The haunting shadows
- Imphal Times Editorial :: January 20 2018 -

There has been a visible increase in the development works being initiated in the state of late.

These activities, if being brought to a fruitful conclusion, should propel our small state into one with adequate infrastructures and public amenities for replicating the success stories of places like Thailand, Singapore and even Vietnam which was considered a poor man’s tourist destination only a few years back, but which have managed to accelerate their tourism-centric infrastructures to such an extent that there has grown a number of exotic tourist destinations which only the well-heeled could afford.

The potential for our state to be developed into a thriving tourist hotspot cannot be stressed enough, and it undoubtedly will become one, if the Act East policy comes into full effect, whether we are prepared for it or not.

The niggling doubt that has been occupying the minds of the people who are eagerly awaiting the promised changes is a definite time frame for successful completion without the cost overrun that has been the hallmark of public infrastructure development.

However, a deeper look into the causes would reveal a dark undercurrent that is threatening to engulf the whole strata of public dealings in the state.

The looming shadow of violence and influence has permeated every contract and supply works to the extent that every development work are now being allotted according to the hierarchy at which a contractor, immaterial of whether registered or not, has reach and proximity.

Credibility and sincerity has become the least important criteria for allotment of works, while the number of shadows one has behind one’s back is the one most important factor that clinches the deal- any deal.

Money speaks louder that honesty and mammon worship has become the new religion of choice.

It would not be much farther from the truth to state that material gain and not progress is the most important consideration, whether while governing the state or mobilizing the naïve public by certain vested interest for their own material gains, taking advantage of the lacunae in the administration and spawning sky-high ideologies.

The gullible people, meanwhile, ended up being caught in the crossfire, a collateral damage that will be written off and entered in the books of statistics.

The convenient oversight of the Government on the innumerable undesirable things that is taking place in the administration needs to be checked.

The earlier those at the helm of affairs realize this anomaly and actually initiate action to rectify it, the better will it be for all.

And the onus of proving that the government has enough political will and strength to come out of this quagmire rests with the leaders who have doled out enough promises and hopes with folded hands at the election rallies, else the multiplying shadows behind their backs will obliterate them as well.