Splurging on yoga
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 24 2015 -

It was after the installation of the Modi government that yoga came to the fore simply because Modi is a yoga enthusiast.

The other day the whole country practised yoga without caring two hoots for the time and money wasted on this new life style for the rich while the poor are fighting a losing battle for survival.

Some leaders have announced yoga plans, the most spectacular one involving Rs 26 crore. These are obviously aimed at dazzling Modi for obvious reasons.

The chief minister who brazenly made the announcement involving Rs 26 crore must be knowing that farmers in his state had committed suicide unable to pay back loans or provide even scratch meals to their families.

Several hundreds of persons had died of sun stroke as there is no roof over their heads or that people are forced to defecate in the open since they have no money for the construction of simple toilets.

The situation is more revolting in the Northeast region whose governments and people have been nursing the wounds for divesting their states of the special category status.

Being cash strapped states with very limited revenue resources these states cannot finance various developmental projects and most of the ongoing projects may be abandoned.

The movers and shakers of the Modi government ought to have taken this important developmental factor into consideration.

Today Assam is reeling under flash floods. Though number of casualties is mercifully low several villages are reeling under the impact.

Many ferry services linking remote villages and riverine islands had been suspended in view of the high water levels.

Tarun Gogoi has done the right thing by discouraging the yoga shows at a time people in the insulated villages are denied medicare, food items and other basic facilities of life.

A few millions of rupees which were squandered in such elitist pastimes in other Northeast states could have been used on feeding the starving people or providing other basic necessities to the neglected sections of people.

Instead of unquestioningly supporting any whim of Modi and other BJP leaders to curry favour the people including the senior leaders of the party should restrain them so that the badly needed money is used on the welfare of the ordinary people.

Sycophancy should be sloughed off and there should be a loud and unified protest against senseless splurge of money.

Instead of highlighting the nation wide yoga programme with visuals and indepth reports the committed print and visual media could have done some plain speaking how many tears could have been wiped away from the faces of the downtrodden underprivileged persons in the country with the money wasted on yoga.