OF LEADING DAILIES IN KERALA ( 1 957-59)
I
II
I
h ! q, n, $; ~~ s f P 2 p ~ r
t.L
I
!
I 4.1
3,1
i
---.
! fl(-t,'
,-.f
11.
%
Oiihl
r
IALJ
i: \,LI
pz+jg~
L
:
1
C i r7ca'i a t i on
:357
1958
1959
61946
rrivandrum
46635
21884
5800Q62464
30429 31856
Kottayam
18236
17469
19314
Koihikode
Malaysia 'Llancir a ~ n a
Kottavall'i
Kerala Kaumudi
I
Deepika
.,,,,
1
bi!>'!!! 1
j8880
Mathrubhoomi
j
1
1i
Quilon
15531
15737
15934
6.
Janayugam
Kerala Bhooshanam
Kottayam
16864
16583
15740
7.
Desabandhu
Kottayam
15034
14351 -
8.
Express
Trichur
15393
16501
5.
1
_
I
_
I
I
.-
I
'1. 1
37
Source: Malayala Manorama Year Book 1959, p.474 & 610.
-
Ii
I
Morphology of Pres,s
Kerala has been the rrlost literate region of India
throughout the 20th c:entury
. In Kerala an appetite for political
news had arisen by the 1920's The people of the state were prone
to polit~csand the derr~crndfor newspapers was great. Circulation
of daily newspapers inc::reased dramatically as a Daity Newspaper
culture is created.
Vlalayalam is the language in which this
cu~ltureIS most elaborately developed in India8. In Kerala the
demancj for
readins
materlal
has created its own solutions,
Lik~raries,reading roc~rns,schools and colleges subscribe to
newspapers, Tea shop
owners throughout
the state keep
newspapers available f o r thelr customers.
N€?wspaper Cartoons
Most of the rlewspapers have a front page cartoon
column. lhese cartoorrs contain willv and sarcastic attacks on
the pollticlans and political parties. Most of the important political
incidents and decisions were covered by these cartoons. These
'
Robn Jefry <;ulture 3f Daily Newspapers in India,
Economic ur d k)litical Weekly, 4 April, 1987, p. 607.
8
lbid. F, 60;7
were the main attraction to the newspaper readers. The cartoons
of Sankar. Toms etc ~nfluencedthe people of the time.
Photo
Journalism
Photo ~ournal~srn
had also appeared in Kerala in the 1 950's.
The press photographers took sensitive photos and these were
published in the lecrdirig dailies. These photos had a profound
irripact on the rnhtd!; [of the readers,
Investigative Journalism
The twentietvi century jollrnalism gave birth to investigative
report~ng
,
Offictal pro(; lamations and carefully prepared press
releases concealed the rear causes and motives behind a spot
news, That led to the (origin of investigative reporting. What is
investigative reporting ?
It
IS
just the old fashioned traditional
expose stuff, unco~~erirlg
what is being covered up, revealing
what is being hidden nailing down lies that have been told 9 .
Investigative reporting is an intellectual
process. An
investigat~ve journalist should have personal integrity, motivation,
courage crnd pa#enc:e and
confidence. Smelling a rat is an
attribute of the stra~ghtnews reporter and especially of the
'9 Rangaswarni R~rthasarathy,'Here is the News', New Delhi,
1 996 Passirn
investigutrve reporter, The truth seek~ngreporter explores every
possible avenue for inlormation operating with no predetermined
ends to
seek, no Iivpothes~s to prove. Just the truth to be
determir~eal o , The investigative journalist should be careful not to
give currency to goss~p,rumours; and surmises.
Journalrsm in lterala underwent many changes in the
1950's. Young journal~slswere attracted by the modern techniques
in news reporting In the European world. They began to dig beneath
the
surface and urrc:over concealed information. The time and
tide were in favour of them. The political situation of Kerala during
1957-59 was a sign~ric:crnt period in the history of Malayalam
Political Scenario 1950's
The formatior; o f the state of Kerala on 1 st November, 1956
marked the
redisation of a long cherished desire of the
Malayalarn speaking people to have a state of their own. Since
the dawn of the 20th century public opinion was in favour of the
formation of such cr state. 'he
nationalist struggle in Kerala
envisaged, along witP ndependence for the whole country, the
unification of the Nalayalam speaking people under one
111 lbld
46
(~dm~nistration.One of the earliest resolution on the subject of a
unified Kerala was vcted at the state people's conference held at
Ernakularn in 1928
The Payyanur conference held later in the
same year under the charrmunship of Jawaharlal Nehru also
passed a resolution requesting the central Congress leadership to
take steps, to constitdte Kerala as a seperate province at the
time of framing of (1 constitution for free India. Aikya K e r a l a
conferences eontlnued to be held every year.
