 Good afternoon sirs and ma'am. Thank you. I am Arya Neem. Yes sir. Yes sir actually it was because my grandmother was an ardent devotee of Lord Asparvati. So once I was born she was like we should give her a name of Lord Asparvati. So Arya is one among the names of Lord Asparvati. What is the common name in Kerala? It's a very common name in Kerala sir. So how's your training going on? Yes sir I am into Indian Postal Service and 6 months now in training. It's going good sir. Great. Where is it? In Ghaziabad sir. In Ghaziabad? Postal Service. Yes sir. In the director? Yes sir PM Lass. Your father is in labour business? Sir he was in labour department of Kerala. Now he is retired. What is the famous labour issues? What problems? What is the problem? Sir in fact my motivation to get into service. itself was my father. So he was part, he raised from the lower cater. He ended as a clerk. Then he got promotions and become regional joint labour commissioner. So throughout his journey he has been very grounded and he was always ready to help people. So there were even people blue collar workers who used to come our home to seek help from him. So people need to be more aware about the provisions they have like the rights they have which derive from the labour laws. So he was always ready to help them. And once we had this conversation. So when he was saying like I cater to the demand of only a section of people. The labourers. If you can be in civil services you can touch the lives of more number of people. So in fact his inspiration for me sir. Look at the latest about labour law and issues. Is it that they have money in the industry to take up? Sir for that case there are multiple factors. Kella as you know is a geographically a very small state. So the availability of raw materials for industries is very less there. And also sir we are more into the service sector. So most of our population are either expatriates or who are working in the tertiary sector. Sir this sector because industries have not been established yet. How to establish? Sir actually it's a structural transcription sir. Directly from the agriculture we went to the service sector. Because of the high availability of education literacy and also. And also this factor is already there sir. Because of the community's legacy. Kella formed the first elected community government in the world. So obviously people's knowledge. Especially the labourers knowledge about labour laws and all are very well. So the exploitation aspect or rather adamant advocacy for their own rights is always there sir. And what kind of industry is going to take up? Sir they were not able to get proper facilities that they used to have. So one of the factors is that and you know sir as a part of the cooperative federalism. Competitive federalism that is happening. States are actually competing within themselves to provide better opportunities. So that they can improve the use of doing business. In that sense Telangana being an aspiring state. Which was recently formed as actually striving to get better business environment there. NSS in the context of Kella. NSS in the context of Kella. Nair service society. So Nair service society was formed by Manak Patmanabhan in 1900s. So there Manak Patmanabhan himself was a social reformer. Who were part of bringing up the societies which were. The downtrodden section of the societies which were not actually represented. So he was formed. He was prominent part in the freedom struggle also. And more than that. He was actually involved in building educational institutions for the community. And also. How is more in politics? Sir NSS as such is not that much a vocal factor in politics. Though the union is there. Their play in the mainstream Kella politics is very little compared to other dominant castles. Do we have elephant day? Elephant? Day. Yes sir. It was on 12th of September sir. Any other day? Yes sir tiger day. Have you seen elephants in Kella? Yes sir. They are part of temple procession sir. Why that? Sir I never saw one in direct sir. I have heard news in which this human animal conflicts normally happen. So that is especially in the areas where forests are close to or plantations are nearby. Are these elements creating some drop of the trees also? For the? Human also? Yes sir. Human animal conflict these days is. Yes sir. Sir especially in the Idiqui-Vayanad regions where forests or plantations are more. So what is being done to avoid that? Sir today like just now I was reading the Hindu newspaper. The government is taking over many of the plantations which are very close to the forest areas. So that they can reduce the impact of human animal conflicts. And the animals such will have a better environment to leave them. Sir in Idiqui we have tea plantations. In my district Kottem we have rubber plantations. And in Vayanad and all spice plantations are there sir. And in Liyanpati? Liyanpati is also in Vayanad sir. Huh? Vayanad. Oh sorry sir I am not sure. You are not seen? No no sir I haven't seen. Okay okay sir sorry. Dams in Kerala. Sir we have a number of dams. The one almost everyone must have heard is Mulla Periyar dam issue. So that's a very old dam and it was made of surki. That's a kind of not so reinforced concrete which was in during the colonial times. So sir there is ongoing issues going about the safety of the dam. Because it is very old and Kerala. I am unable to recall the exact numbers. This is the biggest dam? Biggest will be Idiqui dam sir. These dams may be not a problem in the three years back in Kerala. Ah yes sir especially during the last Kerala floods which was many years after Kerala witnessed such a large scale flood in Kerala. Sir it was a combination of man made and natural factors sir. The insistent rainfall which was distributed not over a long period. It was in a very short period. Along with some issues with the