By Patricia Mukhim
Many wonder why in this day and age we still listen to boring, insipid lectures from politicians. Personally, I find the content of their speeches so predictable that I want to push ear-plugs in and shut out the speechifying. But this also means just one thing – politicians believe we are cretins who can be fed solid amounts of claptrap which we will presumably take as Gospel. And we can’t really blame them for taking the unengaged electorate for granted. We are a people that do not believe in incisive, probing questions. Most times we are in awe of these self-styled leaders. I say self-styled because one of the principles of true leadership is to groom others and make way for them to lead. A leader they say should never be missed. Here we have leaders who push their luck much beyond their shelf lives and are so insecure that they will never create space for anyone else. Look at PA Sangma taking away his daughter’s seat. If you ask me, Conrad Sangma would have been a better bet for this era of Youngistan. He is well-read, well-educated and has what it takes to lead Meghalaya in this country of 1.3 billion people.
Coming to probing questions, Vincent Pala, for instance, would not stand scrutiny if he were to be questioned by a probing media on a one-on-one about listing all he has been able to achieve in his 5-year tenure. I saw a media clip recently where he was almost dismissive about what he is going to do if re-elected. He said he would stress on skills training so that our youth get employment. But what sort of skills training? Is it locally appropriate? Or are we simply churning out hordes of youngsters for the hotel and service industry? Is he even keeping track of what the people who have been skilled are actually doing? Are they still in their jobs after the placement or have they packed up, returned home and disappeared into the jungles?
This is the 21st century and we need not only to leap-frog but to actually jump several processes to catch up with the world. We need economic reforms which none of our MP candidates are even remotely referring to. India’s growth rate has slipped into the 4.8-4.9 % range. The rupee continues to wobble and there are no investments in new projects. Foreign Direct Investments have dried up. When the BJP left the corridors of power after it was voted out in 2004 the growth rate was somewhere in the range of 8.5 %. The UPA has muddled up everything with its incoherent policies (straddling between state controlled socialist models and speaking of liberalisation in the same breath). In the 10 year tenure of the UPA there were more doles than the revenue generation that the state could manage. No tangible assets are created and it is difficult to assess what rights based schemes like the MNREGA, RTE and RTF have achieved. Are people more aware of their rights to claims their dues from the state or have they been reduced to “beneficiaries” which is a euphemism for continued dependency on political patronage?
This election season we should all be reading Hindol Sengupta’s book, 100 Things to Know and Debate Before You Vote.” Sengupta dedicates the book to his parents. He says, “To my parents, who always said, ‘We are simple, middle class people. All this politics is dirty and violent. It is not for us.’ Sengupta thinks otherwise. He believes every citizen, whatever his/her station in life, has the right to debate, discuss, enquire into issues and question the candidates. One sentence in the book is educative. It says, “Polls are fought in India in the name of the poor. But the people, who can actually do something for the poor, have at best a fractured and hazy knowledge about who the poor are and what they need.”
Since this is a national election, it is time for people here too to think nationally and stop bitching about each other on petty issues. There are 11 reasons to worry for India today. (1) Only 16 countries outside Africa had a lower gross national per capita than India in 2010. (2) Life expectancy at birth in India is now three years shorter than in Bangladesh. (3) Child mortality is 24 per cent lower in Bangladesh than in India (4) Social indicators of Nepal and India are nearly the same today, though per capita income in India is three times that of Nepal (5) In every count, adjusted to every metric, China spends much more on public health than India (6) At the poverty line income of around Rs 30, in Delhi a person can get 1 kg of rice and ride a bus for three stops (7) The proportion of women in Lok Sabha has never risen beyond 10 per cent (8) Only 5 countries outside Africa, have lower female literacy rate than India (9) Only 4 countries fare worse than India in child mortality. They are Afghanistan, Haiti, Myanmar, Cambodia and Pakistan (10) Only 3 countries have lower levels of access to sanitation than India. They are Bolivia, Cambodia and Haiti (11) No country, not even Africa, has a higher number of underweight children than India.
These are alarming statistics and they apply to us in Meghalaya as well. But do we hear any of the candidates talk about them? Are they even aware of the challenges facing this country today and how the MP is expected to contribute his mite to mitigate the maladies? The UDP at its meeting in Rynjah recently tore apart Dr Mukul Sangma and the policies of the MUA Government. When senior members of the Party were asked why they did not focus on what their candidate would do if elected and about the UDP roadmap for its MP, the answer was laughable. It seems the UDP wanted to contain the Congress wave. As if there is any wave. There are strong winds this season but this has nothing to do with politics. It’s nature at its best. And who has heard of a Congress wave this time around? The problem with all political parties is that they do not have a strategic think-tank or a communication strategy. Every party believes it can indulge in bluster and people will get carried away. Well this election will surprise many.
Just to refresh Mr Vincent Pala’s memory since he was at one time the minister for Water Resources, his ministry informed Parliament in 2012 that groundwater in 158 of 639 districts in India had turned saline. In 267 districts, groundwater had excess fluoride. In 385 districts it had nitrates above permissible limits and in 53 districts there was arsenic in the water. High levels of iron in water was found in 270 districts. Over 80% of drinking water in India comes from groundwater sources. Water containing fluoride, arsenic and other chemicals affects everything, from bones and teeth to the nervous system. Sengupta’s book says large parts of India are drinking poisoned water. Is the water in Jaintia Hills still potable, Mr Pala? Do we know its quality? Have you done anything to redeem the poisoned rivers? These are real questions and are not aimed at taking pot-shots at anyone. World Bank experts say that in the next two decades, 60% of all aquifers in India will be in a critical situation of scarcity and contamination. This is frightening since India is the largest user of groundwater in the world at 230 cubic kilometres of groundwater every year which is a quarter of the global total. What is the status of our groundwater in Meghalaya?
According to the World Bank India is one of the countries where people have to spend maximum from their pockets in private healthcare as opposed to government paid healthcare or insurance. Between 2008 to 2011 India moved from 87.1 % privately paid healthcare to 86 %. China is at 78.8 %. The World Health Organisation estimates that at least 3.2 % of Indians are falling below the poverty line each year because they cannot afford healthcare. The poor become poorer due to unaffordable healthcare. Are any of the candidates talking about our abysmal healthcare in Meghalaya?
The above are serious issues but none of the candidates are bothered about them. Why? Do we still want to waste time listening to lectures? It’s time to show the wannabes that we mean business and our votes should speak this time.