7he movement for the formation of a Kerala State gathered
rr~omentum In the '1940's when the prospects of Indian
Independence lookea bright The Aikya Kerala Conference held
at Trissur rn 1947 under the presidentship of Sri. K.Kelappan
passed a resolution IJrglrig the early formation of A i m Kerala.
0 1 7 1st
Julv 1949, TIUVCII~CC)~~ and Kochi were integrated into a new
stcrte of Travancore - Cochin. This was the first positive step taken
in the direction of Vie ,formationof the state of Kerala.
The political tl~storyof Travancore - Cochi witnessed the
rise and fall of ministr~esunder T, K. Narayana Pillai, C. Kesavan,
I 1 Krisha Chaithanya, Kerala, New IXlhi, 1972, p. 33.
47
A,J. John, Pattom Thonu Pilla~ and Panambilli Govinda Menon.
Defectioris and intetncll dissensions among parties were a regular
feature and there has no political stability during the period. On
23rd March, 1954 President's rule
was announced and all the
political parties were forced in to the wilderness for the next two
yearsE It was during the perrod of President's rule in Travancore Cochin that the declslc~r~
on the reorganisation of the states of the
Indian llnlon on linguistic:
basis was taken by the Government of
Inc=lia. Under the States Reorganisation
southern taluks of
Tovala
act of 1956 the four
Agastiswaram,
Kalkulam and
Vilavanc:ode and a part of the Shencottah taluk were separated
from Travarlcore Coct7in and ~ncludedin Madras state. The district
of Malabur and the Kcrsargod taluk of South Canara district were
addea on to the rernulning portiorls of Travancore - Cochin to
cc~nstitute the new state of Kerala. The state of Kerala formally
came ~ntoexistence on I st bovember 1956. The office of the Raj
Prt~mukt~
was abolished. A Governor was appointed as Head of
i2
K C: John Kehrala the Melting b t , Trivandrum, 1975, I? 28.
48
the state. For the f ~ s time
t
Kerala was brought under one single
government and freed completely from monarchic rule 13.
Party System in Kerala - 1956
The lndar~National Congess unit in Malabar merged with
its counterpart in Tra\wncore -Cochin in 1956 and the Congress
Party in Kerala
wc:rs formed. The Communist party of India was
predominant in the hltrlt~barregion.
It was making a firm foot hold
in the new born state
The arrival clf the Muslim League made a total difference in
the political structure c)t the state. This coincided with the exit of the
Travancore Tamil ii\lciclu Congress following the inclusion of the
southerr\ part of Travc~ncoreIn Madras state. The kingmaker role of
Tamil hladu Congress rn Travancore .- Cochin politics was taken up by
h4uslim League in Keicrlcr pol~tics.The Muslim League which was a
stranger to Travmc:ore - Cochin soon became an integral part of
the politics of Kerala Swccess~veelections meant more places of
influence for it. kte new born state was under President's rule. A few
months passed and 11 wcrs time for the general elections of India. It
1 3. R. Ramakrist~nc~
Nair Constitutional Experiments in Keraia.
Trivanctrurn, 1 064, F! 38
was decided to condilc:t the elections to the Kerala Legislature in
March 1957. The lndiarl P\lational congress, the Communist party of
Intlia, the PSF! and the Pduslirn League had no understanding with
arty other party. The arlicrnce systerrl which became an essential
feature in Kerala politic:; later had not arrived at that time.
Religious rnfluence
Quite a few observers have stressed the primacy of the
caste factor in politics in India in general and in Kerala in particular.
lndeea politics is merely a projection of the shifting strength and
balance o f the comrnunal organisations into the political areal4.
