CSIPASS,Puthiyara(A Fellowship of CSI Puthiyara Church members.(CALICUT(Kozhikode)-4,Kerala,South INDIA).This is a Registered SOCIAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION under the Indian Societies Act, working for Social Justice,rights and benefits of church members and engaged in Social Work. We are not against any Laymen,Bishops,Priests or Church workers.But we are here to expose the people who give disregard to the Laws of the Land.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
SUGGESTIONS FROM CHURCH MEMBERS
I give these suggestions knowing fully well that I am not "Current" and may not even be "relevant". Those on the ground will have to take these and do with it whatever they feel is the best for the FUTURE of our Basel Mission Community.
I was born fully into that community, baptized,confirmed and married in the Basel Mission Church and educated in that community institutions. I guess that gives me a certain privilege to write these.
Here are my thoughts:
There has to be changes that will give the elected leaders at the Diocesan level the final say in any transactions involving our properties, institutions and in the appointment of members to their governing Boards.
The issue of the legality of CSITA should be looked into & dealt with .
There should a majority of elected LAY members in the major standing committees of the Diocese.
Sale, use or rental of properties attached to each parish or congregation has to have prior approval of the concerned Pastorate Committee & also the Diocesan council.
Realizing that currently there are enough younger qualified and experienced members of our community available people who are asked to lead the Boards&Managing committees of our institutions should be of age less than 70.
Programmes and activities will have to be devised & planned to keep the Malabar Basel Mission Community Continually mobilized, including?especially the younger members .
Our Basel Mission Identity & heritage has to be preserved& nurtured without any dilution.This involves larger social context.
My dear friends, I have no personal motive in writing these except the satisfaction that I am trying my best though distance& time keep me away from the current realities in our Diocese& in CSI in general.
I understand that I still have the option of corresponding with you in future?
With much love& Best Wishes,
Jayakar(David Jayakar Daniel) ----------- An open letter to the officers of the diocese for consideration.
Inbox
Add star
JACOB REGINALD
Attachment 25 July 2011 15:26
To: jayapal.samuel@gmail.com
Bcc: jeevanandjohn@gmail.com
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From 24.07.2011
D. Jacob Reginald, Phone: 9447613860
IX-79, Laksham Colony,
Munnar – 685 612,
Kerala.
To
All the Officers of the Diocese,
Diocesan Office,
Shoranur.
Respected Officers of the diocese,
Warm greetings in our Lord’s most precious name.
I praise the Lord for having heard the cries of everyone who are concerned about the happenings in the diocese and brought a change in the administration. I congratulate both the interim administrators who conducted elections and yourselves and other members who won the elections for the various positions. God has given a great responsibility on your shoulders to take the diocese forward. May God bless you all and use you to the glory of God in a wonderful manner. I hope that you will discharge your responsibilities in a fair and just manner. I take this opportunity to give a few suggestions among various other aspects which came to my mind to make our diocese, the No.1 amongst the entire dioceses of CSI:
Spiritual Development and Evangelism - As stated in the constitution, we should give priority for the spiritual development of the entire families of the diocese and reaching the unreached of this country. The department of mission and evangelism should be strengthened with the induction of pastors and laity who are interested in the area. Our church believers should be motivated to reach the unreached neighbors being effective witnesses and service. We should have yearly target to start new worshiping groups or churches.
Youth, teens and children – Our children should be counseled and cared in a proper manner taking the present social circumstances into consideration. Youth, teens and children are misguided and they need lot of counseling. We are required to give special concentration to our children. We can think of forming a 24 hour helpline to our youth/teen who are in trouble for the diocese and even for the public. We should also conduct career counseling sessions for students of our diocese. The diocese level youth competitions are often conducted in namesake manner and concerned people don’t take interest that is required. Our traditional songs are totally neglected and the youth of our diocese should be motivated to learn the traditional songs. The beautiful histories of such songs should be narrated to the congregation.
Missionary societies - The missionary societies which are associated with CSI and recognized by the Synod may be allowed to share their ministry experience to our churches to revive our churches. Their experiences will inspire our believers to sacrifice and win the unreached for Christ.
