KOCHI: A group of eminent persons from different walks of life joined hands on Thursday to launch a forum to fight corruption in public life called ‘ExcelKerala’ to position them differently on the socio-political platform. The initiative is led by whistleblower DGP Jacob Thomas.
The personalities included film directors Sathyan Anthikaad, Lal Jose, Sreebala K. Menon, actor Sreenivasan, writers Paul Zacharia, Dr Iqbal Kuttipuram, Balachandran Chullikkad, Muse Mary, Dr Khadeeja Mumtas, Ashokan Charuvil, activists M.K. Sanu, M.N. Karassery, Dhanuraj, advocates Jayas-ankar, Harish Vasud-evan, D.B. Binu, M.R. Rajendran Nair, legal expert N.R. Madhava Menon and travel enthusiast Santhosh George Kulangara. The first meeting was held in Kochi. They said that the platform enabled open exchange of information on governance, aimed at reaching the targets of prosperity and excellence in Kerala envisioned in the Agenda 2030 of the UN.
Sathyan Anthikkad said that certain current trends in politics needs to be resisted and the forum will work towards fostering a culture against corruption. “If the corruption in a particular sector is reported, the expert from that field will prepare a report and submit it before the forum, based on which a policy will be drafted on the issue and intimated to the authorities concerned. Thus we plan to influence the authorities. Students too will join us. We will have a say as our numbers grow,” Sathyan Anthikkad said.
He also said that this forum would not be an organisation and it will not have a president or secretary and it will not dabble in politics also. “The 10 UNDP principles of good governance form the basis, to assess the current governance methods and public leadership, observing deviations that affect achievement of the targets of development, emphasising the anti-corruption theme of zero corruption-100% development. Everyone interested and affected by governance is invited to post information on the above, which are expected to be picked up by partners and associates for research, debate, thematic studies and other follow up actions,” says the website http://excelkerala.in/home about the objective of the forum.