Pcllitica l Scenar~o- 'Religious groups'
The Chr~stianswere economically and politically the most
powerful (:ommuniiv
iri the state. Banking and industries were
largely in thier hancls The catholic:^ ran the largest number of
eclucationcll institutions in the state. Some of the major newspapers
were controlled by the ehristians who were basically against the
;
A
G,K. i~eterlIiie First Cornmun~stMin~stry
in Kerala Calcutta,
1982 F?2
commur~ists.These newspapers were the mouth piece of Christian
interests in the state,
The Nairs though numerically ranking fourth among the
communities were "he most influential elements in the state's
affairs since they aominated the states administrative service
and traditionally enjoyed u high social and political status in
Kerala society, They were landlords and being an educated
commuriity, have cxlso penetrated the professions.
me
Ezhawt:~:;, the largest community group, dominate
the politics of the state In the state'!; public affairsthe communities
share arid voice are exerted by the SNDP Yogam. The Muslims
led by the Kerala Muslim League,, wield considerable political
influence in the states public life.
The community derives its
political influence frorri rile fact that its population is concentrated
in a single, compact region, and has in its gift a large chunk of
votes, and thus plav:, the balance of power role of the third
party
1r1 the
polittccll affairs of the state.
One important element that impart builtin instability to
We
l state's politics is the phenomenon of four more or less balanced
communities which compete with each other to shape and
51
influence the affairs and administration of the state, and there by
inject con~munalpolson right in to the blood stream of Kerala
body politics'5 .
"Each of these four elements in the
state's
politics is liurner~cally (2nd politically too
powerful to be
ignored, and they, between
them, at thela whim or prornpted by communal
selfinterest c(:!rl and do, disturb and even topple
a Governn7~nt"'~.
Election of 1957
The legislature electrons held in 1957 was significant in
the history of Kerala. The communists and their allies (independents)
came out successful
Irl
the elections. There were 75 lakhs people
eligible for uoting anct 66.6% voted. The communist party emerged
the second largest in terms of the votes
polled, having won
34.980h of the votes cast, buy largest in terms of the seats won,
having
secured
:7 -6% of seats in the Assembly
15 D R. M a ~ k a op.cit,
:
p 30
16 lbld t? 33
1 7 hc Vicror - Kerala be yenan of iridia, Bombay, 1970, ?t 71
l7
. The
52
~~omrnunists
were succ=essful in 65 out of 126 seats- just the
number that was rec~uired
to be able to form a government1*.
Kerala's p(3pulation is larger than that of several
E:uropean countries and of three countries which have caught world
imagination in respect of communism-Chile, Cuba and
f\\lorth/lietnam More people speak Malayalam than Czech,
t-iungar~an,or Serbocroab . The communist victory focussed
international attentior, on Kerala, for this time the remote Indian
state haa scored not merely a first in Indian politics but also a
first in world polmcs '"part
from the tiny Italian principality of
;8. E M S, Keralc Yesterday Ttday and Tomorrow , Calcutta,
1 96 7 F? 22C1
: 9,
Nossiter, Marxrst state Governments in India. London, 1988,
P 38
20. George V\/oodcock,Kerala, London, 1 967, I? 263.
53
Sa~nMarlno itwas the first case of a democratically communist
governrrlent in the werlcl 21.
In Delh~except Nehru all others did not like the
commun~stscoming fc:~power In Kerala 2 2 . The AlCC could not think
of a communist government
Rae was
(=I
In
a state. Governor Ramakrishna
former Congress Chief Minister 23, So many doubted
whether the communists would be allowed to form a government
in Kerala. The verdict
(3f
the people was accepted and the
state governor Dr.6. I'iamakr~shnaRao invited the CPI leader
EMS to forrr the Ministry
.''.
?. 1 Kerala was orw the second example of a communist party
returned to pc-lwer in competitive elections. In the Republic
of Sar Marinc in 1945 the elections to the Grand National
counc~lbrougt-t to off~cecr coalition of the San Marino
cornn~unist~:rlrhjana tne Sun Marino Socialist party see
dlscusslons I r
India
'
J. Nosslter's 'Marxist state Governments in
1,
But Sun Marlr'o s one of the smallest countries of the World
with arl area 01 b I Sq. Krn while Kerala has an area of 38,863
Sq.Krr The pc;p~ulcrtion of Sari Marino IS 24,500 in 1998 while
that ot Kerala
:j
3 ~Crores
22 Puthuppully I;lcrghavar Viplava Smaranakal, Kottayam,
'I 996. ti 1221
24 .Jose C:handef 13rynamlc:s of state Politics, New Delhi, 1986,
f' 137
The cornr.r~unistministry under the leadership of EMS took
oath and stepped in -to office on 5th April 1957, The salient feature
of the day on which the new government in Kerala assumed power,
April 5 1957 was the fact that the communist power in India, and for
that matter, the wcxld communist movement acquired a large base
on the soil of the lnditrri subcontinent. Although the base had been
won peacefully, functionally it was comparable to ~hinesteYenan
because it repesnted a focus of communist power from which its
influence could rcrdiate until it engulfed the whole nation25.