Corruption and injustice - We must take a pledge to root out corruption from our diocese. It is absolutely essential to exhibit transparency in the entire functioning of the diocese. A system like the one provided in the Right to Information Act may be put in place in the diocese to get any information by any communicant member with regard to property deals, minutes of the committees, appointments etc. from the diocese. The minutes of the General Body or Pastorate Committees or other committees or District councils should be circulated to the church members immediately but not later than 7 days of the meetings by way of displaying on the church notice boards. Minutes should be prepared in the particular meetings itself. All members of the church have the right to know what is happening in the diocese. It is pertinent to note that since June 2008, my request to the Bishop to give a copy of the agreement made with SN group in Munnar by the diocese is pending till date. That itself proves that something corrupt has taken place in the entire deal.
Disciplinary action - During the tenure of the present Bishop so far, he has totally acted against the principle of natural justice and debarred or dismissed the laity. This must be stopped. Whether it is clergy or laity, the principle of natural justice should be exercised if pastorate committee is bypassed. The church constitution should not be misused. When people like me were debarred from the General body for filing cases, members like Aron James who filed cases against moderator is still a member of the diocesan council. It is ridiculous.
Grievance Procedure - Any grievance given by members either to diocese or to the various committees should be redressed then and there. This is one of the important area and when we fail, matters are taken to streets. Just because, the bishop was deliberately sitting on an appeal against Munnar pastorate’s election, a member namely Mr. Bhagiaraj filed a case and the Munnar elections still in a mess. There are so many instances in the diocese.
Amendments to the constitution - Certain clauses of the constitution is totally detrimental to the development of the diocese and should be amended. General assembly of all the churches should be conducted at least once a year and accounts of the pastorate should be passed in the assembly. A copy of the accounts passed by the G.A. should be sent to the diocese for information by each pastorate. If church assemblies are conducted regularly in a proper manner, matters will not be taken to streets. The constitution should be translated in Malayalam and Tamil and should be made available on demand.
Economically weak amongst the Laity - Each pastorate should find out the families which are economically weak besides members suffering from deadly diseases and the diocese should help them in all possible manner. A certain percentage of jobs in the diocese should be reserved for such families. The scholarships to the students should be enhanced several folds and we should make arrangements to disperse the payment at district level itself in the presence of scholarship committee members.
Marriage counseling - This should not be made compulsory whereas every year there should be an annual counseling camp or bi-annual camp for teens/youth over the age of 16 years and married couple separately with the participation of experts. The presbyters should not deny the conduct of the marriage under any circumstances quoting this as a deficiency which is illegal.
Training for the Clergy, elected representatives and Church workers – Regular training should be conducted to equip them better in communication, inter-personal relationship, leadership qualities etc. with the help of experts.
Salary & amenities of full time workers – Considering the cost of living and other aspects, they should be paid well in par with the benefits being given by other dioceses. Economically weak full time workers should be identified and helped by the church in all possible manners. Whereas there should be norms or ceiling for the usage of electricity, phone bills, etc. as many are misusing such amenities.
Under utility of experts amongst our members – God has blessed this diocese with several prominent personalities (Rtd. IAS/IPS officers, Rtd. Professors, Judges, Defense officers etc.) who have enormous experiences in various fields. Such people are not utilized gainfully by the diocese. They must be approached and they should be co-opted to different committees as a special case to make such committee’s functioning very fruitful.
Suggestion scheme - The diocese should invite suggestions from the members of the diocese on various issues so that concrete steps could be taken on various issues.
Women power – Mother groups should be encouraged to pray and visit church members regularly. They may be encouraged to form area prayer groups which will strengthen the fellowship. The church workers or pastors may keep an eye on such prayer groups without making much interference.
Self assessment of full time workers - All the full time pastors and church workers may be given a diary to make entries about their daily activities to assess their own performance by themselves. An annual assessment should be done by a panel of clergy for each presbyter and accordingly they should be encouraged to perform better.
Planning – The diocese should have annual plans, bi-annual plan and five year plan etc to achieve various projects and to go forward with the development even if there is change in the administration.
Like the above, you may have got lot of suggestions from several quarters. My slogan is that be transparent and just, then there won’t be any problems in the diocese. I hope that positive steps would be taken by your good selves for the development of our diocese.
With kind regards and prayers,
Yours sincerely,
Jacob Reginald.
c.c. The Executive Committee Members
I was born fully into that community, baptized,confirmed and married in the Basel Mission Church and educated in that community institutions. I guess that gives me a certain privilege to write these.