dam management was also there sir. Aaliyah has Kerala lasted to the COVID. This is the only state which has such high numbers of cases. Sir off late I should admit that there has been some flows in the policies that the Kerala government is following. One thing in the beginning Kerala was the first state to report a COVID case. And in that phase we were really confident to trap it. But off late what has happened is there was an opening up in Bitvein. When there were not so number of cases for the elections and other festivities. So that has accelerated the number of cases on one. Second thing the all of us must have read in newspapers that the latest zero prevalence survey by ICMR has pointed that Kerala the antigen prevalence is just 40 percentage. So many of the people have been protected from the first wave. But that currently they are being affected by the second wave. Any difference in policy between those which was given by Haleja teacher and the new person. Sir basically the policy is remaining the same. But the thing is this opening up and second thing is the relative less prevalence of zero. And the third thing is also that we were following a first line treatments in the oriented policy in the first wave. But off late we are more focused on to home isolation. So what is happening is in many houses in Kerala many of the people are not so aware about the isolation strategy. So one in the house if they are testing positive it is highly probable that all the individuals in the house are testing positive. That is also one of the reasons why high number of cases are coming in. Can you tell us about Kottayam district? Sir Kottayam is famous for three L's latex letters and lakes sir. And Kottayam is also popular for being the first 10% literate district in the state as such. And the Kottayam had the first for the L part lakes because it has the Wemburnaat lake the legumes. And latex because the rubber research institute of India is located in Kottayam Kerala Kottayam. And also it has many rubber plantations. And for the letters part the first printing press the whole country was established in CMS college premises in Kerala sir. The Kerala governor recently said that you know brides would be banned from Jalleri advertisement. Brides photos of brides should be banned from Jalleri advertisement. Can you connect this to something that has recently happened in Kerala? Yes sir dowry related deaths have happened of late that too in a last number. So this is one of the main issues sir because dowry is seen as a symbol of status in the country. Especially in Kerala because there is an increasing inclination for gold jewelry. That has some historical factors as such. Added to that the patriarchal system which is in prominence which see women as a property. Which is being in transit from one home to the other. And along with that some property or gold has to be transferred with them. And the student of sociology they say that dowry deaths, suicides that's on one side. And on the other side you have high literacy, high education. What is this contradiction? So it's a great anomaly which I myself has found interesting sir. One part is that Kerala has advanced in terms of HDI like health, education per capita income. But still that primordial values of patriarchy are still resilient in the society as such sir. Rather than that women themselves has to be more assertive, they have to be financially independent. That is one of the factors that I found itself lacking sir. Kerala has very high participation of women in the Pandayati level and childhood level. But compared to states like Tamil Nadu or UP or even West Bengal. We don't see senior leadership by women. We have never seen a woman see a minister in Kerala. Yes sir, we never had a women chief minister as such. So there are two angles to this. One thing is that women empowerment is so perversive in the country in the state as such. So that we don't need like we should symbolize a women as chief ministers to showcase our women empowerment. That is one aspect. And the second is sir, though we have participation of women at the lower cadres. At the higher cadres there are very less number of women. So in this it is like a replica of the entire country as such. So in that sense, I think Kerala has to improve in terms of the political participation of women in the higher cadres. What is this upcycling? Sir, upcycling is a kind of creative reuse. So in which you actually get use of something which is not of so much of value. And then you use your artistic skills and use it to usable objects. Plastic Waste Management Amendment Board. Sir, roughly even today I have come across that India Government is going for complete ban of single use plastic by 2022. Kerala State have already implemented it in 2018. And rather than that, we have to be totally assured that the recycling of plastic has to be in place. And also the classification of plastic into single use and multi use and the quality of plastic which is of recycling grade has to be promoted. Do you think it will be possible to ban single use plastic because there are no alternatives? Sir, alternatives are in place sir. Actually the cloth, fabric based actually holders which we see these days are alternative to single use plastic. Also it is more about the behavioural change that we should bring in sir. If we start behaving like we are taking our carry bag with us when we are going to the shop then it can bring a lot of change sir. Last question. Malayalam Short Stories. Can you tell me one of the stories that you have written and please explain the plot of it? Sir, the latest one I have written is about the COVID pandemic and the separation of women. It's actually inspired from the experience of one of my friends. She was engaged to a long time relationship. So what happened is like he was working in UAE and their marriage was