If it is for the people ...
- Imphal Times Editorial :: February 13, 2021 -

Notwithstanding the plethora of development measures being taken up by the State Government aimed at improving the quality of life of its residents, the sense of satisfaction and achievement has been lacking in everything that has happened here in the collective minds of the majority of the population.

A slew of promises have also been made on an increasing frequency, the ultimate fate of which has not yet been ascertained. The trend is not one of recent origin.

Successive parties and Governments, without any exception, have carried out the same modus operandi of garnering votes and ditching the promises made afterwards.

The question here is not how much the Government has done for its people, as it is a given that the Government is there for the very purpose of providing governance, utilizing the resources at its disposal for the betterment of its people.

A more important and pressing question pertains to the manner in which the precious resources at the disposal of the State Government are being utilized to maximize the rate of development and progress.

It is no secret that the heads of state, entrusted with the task of overseeing and regulating the development of the state as a whole, has been playing hide and seek with their responsibilities while utilizing more than their fair share of the rights.

They have evidently lost their connection with the real world, cocooned inside their own safety arrangements.

The everyday travails of the common man being a thing of make belief.

The ever increasing congestion and traffic snarls being faced by the common man does not concern them, as their way has been cleared and guarded by their cronies and security guards and insulated from the grime and dirt, not to mention the deafening sound of vehicles jostling for space in the narrow roads on which shoddy repair works have been carried out in fits and starts.

The inconvenience in compounded by the perennially flashing orange lights along every intersections and junctions, serving nothing in particular.

The everyday ordeal does not end when an ordinary person reaches home after a hard day. Greeted with a dark and chilly welcome, the wait for one’s quota of electricity becomes an all consuming obsession for those who are not fortunate enough to have the right influence or the means to afford a VIP line.

And the whole cycle starts from the very moment one wakes up, with the efforts to collect the precious water which the PHED so generously provides every other day for a few minutes, the quality of which is better left unsaid.

And these inconveniences are for the city dwellers. Imagine the plight of those who could only dream of being in such a place as Imphal.

Without going into the details of the deficits the government has so prominently and frequently vocalized, it should be made clear that the most important thing lacking with the present government is the political will to make things happen.

Providing clean water, adequate and fair distribution of available power to the people and upgradation of road and other basic infrastructures does not call for someone with qualifications of a rocket scientist.

More than anything, a proactive and transparent approach with a genuine concern for the betterment of the common man will work wonders in making a visible and positive change.

That will be the greatest gift the government can give its embittered people.