Here are my thoughts:
There has to be changes that will give the elected leaders at the Diocesan level the final say in any transactions involving our properties, institutions and in the appointment of members to their governing Boards.
The issue of the legality of CSITA should be looked into & dealt with .
There should a majority of elected LAY members in the major standing committees of the Diocese.
Sale, use or rental of properties attached to each parish or congregation has to have prior approval of the concerned Pastorate Committee & also the Diocesan council.
Realizing that currently there are enough younger qualified and experienced members of our community available people who are asked to lead the Boards&Managing committees of our institutions should be of age less than 70.
Programmes and activities will have to be devised & planned to keep the Malabar Basel Mission Community Continually mobilized, including?especially the younger members .
Our Basel Mission Identity & heritage has to be preserved& nurtured without any dilution.This involves larger social context.
My dear friends, I have no personal motive in writing these except the satisfaction that I am trying my best though distance& time keep me away from the current realities in our Diocese& in CSI in general.
I understand that I still have the option of corresponding with you in future?
With much love& Best Wishes,
Jayakar(David Jayakar Daniel) ----------- An open letter to the officers of the diocese for consideration.
Inbox
Add star
JACOB REGINALD
To: jayapal.samuel@gmail.com
Bcc: jeevanandjohn@gmail.com
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original
From 24.07.2011
D. Jacob Reginald, Phone: 9447613860
IX-79, Laksham Colony,
Munnar – 685 612,
Kerala.
To
All the Officers of the Diocese,
Diocesan Office,
Shoranur.
Respected Officers of the diocese,
Warm greetings in our Lord’s most precious name.
I praise the Lord for having heard the cries of everyone who are concerned about the happenings in the diocese and brought a change in the administration. I congratulate both the interim administrators who conducted elections and yourselves and other members who won the elections for the various positions. God has given a great responsibility on your shoulders to take the diocese forward. May God bless you all and use you to the glory of God in a wonderful manner. I hope that you will discharge your responsibilities in a fair and just manner. I take this opportunity to give a few suggestions among various other aspects which came to my mind to make our diocese, the No.1 amongst the entire dioceses of CSI:
Spiritual Development and Evangelism - As stated in the constitution, we should give priority for the spiritual development of the entire families of the diocese and reaching the unreached of this country. The department of mission and evangelism should be strengthened with the induction of pastors and laity who are interested in the area. Our church believers should be motivated to reach the unreached neighbors being effective witnesses and service. We should have yearly target to start new worshiping groups or churches.
Youth, teens and children – Our children should be counseled and cared in a proper manner taking the present social circumstances into consideration. Youth, teens and children are misguided and they need lot of counseling. We are required to give special concentration to our children. We can think of forming a 24 hour helpline to our youth/teen who are in trouble for the diocese and even for the public. We should also conduct career counseling sessions for students of our diocese. The diocese level youth competitions are often conducted in namesake manner and concerned people don’t take interest that is required. Our traditional songs are totally neglected and the youth of our diocese should be motivated to learn the traditional songs. The beautiful histories of such songs should be narrated to the congregation.
Missionary societies - The missionary societies which are associated with CSI and recognized by the Synod may be allowed to share their ministry experience to our churches to revive our churches. Their experiences will inspire our believers to sacrifice and win the unreached for Christ.
Corruption and injustice - We must take a pledge to root out corruption from our diocese. It is absolutely essential to exhibit transparency in the entire functioning of the diocese. A system like the one provided in the Right to Information Act may be put in place in the diocese to get any information by any communicant member with regard to property deals, minutes of the committees, appointments etc. from the diocese. The minutes of the General Body or Pastorate Committees or other committees or District councils should be circulated to the church members immediately but not later than 7 days of the meetings by way of displaying on the church notice boards. Minutes should be prepared in the particular meetings itself. All members of the church have the right to know what is happening in the diocese. It is pertinent to note that since June 2008, my request to the Bishop to give a copy of the agreement made with SN group in Munnar by the diocese is pending till date. That itself proves that something corrupt has taken place in the entire deal.
Disciplinary action - During the tenure of the present Bishop so far, he has totally acted against the principle of natural justice and debarred or dismissed the laity. This must be stopped. Whether it is clergy or laity, the principle of natural justice should be exercised if pastorate committee is bypassed. The church constitution should not be misused. When people like me were debarred from the General body for filing cases, members like Aron James who filed cases against moderator is still a member of the diocesan council. It is ridiculous.
