Jagiyal Dist : In Telangana, ‘Sukka’ and ‘Mukka’ (a drop of liquor and a piece of meat) play a key role in religious and cultural celebrations. Whether it is a government official or an alms-seeker, everybody enjoys the festival in ‘high spirits.’ Unfortunately for the forest officials of Jagtial, their Dasara party time was interrupted by a few journalists who swooped into the Forest Range Office in Jagtial on Friday night, October 11, to find a few officials drinking and making merry in the backyard of the office.
“I am an idiot, sir, I am an idiot,” said a forest official when questioned about his identity. Another official, who introduced himself as the deputy range officer, asked the journalist if he was not human and if he couldn’t even have his food.
The forest officials explained that they have a party every year on the occasion of Dasara. However, the journalist questioned the choice of venue for the party. “This is a government office. How can you drink here,” he questioned the officials.
Initially, when the journalist attempted to shoot the video of the party, an official held his hand, trying to stop the journalist from recording what was happening. The journalist asked him to leave his hand.
After the misadventure, the forest officials left the venue dejected, and probably having developed animosity against the journalists, as they feared action from their higher-ups on the festive occasion.
It can be mentioned here, that in rural areas, journalists gang up to seek ‘Mamool’ from different government departments, especially on the occasion of an important festival or an event. When some journalist is left out of the collection, incidents like this one get exposed, while the real issues are hardly reported.
A pertinent question that needs to be raised is, why is it acceptable to drink inside the Press Club, but not in the backyards of the government offices. Does the Press Club have no sanctity?