The con7rvurrist victory in Kerala had mixed reaction while
the communrsts c::elebrated their victory, many groups found it
difficult to adjust with the new setup. The AlCC could not tolerate the
communist government, Before knowing what the government
was going to do it was pictured as a Stalinist totalitarian
Government2". F-blitlcally and psychologically the victory of the
corrlmunists was c;r rude shock, to the Christian community of the
state, The Catholics were particularly disturbed since the church
leaders and ihe Catholic press had spared no chance in the
past in portraying the communist danger as the most awful
25 tic vic>t<ir, Opcit. a 77
26 Pavariarl, Keralam Chuvannappol, Kottayam, 1 995, F? 193
c:alamity that could befall the ~ o u n t r y *The
~ . reaction of anti
c:ommun~stsand Christian religious hierarchy was reflected through
rnultifcrrxous dimerisions. The press also became a tool of this
reaction. Hegelan
materialism
was misinterpreted in Kerala
through the press. The net result was the religious minded Kerala
society saw commur-lists as anti-religiousand anti- God movement.
The Christians md the Orthodox Hindus were the affluent class
and they were agu~nstcommunists. It was the need of the hour to
reta~n
the reading rhythm of
the affluent class. This role was well
played by the Kerulcr press.
The
press became a scenario of
the anti-comunist
feeling, This anti- c:ornrnunist feeling was reflected through various
inc~dents. One such incident is the rice deal of the Kerala
Government in 19t17
Kerala is cr deficit area in the matter of food grains. No
other state had to under go such sufferings on account of food
scarcity as Kerakr Pias. For a while other deficit states of India are
short of their rsquirerrlents of food grains to a marginal extent,
Kerala's deficit comes to 50% of its requirments 2 8 . The state produces
27. Cyriac. hornas, Church and Politics in Kerala, (Unpublished)
Universi:y of Kerala, Trivandrum, p. 26.
28. E.M.S Nlarnboothiripad, op.cit. F! 4
only half the total requ~rements
of rice. Though there are several other
edibles which form supplimentary items of food, none of them
is a substitute f o ~rice
Only
of the total area under
cult~vationis used for paddy cultivation. Average annual yield
was about 8,00,000 tons, The production of rice was sufficient for
percapita consumption ot 6.25 ounce only per day 2 9 .
The prim)13vy responsibility of the state Government has
always been the regular supply of rice to the people, in sufficient
quantitv and at a reasonable price. From April 1956 onwards the
price of rrce huc:
been on the increase, In June 1956 as a first
step, fair price slnc~swere opened in Trivandrum city and by July
they were exbncred to other parts of the state.
Within clays of the assumption of the Communist
Government, as ~f like an evil omen the food situation began to
deteriorate rapid!\/',,
By the errd of May 1 957 distribution through fair price shops
completely broke dowri The price of rice began to shoot up.
29 K~lr?lkara
Padmanabha Pillai, The Red Interlude in Kerala,
Triavnlrurn, I?59
Days a n d weeks passed, the
price of rice continued to sky
rocket. The c o m m r ~slogan In the state was
"3whereIS rice, where is cloth,
tel1,tell Namboothiri" 3'.
K.C George was the Food Minister in the Communist
Government, The Gtrvernment found it very difficult to tackle the
food situation in the
state. The press in Kerala took the food
problem as an important matter and set apart a big chunk of the
paper to highlight it The non-communist papers took this as an
opportunity to criticrse the Government 320
Food Minister K.C George tried to propagate the use of
Macrony3",The opposition made macrony a tool to ridicule the
Governrnent. Rajcrr~was a labourer in a coir-factory in Alapuzha. He
was u comrnunisf but became disatisfied with its policies. He
3'1 ~ u p p c r l l vRaghhavan, op.cit, p.137
32
rhs K ~ I~Yu c l a~ aally
,
from Trrvandrum wrote about Kerala's
i r i detall on September. 14, 1957. It
~ccusedthat the Governrnent was making contradictory
statements about the foocl problem. It concluded that the
or$y orte th~ngthat the people knew was that,Were was
qo rice :;Inthe market
"ood ;ituatlon
33 Ftwanrrrl. up crt D 168
brought a ~ o u ta
kathaprasangam known as
"Bhagovan
Macror~y"~~.