Grievance Procedure - Any grievance given by members either to diocese or to the various committees should be redressed then and there. This is one of the important area and when we fail, matters are taken to streets. Just because, the bishop was deliberately sitting on an appeal against Munnar pastorate’s election, a member namely Mr. Bhagiaraj filed a case and the Munnar elections still in a mess. There are so many instances in the diocese.
Amendments to the constitution - Certain clauses of the constitution is totally detrimental to the development of the diocese and should be amended. General assembly of all the churches should be conducted at least once a year and accounts of the pastorate should be passed in the assembly. A copy of the accounts passed by the G.A. should be sent to the diocese for information by each pastorate. If church assemblies are conducted regularly in a proper manner, matters will not be taken to streets. The constitution should be translated in Malayalam and Tamil and should be made available on demand.
Economically weak amongst the Laity - Each pastorate should find out the families which are economically weak besides members suffering from deadly diseases and the diocese should help them in all possible manner. A certain percentage of jobs in the diocese should be reserved for such families. The scholarships to the students should be enhanced several folds and we should make arrangements to disperse the payment at district level itself in the presence of scholarship committee members.
Marriage counseling - This should not be made compulsory whereas every year there should be an annual counseling camp or bi-annual camp for teens/youth over the age of 16 years and married couple separately with the participation of experts. The presbyters should not deny the conduct of the marriage under any circumstances quoting this as a deficiency which is illegal.
Training for the Clergy, elected representatives and Church workers – Regular training should be conducted to equip them better in communication, inter-personal relationship, leadership qualities etc. with the help of experts.
Salary & amenities of full time workers – Considering the cost of living and other aspects, they should be paid well in par with the benefits being given by other dioceses. Economically weak full time workers should be identified and helped by the church in all possible manners. Whereas there should be norms or ceiling for the usage of electricity, phone bills, etc. as many are misusing such amenities.
Under utility of experts amongst our members – God has blessed this diocese with several prominent personalities (Rtd. IAS/IPS officers, Rtd. Professors, Judges, Defense officers etc.) who have enormous experiences in various fields. Such people are not utilized gainfully by the diocese. They must be approached and they should be co-opted to different committees as a special case to make such committee’s functioning very fruitful.
Suggestion scheme - The diocese should invite suggestions from the members of the diocese on various issues so that concrete steps could be taken on various issues.
Women power – Mother groups should be encouraged to pray and visit church members regularly. They may be encouraged to form area prayer groups which will strengthen the fellowship. The church workers or pastors may keep an eye on such prayer groups without making much interference.
Self assessment of full time workers - All the full time pastors and church workers may be given a diary to make entries about their daily activities to assess their own performance by themselves. An annual assessment should be done by a panel of clergy for each presbyter and accordingly they should be encouraged to perform better.
Planning – The diocese should have annual plans, bi-annual plan and five year plan etc to achieve various projects and to go forward with the development even if there is change in the administration.
Like the above, you may have got lot of suggestions from several quarters. My slogan is that be transparent and just, then there won’t be any problems in the diocese. I hope that positive steps would be taken by your good selves for the development of our diocese.
With kind regards and prayers,
Yours sincerely,
Jacob Reginald.
c.c. The Executive Committee Members
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Medical seats-for-cash scam Rocks csi south kerala diocese.-CCC letter.
CHRIST Centered Campaign (CCC) Newsletter No 30, July 16, 2011
Special Issue
Medical Seats-For-Cash Scam Rocks South Kerala Diocese
For sometime now it has been one of the worst kept secrets in CSI South Kerala Diocese. Widely rumoured was that crores of rupees were being pocketed by key diocesan officials and their agents every year through selling seats for upto Rs 50 lakh each in the CSI-run Dr Somervell Memorial Medical College in Karakonam outside Thiruvanathapuram. The college established in 2002 (and which gained Medical Council of India recognition in 2009) is attached to an over century-old Mission Hospital that traces its roots to the medical work of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Karakonam that began in the 1890s.
Rumour turned into scandal when Asianet, which is widely watched in Kerala, broadcast a story earlier this week that it had got hold of the list of some 50 students to be admitted under the CSI medical college’s management quota. This two days before the students were to take the joint entrance exam being conducted by 11 medical colleges in the state to determine admissions under the government and management quotas. The CSI college admits 100 students to its MBBS programme every year of which 50 are government seats, 35 are under the management quota (where the entrance exam marks also count) and 15 are under the NRI quota where the exam is not a consideration.
