Our country is developing well and Indian Railways and Maharashtra government are doing a laudable job. The rainy season is expected to arrive in few weeks and steps must be taken to conserve rain water by building ponds and new reservoirs. Management of rivers and canal is a specialist job and we must utilize services of experts in this field. Our population is growing at a faster pace which has become a major cause of concern for the government. We do not have enough resources to support the growing population. The government has failed to address this issue and is wasting time by criticizing the erstwhile UPA government for the controversial Agusta Westland chopper deal. It also alleged that a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the case was hindered by the then United Progressive Alliance government. The then defence minister and Congress leader AK Antony, meanwhile, said that the UPA had already instituted an inquiry and cancelled the contract and that it was for the BJP to expedite the probe. The government could have instead taken steps to manufacture helicopters to give boost to the defence sector.
Most of our MPs and ministers know very well that all deals, defense or other procurements, have always been finalized through the agents (middle men). Some agents are registered while many of them are unregistered. Ministers come and go but officers and their personal secretaries continue and get promoted etc. It will be better if ministers spend time detailing how they will set up desalination plants and recycling plants paving way for water conservation.
Steps must be taken to provide safe drinking water straight from the kitchen tap. Clean water, non-polluted air and responsible citizenry are necessary to qualify as a developed nation. There are no teachers in Primary schools. Primary health centers are inadequately equipped and there is shortage of electric power in rural areas. Our legislators need to discuss about these aspects instead of blaming each other for various scams. The tax payers hard earned money is being wasted by discussing irrelevant issues in the Parliament. Many cases at lower levels can be disposed off through Gram Panchayats ( supervised by local level officers). Few days back Newmakers had taken an initiative to provide financial assistance to the kin of farmers who had committed suicide. This initiative must be undertaken at Gram Sabha level under the supervision of Tahsildar. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought Rs 11,000 crore for purchasing tankers which will transport water to drought hit regions of the state. On the other hand, the BJP criticized the UP government for its failure to address drought situation prevailing in Bundelkhand. It had failed to take any long-term measures to check the perennial problem and also alleged massive corruption in relief work. The state government had rejected the centre’s offer to transport water through trains to parched areas of Bundelkhand.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)