A 'clean' council meeting

KOCHI: When was the last time someone said 'excuse me' or 'thank you' at a Kochi corporation council meeting? On Friday, regular attendees of the council meeting, who are more familiar with expletives and swearing by councillors, were given a pleasant surprise by city students who participated in the 'student council' held at the corporation.
The students gave a master class on etiquette, decorum and decency to councillors even when they expressed their disagreement or raised an argument on implementing cleanliness programmes in the city.
Students, representing both the ruling front and opposition, were patient and willing to listen to the other side and showed their appreciation for the 'positive aspects' presented by the opposition.
When opposition councillors, led by Aravind S Nair, came down heavily on the corporation for "not effectively implementing the Clean Kochi programme" and pointed to the "lack of follow-up measures and dust bins in the city", deputy mayor Aswathy Anil came to the rescue of mayor Sanal Simon.
"It is not just the ruling front which is responsible for the successful implementation of the programme. The opposition too has a responsibility to the society, and you cannot absolve yourselves from it," she said.
The council meeting had a single agenda — creating awareness on cleanliness. After heated debates and discussions, the mayor declared the agenda as "approved", and reminded all participants on the collective responsibility of maintaining a clean and green city.
When asked whether they wanted to join politics in future, the reply was a firm "no" from Sanal Simon, a student of Assisi Vidyaniketan public school, Chembumukku. "I want to be a doctor, and would prefer to do my higher studies in medicine."
Even though Aswathy's performance won the praise of mayor Tony Chammany, the student from Government Higher Secondary School, Mayor Tony Chammany and deputy mayor B Bhadra imparted training to 74 students from schools within the city limits. The local body held the programme in association with Rajagiri Outreach. The student council was being held after a gap of 20 years.