After it managed to lay its hands on the printed list of 50 students who were to get admission in the CSI medical college even before the exams were held, Asianet dug further. It’s reporter posing as a representative of the CSI called up some of the 50 students and their parents/guardians who unwittingly confessed to having paid church officials anywhere between Rs 20 lakhs to Rs 50 lakhs each in cash and with no receipt for the money paid. The actual video broadcast by Asianet and containing the confessions can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flq57o7oYaw
According to Asianet “All those who spoke to us admitted the money was accepted by the CSI management without providing any receipt. The students and their guardians confessed only after we made them feel that the call came from the CSI headquarters. According to those who spoke with us the money was collected by the treasurer of CSI located at the CSI headquarters at LMS in cash. The applicants were clearly told the amount was just a token and annual fees should be paid in extra. It is still mysterious, where the big amount is flown into. Investigations by us revealed some agents also worked in between. Nearly 8-9 crores has been collected so far by the Karakonam management, and the entire amount goes unaccounted.”
What was a local story in Kerala assumed national importance when it was widely reported that two Asianet journalists who accompanied a group of protestors that had gone to meet CSI officials on the scandal were assaulted. The Asianet reporter and cameraman were allegedly beaten up in the church compound and had their equipment damaged. This provoked some other journalists to descend on the LMS compound where police action resulted in head injuries to another reporter of India Vision TV. In Kerala’s super charged political climate it did not take much time for the Left-led opposition to jump into the fray. They staged a walkout of the Kerala Assembly protesting inaction by the Oommen Chandy government on the issue. The Chief Minister in turn announced that cases had been registered against 25 people and promised strong action against the guilty.
The incident has become a sort of baptism-by-fire for Rev Dharmaraj Rasalam, who was appointed Bishop of South Kerala only three weeks ago. The new bishop, whose consecration at the 105-year-old Mateer Memorial Church in Thiruvanathapuram has been announced for July 23, succeeds Bishop J.W. Gladstone who retired last December. Rasalam’s is a freak case of the runner-up emerging winner after the race had been declared in favour of his opponent. Rev. Dr. G. Sobhanam who had won the election to the Bishopric and was later confirmed by the Synod as the successor to Gladstone died suddenly before he could take charge. The Synod late last month appointed Rasalam, who had secured the second largest number of votes in the bishop elections, to take his place.
Unlike Sobhanam who as Vice Chairman of the CSI-run medical college hospital was a man in the know, Rasalam is an outsider to the politics and the machinations of the vested interests who control what is potentially the Diocese’s biggest cash cow. By taking donations in hard cash for management seats and not issuing receipts, these CSI officials have been depriving the diocese of crores of rupees that should have come into its coffers.
Analysts say the latest incident is in a way a God-send for Rasalam as it gives him an unprecedented opportunity to clean up the massive corruption in medical admissions and boost the finances of the diocese should he choose to do so. The big question is whether he has both the motivation and the ability to take on such a challenge. His predecessor Bishop Gladstone as Chairman of the Medical College Hospital did little to contain the rot. Asianet in fact reports that “Bishop JW Gladstone expressed grief over the fact that such an incident has occurred in the college of Bishop Somervell. The Bishop added faults, if any should be corrected.” Empty words from a man who had the authority to do just that but did nothing.
Interestingly, the Director of the South Kerala Diocese’s Medical College is none other than the Honorary Treasurer of the CSI Synod, Dr Bennet Abraham. Unlike the position of General Secretary of the CSI which is a paid post, the honorary status of the Treasurer’s function enables its occupant to concurrently hold another salaried job elsewhere. Sources close to Dr Abraham say he has serious differences with key CSI officials managing the admission process and had been upset with the manner in which seats were being bought and sold. There are some who believe that Asianet would not have got the list prepared by the diocesan officals but for Dr Abraham’s good offices, though the CCC is not making an allegation to that effect. What the CCC can confirm however is that Dr Abraham was last month actively involved behind the scenes in ensuring that Rasalam -- whose inexperience in relation to the medical college hospital is also an asset for those who want to influence him -- was appointed Bishop. In fact the CCC has reason to believe that Dr Abraham himself may have crossed the line as a conduit for unofficial resources deployed to ensure the outcome in favour of Rasalam.