supposed to happen in April last year. She was waiting for that and unfortunately we lost him there sir. So it is all about that longing for someone to come back and how she could lose. BIMS Tech. Sir, Bay of Bengal initiative for multi sectoral cooperation in economics. So it is more about the Bay of Bengal literal states and it is seen mostly. Bay of Bengal initiative for multi sector. Multi sector technical and economic cooperation. So it is more about the literal states of the Bay of Bengal. And it is mostly seen as alternative for SART which due to the India-Pakistan high solutions. So you pick up the odd country in this grouping. Which country you will pick up? One country is in BIMS Tech. It is called Bay of Bengal initiative. One country is we can find it very odd. One member country. Afghanistan sir. Nepal and Bhutan are also there sir. Afghanistan is in SART. This is not in SART. Nepal and Bhutan are there. Why they are all? Because they are not actually literal states but they form an integral part of the South Asian continent sir. What is the status of BIMS Tech now? What is the accomplishment? Sir BIMS Tech has actively contributed in the different kinds of activities like the disaster management part. Also the trade connectivity across the states is also an important part. Especially the IMT trilateral highway and all that. What is that highway? Sir it is to connect the, it is part of the Lucas policy, activities policy of India. That is to provide connectivity to the northeastern states through Bangladesh. And it is part of that to improve our connectivity to Southeast Asia as well sir. So the thing is like sir though it has been envisaged as a part of this maritime cooperation. We are yet to get more of it sir. India is leading on the impact of change in Myanmar politics on this BIMS Tech initiative. Sir India has been vocal about democratic politics sir. But the coup that happened in Myanmar actually places our apprehensions because the Myanmar army there are having human rights violations and other issues. So India to engage with a military, a dominant military dictatorship is having issues sir. I always say BIMS Tech is not a very big success when it comes to India. Because they are not able to, they aimed very high for so many years. But on the ground nothing has come out tangibly. Can you, what are the tangible things? Nothing has come out. Just talking, talking, talking. Sir, tangible outcomes in that sense might be minimal. But the thing is like India aiming to be a net security provider in the region, Indian Ocean region. To have a maritime security status and all that we need the support of the... In India may say so many things. I will provide security provider in the Indian Ocean. Who is bothered? Sri Lanka is not bothered. Myanmar is not bothered. Bangladesh also talking, they are having a South Asia plus China grouping and Sands India. All empty rhetoric we are speaking, right? Sir, in between we have lost hold on these countries that is so sure. But if you, if we have seen through the latest news Sri Lanka is willing to come back. They are actually, we have lost on the port project in Sri Lanka to China. But Sri Lanka actually have realized because of the checkbook diplomacy that China is following. They are facing great debt there. So I hope the goodwill that India holds is going to increase only. So in that sense, sir, all the countries would be in India as the leader of South Asia, sir. Okay. Can you think of some initiatives of India to counter... Sir, we are extending a line of credit, sir, to counter the checkbook diplomacy of China. And also India is actively into rehabilitating the refugees. So in that sense, India is trying to build that goodwill. And India is also aiming to get the best container terminal right now. That is one part. Counter that debt. If Hamantra port is this thing, they will build it as one of the major ports in the future for this entire region, right? Yes, sir. So, do India have any plans of countering through some other port in India or Indian territory? Sir, India is actively involved in building strategic locations, be it the Chabahar port in Iran. And India is also actively involved in building its maritime security aspects. So, seeing the Lakshadeep or Andaman-Nikoba Islands, we are developing it into strategic locations. The recent optic fiber connectivity to Lakshadeep and Andaman-Nikoba Islands can be seen as a part of this, sir. Okay. Gold smuggling case in Kerala. Yes, sir. The gold smuggling was prominent in the news. But in the related to gold smuggling involving the diplomatic personnel, there are other few cases also. Can you say what are all those cases? I didn't get to, sir. The gold case, there is an involvement of UAE diplomats, right? Yes, sir. In the related to the gold case, offsuit of this gold case, few other cases also came to the notice of the government. Can you say? Sorry, sir. If it is about the smuggling and related dollar smuggling also, I mean, accusations are on, sir. I am not so sure because I am right now in Gazebath. I am following news from the national dailies only. How long you are in Gazebath? Sir, for the last six months. For the last six months only, no? Yes, sir. This all happened before the 20th? Sir, gold smuggling and related, there was a busting of rackets which were actually involved in the smuggling. Busting of the gold smuggling rackets. That is okay. Gold is one. Any other smuggling? Sir, drugs also, off late. Involving embassy? No, sir. Not involving embassy, sir. I am sorry, sir. I am not able to. Okay. How Kerala society is different from number one? Rest of the South Indian states and number two, North Indian states. Number three, Northeastern states. Sir, South Indian states, I have visited Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. One of the important factors that I have noticed is that the