It becarne very popular in the state. It was a very
interesting political propagation. The people laughed loudly and
clapped their hands
In July 195 7 Mysore, Madras, Andhra and Kerala were
grouped together in the southern rice zone, and it was expected
that the surplus of Andhra would find its way to the markets in
Kerala ,'"he
export of rice from this region to other states were
banned by the (.::entral Government. However when the food
situation in Calcuttcn und Bombay became serious, exports from
Andhra to those areas were allowed again. Prices increased and
Keralw Governmerrt could not find private traders who were
prepared to import rice from Andhra at a fixed commission 36. At the
height of Kerala's food prices, when the Malayalees were scrapping
the barrel for a few grains, the hearts of neighbours like Andhra and
Madras failed to melt and the two states were preoccupied with
maintaining the level of price of rice, they were tardy about rushing
supplies of rice to 1'Re s tcrte in di~tress"~.
lnorder to overcome the shortage of rice the Kerala
Government decided to import rice form Andhra and distribute
it through the ration shops. It was decided to buy 5000 tons of
rice via cr private firm- in Madras, which was proposed to them
by A.K. Gopalan, Men-lber of ParliamenP. The Kerala Government
entered into an ageernerit with Messrs T. Sriramalu, I? Suryanarayana
and Cornpany, Madra~for the purchase of 5000 tonnes of rice
from Andhra. The no~rr~ul
formalities of calling for tenders and
coming to agreemen-?:; with the lowest bidder were not gone
through. A big furore was ra~sedover the fact that tenders were
not called ". The first cons~gnment
of rice arrived in September 1957.
Immediately charges of c:orruption in favour of the Communist party
of lndia and the sympathisers of the Communist party of lndia
were ra~sed,The manager of the Madras firm was a Communist
15 years ago and the terms of the agreement were in favour of
.37 D.R. Mankekacar op.cit, p 46
313 G K. Leiten, or)cit, p.12,
.39 E M.S Nmhc~oth~ripad
opcit, p. 224
hirn 4C. The oppositian parties in Kerala accused the Government
of Kerala for paying more than the market price to this firm4'.
The Congire:;~ leaders accused that the Communist
Party had acceptedcr bribe wh~ch
was paid to the Andhra Communist
Party for clearing its elec:tion debt 4 2 m lhe first accusation was
that 1.6 iakhs was accepted as bribe, but later it was termed as
16.5 labs 4 3 . The r~:e deal provided another tool in the hands
of me opposition parties;to forge a common front with the leading
T.O. Bava,
pressure groups agulnst the communist G~vernment.~~
the Congress M.[.A, (I(::(: used in the Legislative Assembly that there
were certa~n ~rregular~t~es
in putting through the deal and the
4
Jitheridfa Sir?gP,C:ommunist Rule In Kerala, New Celhi, 1959,
p 118
42. Cher~anR~ilip,Kalnootandu, Kottayam, 1995, P39
44 C N Somcr~ajan,Pressure Group Politics in Kerala,
(UnpublisheclI Universitv of Kerala, Trivandrum, p. 260
61
Government had ~ustc~ined
considerable loss45.Congress M.L.A.
T.O. Bava was the person who brought out the affairs of the deal
in deta~l
The Malayalani newspapers gave big headings and more
space for covering the news of the rice deal. The leading
Mulayalam Dailies Vlalcryala Manorama, Mathrubhoomi and
of the deal every day. The Communist
Deepika contained detc~~ls
newspapers, Des&hirnlani
and Janayugam tried their best to
support the Government on the Rice Deal issue. The journalists
began to d ~ gdeep ancl bring out the inside stories of the deal.
The
journalists m a r l to compare the Rice Deal with the big
corruption case of Kumbakonam, in Tamil N a d ~ ~
The
~ . Public
Accounts Committee of the legislature demanded accounts of the
45 Jijthenclra SII;~II
opcit
1 18
46 K.C John fc3rrner c:orrespondent,Times of India Newspaper is
of the view thm it was ' 3 t3ava who went to Andhra and
collected the* details
of the rice deal of the Kerala
government vie gave th~sinformation to the journalists and
they coweci their papers with the news of the rice deal.