The cash-for-seats corruption scandal in not peculiar to the South Kerala Diocese. It exists to different degrees in almost all CSI dioceses, particularly those where there are professional colleges being run by the church. In the Coimbatore Diocese, disgraced Bishop Manickam Dorai has been indicted by several investigations of taking crores from students seeking admission to the Ketti Engineering College. In Bangalore diocesan officials make money hand over fist every year selling seats in prestigious CSI-run schools in the city. Selling seats in educational institutions is a major source of corruption within the CSI. It not only weakens the moral fibre of the church and those who administer it but also deprives the institution of crores of rupees that would have otherwise come to it every year. Another variation of this malaise is taking of crores in cash for making teacher appointments to church-run institutions. This has the effect of the least suitable candidates for the job getting in thereby eroding the quality of the institutions themselves.
The CCC hopes that the new Bishop in South Kerala will use the opportunity afforded by the latest scandal to effect sweeping changes in how admissions are done at the medical college and set an example for the rest of the CSI on how to tackle the problem. Equally, the CCC hopes the somnolent laity of the diocese (it is an irony of sorts that Kerala’s high literacy has little impact on the rank indifference of CSI members regarding church governance) will wake up from their slumber and pressure the new bishop to do just that. For the moment we thank God for the Asianet exposé and recall what the Bible tells us: “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” (Luke 8:17) By the way, just in case you are wondering, we are fully aware of the applicability of this quotation to the CCC itself. We have no fear of the future for none of this is being done for anybody's personal glorification or someone's villification but only to take back the Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from the clutches of the many scoundrels who have debased it.
Special Issue
Medical Seats-For-Cash Scam Rocks South Kerala Diocese
For sometime now it has been one of the worst kept secrets in CSI South Kerala Diocese. Widely rumoured was that crores of rupees were being pocketed by key diocesan officials and their agents every year through selling seats for upto Rs 50 lakh each in the CSI-run Dr Somervell Memorial Medical College in Karakonam outside Thiruvanathapuram. The college established in 2002 (and which gained Medical Council of India recognition in 2009) is attached to an over century-old Mission Hospital that traces its roots to the medical work of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Karakonam that began in the 1890s.
Rumour turned into scandal when Asianet, which is widely watched in Kerala, broadcast a story earlier this week that it had got hold of the list of some 50 students to be admitted under the CSI medical college’s management quota. This two days before the students were to take the joint entrance exam being conducted by 11 medical colleges in the state to determine admissions under the government and management quotas. The CSI college admits 100 students to its MBBS programme every year of which 50 are government seats, 35 are under the management quota (where the entrance exam marks also count) and 15 are under the NRI quota where the exam is not a consideration.
After it managed to lay its hands on the printed list of 50 students who were to get admission in the CSI medical college even before the exams were held, Asianet dug further. It’s reporter posing as a representative of the CSI called up some of the 50 students and their parents/guardians who unwittingly confessed to having paid church officials anywhere between Rs 20 lakhs to Rs 50 lakhs each in cash and with no receipt for the money paid. The actual video broadcast by Asianet and containing the confessions can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flq57o7oYaw
According to Asianet “All those who spoke to us admitted the money was accepted by the CSI management without providing any receipt. The students and their guardians confessed only after we made them feel that the call came from the CSI headquarters. According to those who spoke with us the money was collected by the treasurer of CSI located at the CSI headquarters at LMS in cash. The applicants were clearly told the amount was just a token and annual fees should be paid in extra. It is still mysterious, where the big amount is flown into. Investigations by us revealed some agents also worked in between. Nearly 8-9 crores has been collected so far by the Karakonam management, and the entire amount goes unaccounted.”
What was a local story in Kerala assumed national importance when it was widely reported that two Asianet journalists who accompanied a group of protestors that had gone to meet CSI officials on the scandal were assaulted. The Asianet reporter and cameraman were allegedly beaten up in the church compound and had their equipment damaged. This provoked some other journalists to descend on the LMS compound where police action resulted in head injuries to another reporter of India Vision TV. In Kerala’s super charged political climate it did not take much time for the Left-led opposition to jump into the fray. They staged a walkout of the Kerala Assembly protesting inaction by the Oommen Chandy government on the issue. The Chief Minister in turn announced that cases had been registered against 25 people and promised strong action against the guilty.
