What is it that Manipur wants? Lay down the agenda
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 20, 2021 -

What is it that Manipur wants?

That answer should ideally lie in the result of the Assembly election scheduled in the early part of 2022 but as the past has shown, elections come and go, but Manipur continues to lag behind in almost every sphere of life. br />
In fact so low is the expectation from any Government, that a bandhless, blockadeless, strikeless period is deemed to be an achievement and this is what the present BJP led dispensation has been trumping as their calling card whenever they go around addressing the people.

This in a sense is pathetic and reflects the extremely low expectations from any Government.

On the other hand, this does not mean that the people in general are not interested in the exercise that comes every five years and this is a point that can be illustrated in the manner in which some supporters of certain candidates have gone about wreaking havoc and even placing live and spent cartridges near the residential gaie of anyone they deem to be against the candidate of their choice.

When was the last time the people set down the agenda for all the political parties and candidates to follow ?

Are the agenda spelt out by the different political parties and different candidates and sold to the public-the voters who decide who should represent them-or does it entail the opinion and likes and dislikes of the people ?

These are questions which every legible voters of Manipur should be raising and putting it straight to all the intending candidates.

Instead of asking what the candidates intend to do, why not spell it out in clear cut terms what the people want ?

Or is this asking too much from the public ?

If the answer is yes then definitely they deserve the Government they elect and if it is no, then time to raise their voice now, while there is still time.

It is the interest of the people the elected MLAs are going to represent in the Assembly and not their interest which they have laid down in the name of the public. Time to get this point very straight.

In plain words, it is the voters, the people who should be laying down the agenda of what they want their representatives to do and not what the representatives think is what the people would want.

It is this culture why Manipur has been staring at the same situation down the decades, without much change. No high sounding fundas here.

In plain words, what the people would want are roads that can be called roads in the 21st century and not some dirt track.

This observation is made in the backdrop of the present existing conditions of the leikai roads in every Constituency.

Water supply is another thing which need the immediate and sincere attention of the Government and the best way to convey this would be to the people who are seeking the blessings of the people to elect them.

Why are water tankers still doing brisk business? The answer to this is simple and to the point.

It is because piped water is yet to reach many households.

How about power supply?

Why do so many families, particularly those who can afford it, feel it necessary to have a battery charged inverter or a generator as stand bys in case the power supply decides to play truant ?

These are questions which should be raised now.

Why do transformers get blown out or become defunct so regularly?

Aren't there mechanisms to check the quality of the transformers being installed at the various points in different leikais and leiraks?

These are basic questions which should be raised now and laid down by the people.