level of education in Kerala society is really high. People are really aware about their rights and they will go any extent to gain that. And about the North societies. That means I ask you to distinguish between Kerala and rest of the South Indian states. When you say literacy is high, other states literacy is low. You want to say like that? No, sir. The impact of literacy on people's awareness of rights, that is what I wanted to focus, sir. Because I have been in Karnataka for field attachment in the last three months. One thing that I have observed people, even though they know that this is their right, they are really in subservient position there, sir. They will come, request and all. But in Kerala, what I have seen from my father's experience. At the level of maturity, you know, there is more than awareness. Sir. At the level of maturity. You can say Kerala is the first venture, attitude, everything I will raise and ask questions. Don't you see in that way? No, sir. Sorry to differ in that, sir. I think if we have a right, we should be really vocal about that. And to get something, we should not be requesting more. What are the differences? Sir, other difference, one thing I observed is, especially with respect to the Northern states, I have been on offices here. So in the Northern state, still the remnants of feudal culture is there. That Babudam, which we call us. So civil servants are more of less seen as gods, demigods. In Kerala, you can never feel that, sir. So if you are an officer, good for you. Nothing else, sir. I have never been to any Northeastern states, sir. I read in social, right? Yes, sir. In Northeastern states and then Kerala, especially with respect to my community, one parallel I can draw is the prominence of matriarchy or matrilineal systems. In Northern states, it's mostly patriarchal and patrilineal. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Ma'am, it dates back to almost Mahabharata times. I read from. So some of the small nation states then used to do this. I'm not really aware about how the independent times, from the independent times itself, this was there in India, ma'am. Mostly it is in India, ma'am. Its variance is found in some other South Asian countries also, ma'am. I'm not able to recollect, ma'am. Talking about literacy rate in Kerala. So what continues to the higher literacy rates in Kerala? Ma'am, what can the other states do to increase the literacy rates of their states as well? Ma'am, it has a historical factor usage. As you know, Kerala had some princely states and the kings were really involved in the education of the masses. While as we know in British times, it was mostly the top-level literacy and they were not actually bothered about the literacy of masses. So one is the historical factor, ma'am. And the second is the government initiatives in Kerala. The involvement of government in public education, especially the health and education sectors is very ramen there. You can find high-quality schools, government schools where students can go and study without paying anything. And also that is a generational impact, ma'am. If the first generation gets high education and gets better employment, that obviously motivates the lower gen, the next generations to involve in education, ma'am. For STEM, there are few government who take up STEM and fewer who pursue STEM. So and the fewer ones who pursue STEM, they also lead this career and join other, you know, areas like, you know, future. So how can this situation be improved? Ma'am, this is famously not as the leaky-pies phenomena. As the flow increases, the number of people who reach the end service will be very less. So one of the important factors about this is most of the research-oriented activities in STEM requires long years of investment. Women, mostly because of their other responsibilities which the society expects from them, were not able to dedicate that much of a time for this. So in that sense, one thing that we can do is the government of India have come up with scholarships for women in the science, technology and other engineering services. So I, myself, has been a recipient of one of those scholarships where meritorious women candidates will be provided free of cost education in engineering, ma'am. And the other part is providing more employment opportunities for women, especially the Kiran scheme, all these invasages, more women in technology sector and also providing them assistance and backups and making the STEM environment more gender-friendly, ma'am. Ma'am, my clarity came up actually during my final year exam time, ma'am. What happened was like I had a severe hepatitis A infection and I was in my home for almost three months. So it was the time I closely observed people coming to meet my father and the kind of interactions that they were having. I was already in the phase of getting a campus placement. Then I thought like hefty some may not satisfy what I need actually. So job satisfaction, it will be better here, ma'am. That's why I shifted to this. Okay, so one last question. Intolerance in India. So it's discussed mostly in the framework of religion and caste. What are your expectations? Ma'am, India has been widely celebrated as a very eclectic state, ma'am, where the mixing of religions actually have happened. India is the only state which has been welcoming to all other religions. That is why we see this diversity of religions here, ma'am. So off late, if that threats of tolerance have been increasing, that is mostly because the behavioral changes in human beings are such, ma'am. One of the main things I would love to explore more about this is, ma'am, the linkage of politics with religion, the rise of communalist trends. So people normally use religion for their own vested interests. So that is one of the main reasons why off late there has been increasing intolerant events, ma'am.