117 Malayah Manorama 2th February. 1958 carried the big
heading on ttie first page "Andhra Rlce Deal Kumbakonas"
deal frorn the Goverr~r?~enP~.
The legislature witnessed questions
on the rice deal every day, These news were covered in detail in
the Maluyalam da#ies The opposition party leaders opinions were
given as headlines rn the news papers 49.
Ir
the
Leglslatlve Assembly Chief Minister EMS
Namboodlripad sc:olcJed the Opposition for raising vague
allegat~onsagainst the Government and promised to enquire
into clear corruptions
At th~sjuncture K T . Chacko, Congress
M L A and Oppositior leader stood up and asked whether the
allegations on Rice I:)eal can be enquired. To such a sudden
answered Yes' 51. Thus the Chief Minister
question EMS Namboodir~pad
agreed for an enquiry li7 to the Rice Deal in the LegislativeAssembly.
The Rice Deal controversy was the first or deal that the Chief
Minister E M S Namboodiripad had to face during the communist
49 Malaya& Mcrnorama 25th February, 1958 came out with a
big heading 017 the front page, "Why Government is afraid
for an enquiry'
K.PC
1 President.
50. K.C. John, Kerala Rastriyarn Oru Asambanda Nadakom,
Alwaye, 199CJ,p.08
5 ! K.C.John, Seliior Journalist remarks that PT. Chacko trapped
EMS NambocxJ~ripadduring the debates in the Legislative
Assembly.
rule (1 95 7 - 59)52.That
~VUS
a big victory for the opposition. The
next day's newspapers came out with editorials and big headings
about the governments clecis~onfor enquiry,
Now-a-days rr~inistersand ruling party MIAs names are
heurd
lr-I
various types of corruption charges. At different times,
it is the ruling party itself that raises such allegations and they give
the stick to the oppsitio~iparties, Hut during that time nobody
accused the
comrrunist ministers for corruption. The Ministers
were clean men not c:ommutted
to corruption, Instead of the
Minister the communist party was accused of accepting monep3.
In the present times even if the ruling party members raise
allegations the normal reply of the government is, " no enquiry"54.
The Government appointed justice RT. Raman Nair of
Kerala High Court as Enquiry Commissioner on 12th May, 1958 55.
The Government asked the Commiss~onto report on whether the
53 Puthuppully Fitlrghavan. Opcit, F1138
55 S e e Malayc?luMuriorama 1 3th May 1 958. The paper carried
the big heading on the first page, 'Yustice l?T. Raman Nair
appo~ntedas Eqojuiry C omrnissiori"
-
purchase of 5000 tons of rice through
MIS. T. Sriramalu,
F!
Suryanarayana and Co., Madras firm was justified considering
the food situation ir the state and whether there was any loss
to the state incuired ilrl the deal M6,Three counsels appeared on
behalf of their respective clrents before the enquiry committee.
The Advocate General
represented for the Government of
Kerala, Mr K.V. N& for Mr.T.0 Bava and Mr. V.K.K. Menon for the
Madras firm of Srifar~ccrluand Suryanarayana and C0mpany5~.
The Advocate Gewrai in his arguments made the following points.
(1) Allegut~onsagainst the present deal arose mainly out of trade
rivalry
und politlcar
crntagonisrr~
(2) Government
had not
departed from the norn'lul administrative procedure of procuring
rice
(3)
He argued that there was an acute food shortage in
Kerala at that time
':I-.
Mr. K.V+Nair, czounsel for Mr. T . 0 Bava argued that (1 ) The
Kerala Government hacl susta~neda loss of rupees 3 labs in the
deal. (2) Kerala Mercrrcrnts
were
50. Jithendra Sirgn, Opcn, p 1 18
5 7 Ibid, p. 1 9
'#
58. Ibid. p. 1 15'
willing to
import rice from
.
Andhra (3) Though Kercrla is a deficit state in food there was not such
an emergency during the period in question, as to justify the
Government to enter into a contruct with a Madras firm without
calling
for open tenders and thus deviating from normal
procedure, Mr,V.K.K, Menon, counsel for the Madras firm argued
that ( 1 ) The Kerala Gclvernment has not sustained any loss by
this deal and (2) The (Sc3vernrnent had made profit out of this
trcrnsaclior; for the price of rice in the
Andhra
market was
much higher than the? price for whrch rice was supplied by the
Madras firm5'
The Ma1ayal~x-nNewspapers took great interest in the
Rice Deal Comm~ssioniinquiry. Leading Malayalam dailies, Malayala
Manorama, Mathrubhoomi and Deepika covered in its columns,
the arguments and discussions before the enquiry committee.
