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Educated fraudsters increasing in society, says Veerappa
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Karnataka Upa Lokayukta B. Veerappa addressing the inaugural session of the grievance hearing programme at Poojya Shri Channabasava Pattadevar Rangamandir in Bidar on Friday. | Veerappa on Friday expressed concern over the rise of “educated fraudsters” in society and said the Lokayukta had emerged as a nightmare for corrupt officials by ensuring accountability and punishment for wrongdoers.Inaugurating a grievance hearing programme for complaints registered in Bidar district at the Poojya Shri Channabasava Pattadevar Rangamandir in Bidar, Mr. Veerappa said the Lokayukta was one of the strongest and most autonomous institutions in the country, which had, in the past, taken action against even Chief Ministers and Ministers.He said citizens facing difficulties in securing services or justice could approach the Lokayukta, which would take steps to resolve genuine grievances. The institution had also initiated suo motu proceedings in several cases involving public interest and has delivered justice, he added.Mr. Veerappa said the Lokayukta had conducted raids against several officials involved in corruption and those found possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Officials who failed to discharge their duties responsibly had been taught appropriate lessons through legal action, he said.Recalling his tenure as Chairman of the Legal Services Authority, he said nearly 1.8 crore cases had been resolved through extensive outreach programmes conducted across villages. Many problems could be solved if both officials and citizens responded responsibly, he observed.He urged citizens and government servants alike to fulfil their respective rights and duties. Complainants, he said, should pursue their grievances to their logical conclusion without fear and without withdrawing midway. Social and voluntary organisations should actively fight injustice, he added.Expressing concern over ethical decline, Mr. Veerappa said officials should not treat public office as a licence for corruption. “While many honest officers continued to serve with integrity, corrupt officials were still too many. Educated fraudsters and anti-national elements are increasing in society,” he remarked.He cautioned against the pursuit of wealth through dishonest means, saying ill-got money ultimately brought misery. “Many officials who had amassed huge fortunes through corrupt practices had later led unhappy lives and regretted their actions,” he said.Stressing the importance of values and character, Mr. Veerappa said children must be taught good values from an early age. “Corruption could be eradicated only if society became more value-based and ethical. Society remembered personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, Basaveshwara, and Subhas Chandra Bose for their contributions, not merely for the wealth they accumulated,” he said.The Upa Lokayukta also noted a growing trend of false complaints and said nearly 40,000 such cases were pending. Filing false cases was a punishable offence carrying up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine, he warned.A total of 123 complaints were taken up and resolved during the hearing. During the proceedings, Mr. Veerappa issued directions to several officials and instructed that they complete pending works within the stipulated timelines.Deputy Commissioner Shilpa Sharma, Lokayukta Deputy Registrar Aravind, Judge Raghavendra Upadhye, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Girish Badole, Superintendent of Police Pradeep Gunti, Deputy Conservator of Forests Sumit Kumar Patil, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shivanand Karale, and Lokayukta Superintendent of Police C. Siddaraju were among those present. Published - June 19, 2026 07:29 pm IST
G.Aravindan during the making of the documentary ‘Contours of Linear Rhythm’ on artist Namboodiri, produced by Chalachitra Film Society Cinema is not something one would usually associate with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), but it was the birthplace of Chalachitra Film Society, which played a key role in nurturing a vibrant community of film enthusiasts in Thiruvananthapuram. The Society turned 50 this week.Back in 1976, four VSSC employees - George Mathew, K.N.G. Kaimal, S.B. Jayaram and M.N.D. Nair -- decided to take their own decisive steps into the film society movement. The quartet had already discovered the wonders of independent cinema and world cinema through the Chitralekha Film Society, founded by filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Kulathoor Bhaskaran Nair and others in 1965.“By the 1970s, the Chitralekha Film Society had started weakening a bit and we wanted to do something to take the film society movement forward. We decided that the new film society would not be limited to VSSC alone, but would be based in Thiruvananthapuram city and open to the general public. Soorya Krishnamurthy, who was back then a young engineer in VSSC, also offered to help us. People working in various sectors soon joined us and the society was registered with 18 members,” says George Mathew, one of the two surviving founding members.The group wanted their first programme to be big enough to make a wide impression. Just as they intended, the seven-day film festival featuring some of the remarkable independent films of that era, became a huge draw. The Kalpana Theatre at Pattom, which has now been replaced by a shopping complex, was the venue of the festival, inaugurated by the then Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon.Most of the films were obtained by the society members directly approaching the filmmakers and securing the print. The films which were screened included Mrinal Sen’s Chorus, Satyajit Ray’s Devi and Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Mani Kaul’s Aashad Ka Ek Din, B.V.Karanth’s Chomana Dudi and G.Aravindan’s Uttarayanam. “Though Uttarayanam was made in 1974 and won a National Award in 1975, it was yet to have a public screening due to the issues with the producer. We took a lot of effort and convinced the producer that the Chief Minister wanted to watch the film. Since it was the first public screening, Aravindan asked us to let his wife Leela and son Ramu also to watch the film by paying the ticket fee of ₹5. We were supposed to pay ₹7,000 per day to Dawood Sahib, who owned the Kalpana Theatre, but he told us to not worry about the money as attracting such a big crowd for the kind of films being screened itself was a big deal,” reminisces Mr. Mathew. Filmmakers G.Aravindan and Shaji N.Karun, artist Namboodiri with members of the Chalachitra Film Society By the time the festival was over, the film society’s membership had increased to 400. Soon, Mrinal Sen came down to the city for a retrospective of his film organised by the Chalachitra Film Society. By 1977, the membership increased to 1,400 and Tagore Theatre became a permanent venue. New memberships were frozen for a decade due to lack of space to accommodate all members at the screenings. In 1980, the film society launched ‘Close Look’, a film magazine, which was popular among film buffs during the years that it was published. A special edition of the Chalachitra Film Society’s Close Look magazine on Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini “By 1985, with the popularity of television programmes, the film societies began weakening. Still we continued to soldier on with initiatives like film festivals focussed on a particular country every month. In 1996, we launched the Trivandrum International Film Festival, which continued for 18 years. The Society has also been presenting the Aravindan memorial award since 1992,” says Mr. Mathew.The Society even ventured into production, by funding Aravindan’s documentary ‘Contours of Linear Rhythm’ on artist Namboodiri. Though hardly active n
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