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Ms. Vandana Subramaniam, IAS comes from a family with strong moral and religious inclinations. She is the DM of a Hindu majority district with substantial Christian population. There is only one goodtown-hall in the district headquarters controlled by the estatedepartment underthe DM.Every year Easter festival is celebrated in the Hall. This year Easter coincides with a well-known Hindu festival and both groups have asked for the same hall. Earlier Hindus used to celebrate this in the premises of a religious-social serviceinstitutionbut this yearthat hall is under renovation.
What should be her decision from an administrative standpoint?
1. She should not rent the hall to either group
2. She should pass an order not to rent the hall to any religious group in future.
3. She should rent the hall to Hindus as they represent a far larger segment of the population of the district.
4. She should rent it for Easter as has been done in the past.
In this context action as either at (1) or (2) will be over reaction. Just because on one particular day two festivals have coincided the DM need not be jittery, and ban future allotment.
Action as at (3) does not followthe principle of equity. Everyyear the Christians holdthe cultural activities in the hall. The demand from Hindus has come because of a special situation. It would not be correct to accommodate that special situation and tell the Christians to go elsewhere. She should follow the well set precedent.
Action at (4) is correct. If the Hindus complain, they should be explained the reasons for favouring the trodden path. The DM may use her good offices to find a suitable venue for the Hindu congregation.