Thus the people were aware of the details of the rice deal, The
newspapers played a significant role for the passing of the
information regarding t h e Rice Deal.
5(; See Commun~stR ~ l in
e Kerala by Jithendra Singh. The working
of the cornrnur~i:jtGovernment has been dealt by him in
deta~lHe gives cjeta~lson the ,Andhra Rice Deal giving
importance to t h e reporr of the r=ommision.
66
On 13 th F~?bruary,
1959 the commission submitted its
report to the Governrrlent of Kerala, It was a fairly lengthy report
(2nd came to the following conclusion (1) There are strong grounds
for the suspicion tlxrf the deal was solely dictated by considerations,
intrinsic: to the merits of the situution (2) There was an avoidable
loss of more than ?s 1 lakh in the purchase of 5000 tons of rice
from Andhra ~n August 1957 (3) The deal with a Madras firm for
the purchase of ric:e from Andhra on present terms was not
justified having regarcl to the tood situation in the state,
The Comn-iiss~onconcludes its report by saying that,
Mere can be lime cloubt that, had the Government called for
tenders, ~nsteadot entering ~ntonegotiate contract with a Madras
firm, it could have c~btained rice on more favourable terms. The
(;ommission
held trlc~tthere was no great urgency for the
Government of Keralcr to rush the deal in the above manner, which
led to avo~dableloss It also thought that if the Government of
Kerala had asked f o r competitive tenders as had been the
pract~ceIn Keraia till then, the Government would have avoided
this loss, According tc -the Commission it was regretable that the
Advocclte General ?ad to appear as a counsel for Government
67
which it says, deprived the commission of Me invaluable services
as an independent ccr)~~nsel~(:
The Rice Deal report was placed before the Legislative
Assembly on Me 10th March :959. The next days newspapers were
full of news regard~ngthe rice deal. The Malayala Manorama
cclrried the top headiing ' Andhra rice deal not j~sffiable'~~.
The
Deepika
Daily carried the heading nAndhra rice deal report
published"
62
.
Other newspapers also began to criticise the
Governn~ent.The Newspaper Malayali wrote the heading "Respect
democracy and resign" 53. The leading daily Deepika came with
C'
The Malagrcllu Manama Dally wrote that the Government
Incurred a 1~::s ol'Rs.
I
3.500 It also expressed the idea
that recornn ericlatror.~of the commission were not
agreeable to1 the Government. It further wrote that if the
comm~ssior'rs t~nd~ngs
were respected the communist
Governmi st10uld resign See Malayala Manorama, 1 1
March 195'3
6 2 lhe Oeepika &r(:)le that the report was not favourable to the
Government arid therefore the Government was rejecting
the report. The cletarls
cr the report were covered in the
columns of the Deetpika
the opinion of
go"
64
the
opposition leader f?T. chacko, "to resign and
Mathrubtwomi one of the leading Malayalam Dailies
criticised the
rice deal in its columns with the caption
The Mathrubhoom~Daily again wrote about the Rice
Deal with the heading "Bad Pre~edent"~~,
Another newspaper in
Kerala, Kerala Janathu ridiculed the communist as torch bearers
of robberyS7#Newspc~pers of the week
contained criticism
regarding the rice deal ana the Government. The newspapers
were in a race to write against the Government. The newspaper
Pothujanam wrote
ar'i editorial, "Andhra Report in Arabian Sea",
criticising the views of the GovernmenP8,
The press inaulged In vulgur language and vituperative
epithets, there were eclrtorials written r'lewspapers in such language
64 Deeplka, 12tr March, 959
65 Mathrubhmrr 11, 1 ;3th March, 1959,
66 Mathrubhoorrli, 1 8th March, 1959.
67 Kerala J~nutii~a,
1 8th March, 1 959.
68 The Pothujariarrr newspaper 19th March, 1959. The
Pothujanam newspaper wrote that even if the communists
marched with flags and snoutect "Andhra Report in
Arabian Sea, the! history of this day robbery would not
fade out".
69
as to distract people away from the normal methods of functioning
and frorn creative ac:t~vities69 The press engaged in horrible gutter
type of journalism, wh~chis difficult to imagine. It was of a calculated
political campaign. A large number of newspapers were cornered
by the opposition parties 70.