The incident has become a sort of baptism-by-fire for Rev Dharmaraj Rasalam, who was appointed Bishop of South Kerala only three weeks ago. The new bishop, whose consecration at the 105-year-old Mateer Memorial Church in Thiruvanathapuram has been announced for July 23, succeeds Bishop J.W. Gladstone who retired last December. Rasalam’s is a freak case of the runner-up emerging winner after the race had been declared in favour of his opponent. Rev. Dr. G. Sobhanam who had won the election to the Bishopric and was later confirmed by the Synod as the successor to Gladstone died suddenly before he could take charge. The Synod late last month appointed Rasalam, who had secured the second largest number of votes in the bishop elections, to take his place.
Unlike Sobhanam who as Vice Chairman of the CSI-run medical college hospital was a man in the know, Rasalam is an outsider to the politics and the machinations of the vested interests who control what is potentially the Diocese’s biggest cash cow. By taking donations in hard cash for management seats and not issuing receipts, these CSI officials have been depriving the diocese of crores of rupees that should have come into its coffers.
Analysts say the latest incident is in a way a God-send for Rasalam as it gives him an unprecedented opportunity to clean up the massive corruption in medical admissions and boost the finances of the diocese should he choose to do so. The big question is whether he has both the motivation and the ability to take on such a challenge. His predecessor Bishop Gladstone as Chairman of the Medical College Hospital did little to contain the rot. Asianet in fact reports that “Bishop JW Gladstone expressed grief over the fact that such an incident has occurred in the college of Bishop Somervell. The Bishop added faults, if any should be corrected.” Empty words from a man who had the authority to do just that but did nothing.
Interestingly, the Director of the South Kerala Diocese’s Medical College is none other than the Honorary Treasurer of the CSI Synod, Dr Bennet Abraham. Unlike the position of General Secretary of the CSI which is a paid post, the honorary status of the Treasurer’s function enables its occupant to concurrently hold another salaried job elsewhere. Sources close to Dr Abraham say he has serious differences with key CSI officials managing the admission process and had been upset with the manner in which seats were being bought and sold. There are some who believe that Asianet would not have got the list prepared by the diocesan officals but for Dr Abraham’s good offices, though the CCC is not making an allegation to that effect. What the CCC can confirm however is that Dr Abraham was last month actively involved behind the scenes in ensuring that Rasalam -- whose inexperience in relation to the medical college hospital is also an asset for those who want to influence him -- was appointed Bishop. In fact the CCC has reason to believe that Dr Abraham himself may have crossed the line as a conduit for unofficial resources deployed to ensure the outcome in favour of Rasalam.
The cash-for-seats corruption scandal in not peculiar to the South Kerala Diocese. It exists to different degrees in almost all CSI dioceses, particularly those where there are professional colleges being run by the church. In the Coimbatore Diocese, disgraced Bishop Manickam Dorai has been indicted by several investigations of taking crores from students seeking admission to the Ketti Engineering College. In Bangalore diocesan officials make money hand over fist every year selling seats in prestigious CSI-run schools in the city. Selling seats in educational institutions is a major source of corruption within the CSI. It not only weakens the moral fibre of the church and those who administer it but also deprives the institution of crores of rupees that would have otherwise come to it every year. Another variation of this malaise is taking of crores in cash for making teacher appointments to church-run institutions. This has the effect of the least suitable candidates for the job getting in thereby eroding the quality of the institutions themselves.
The CCC hopes that the new Bishop in South Kerala will use the opportunity afforded by the latest scandal to effect sweeping changes in how admissions are done at the medical college and set an example for the rest of the CSI on how to tackle the problem. Equally, the CCC hopes the somnolent laity of the diocese (it is an irony of sorts that Kerala’s high literacy has little impact on the rank indifference of CSI members regarding church governance) will wake up from their slumber and pressure the new bishop to do just that. For the moment we thank God for the Asianet exposé and recall what the Bible tells us: “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” (Luke 8:17) By the way, just in case you are wondering, we are fully aware of the applicability of this quotation to the CCC itself. We have no fear of the future for none of this is being done for anybody's personal glorification or someone's villification but only to take back the Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from the clutches of the many scoundrels who have debased it.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
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