THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s the Accountant General’s Office that holds government departments accountable, but who will bell the cat? At least that’s what an eight-member team from the Kerala AG’s Office here which attended an inter-office South Zone Cultural Meet in Bangalore is wondering. Their complaint is that their colleagues in Karnataka had cheated them of the prizes by rigging the event. If you think that amusing, there’s more. A dismayed Kerala team has shot off a letter to the Principal Account General, Karnataka, complaining about the irregularities in the conduct of the event! The Kerala team thinks it has reason to be angry. The contestants, led by Jecintha Morris A, welfare assistant, Principal Accountant General’s Office, Kerala, spent considerable time and effort perfecting their skills just for the event. Now it has all gone to waste, they lament. The inter-office South Zone Cultural Meet was held in Bangalore on October 12 and 13. The Kerala team participated in solo and group song, instrumental music, skit/short play, classical and folk dance. To exhibit the skills, some of the team members even underwent professional coaching. But participants from Karnataka used recorded music like Karaoke for solo and group song competitions, a privilege denied to other contestants. Likewise, the Karnataka teams had the support of other musical instruments for the instrumental music competition.Time allotted for each event also varied from individual to individual during performance, especially for skit/short plays, goes the complaint. Classical and folk in the event dance/folk dance, as mentioned in the order form, were not judged separately, says the enraged Kerala team. The number of persons mentioned for each event was also violated with Karnataka allowed to enter more persons for the folk dance event. The compering also favoured the decision of judges, as the achievements and specialities of the Karnataka participants were announced before the judges during each event, creating a favourable impression of the local lads. Special time was given to the host team, so that one member was allowed to participate in more events. The participation certificate too was not issued properly as individuals who did not contest on the Kerala side were included in it. End result: Kerala team secured only a second prize in solo music. But that’s more or like a consolation prize as none of the members will be able to participate in the national cultural meet, say the disappointed contestants.
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