The Govanrrient's reaction to the report has been two
fold: (1 j It has questio~leclthe propriety of the Commission to
comment on what Government should or should not do (2) It has
remained silent on the question of avoidable loss to the state
exchequer. The Governrr~entpropaganda has concentrated on the
first point and overlook, the second. It has thus reacted by saying
that there is nofhing to t
crshamed of in the judicial verdict or in the
c ~ t
deal corltracted by the
government.
in a statemerit issued with the Report, the Government
also said that it could riot accept as "Universally applicable", the
commission's approac n of "absolute inviolability of the principle
of competitive tenders and pr~niciplesof routine administration". It
added that it wais
01-1
this basis that the commission found there
was avoidable loss iri the rice deal.
t)V Austin H. /lndclmy of t n e Keralu Coup, New Delhi, 1959,
p 13
[U Ib~d,
p 13.
70
The Government took its stand on the virtue of "a
negotiated contract"', L~etweenthe state and the other party,
which it said was a question of state policy. It also defended itself
by supporhng the
central Government's views that there should
be state trading in focd gram
The Government tried to defend its stand in the legislative
assembly and amorly the public. The Government's declaration
argued that the leglsative assembly in its 1957 May meetings
requested the Gowrnrrlent to purchase rice at any cost and run
the ratron shops7', The Government also held the view that the
attitude of the people permitted them to import rice at any cost
even if there was bss
Popular newspapers and political leaders urged for the
resignation of the C;overnment
Pattom Thanupillai,
the F?S.f?
Leader declared that me Government has on right to continue in
office and asked lhe people to prepare for a mass agitation to
compel the Governme17tto resign at this hour of grave peril in
7
, GOV~S
declarclrtlori on 2 1 -3-1 959 against Report of Justice
PT. Raman Nc~rrp. 2.
7::
lbld, l: 4
the history of the stalei3. But the Government was not ready to
step down. It used all rr~ethodstcb justify the deal. V.R. Krishna lyer,
Minister in the Cornn-~unrstGovernment, used his knowledge and
experience in law
ana literature to reject the enquiry report and
protect the ministry7" The ministers and party leaders scornfully
laughed at critics, ana even more scornfully at the Judge 75.The
opposition parties came out openly with a threat of direct action
against the ministry
01-1
the issue of corruption in the Andhra
rice decrll'
Soon the h d e r s of the Congress, the F?S.Fand the Muslim
Lecrgue met and issuecl a call for mass agitation against the
ministry. Upon ibis call cllf the opposition parties, 15th April 1959 was
observed as anti-cc:rruption day77. Mass meetings
and
demonstrations through out the state were called for the resignation
of the ministry. Wherl the assembly met on 6th April, all the
opposition M.L.A.'s staged a walkout on the issue. Throughout the
session they insisted cm the resignaflon of the corrupt ministry.
;;I3 The Hindu, IVladras 1 7 blurch, 1959.
4
KC:. John, opclt I? 3 1 C
75 Uainikkara Mdmanabhu Pillci, 0p.ci1, p. 179.
;:'6Jose Chander op. cit. c 139
77
Ibid, p 140.
The charges against the Communist Party and the
Government were unfamiliar to the people and were rather
unprecedented. For instance, it was alleged that they institutionalised corrupti~n'~.Tt-~eEnquiry Commission had observed that
the agent
in
the 4ice Deal was known to K.C. George, the
cornmur~istfood minister, and was formerly an active member of
the party;lv. There was grave suspicion that the communist party
had beriefitedaO,Even ufter the publishing of the enquiry report
the suspicion continue?dm
'.
It is clear that the Government of Kerala has been at fault
in the Rice Deal. Enquiry reports point to neglect and inefficiency of
the Government. m e Government refused to admit that it had
been at fault. This attitude of the Government led to wide range
opposition of the people. The Andhra Rice Deal incident was a
beginning of a large scale opposition of the people against the
Government
78 R. Rarnaluishrrcl~
Nair, Op. cit., p. 40.
7 9 Nossiter, Con'rrm~nismID Kerala, p. 163
80 Nossiter, Marxi:il Stcxte Govts in India, p. 77.
8r
K C John, Senior J<wrnairstand former correspondent, limes
of lndla daily, expresses the view that "suspicion sustained
among the pc;o~le"
,