REPORTS that the Rs 23 crore, slaughter house project will now be taken to Garo Hills should come as a wake up call to those whose habit it is to raise the banner of protest against every project under the sun. Meghalaya has seen a series of protests against development projects, many of which would have benefited the people if they were completed on time. As it is, projects take a long time to be conceived and the business of getting funds for them is also tedious. But just when they are about to be implemented you have some dissonant voices which want to halt the process without as much as a public consultation. The irony is that projects like coal and limestone mining, quarrying and other acts of environmental degradation continue unabated without any public outcry. What is this supposed to mean?
There is an inherent suspicion about all government projects. Normally the suspicion is based upon who benefits from land acquisition etc. Even the road widening project on NH 40 and 44 is delayed because those who have earlier agreed to part with land have changed their minds. So too the Shillong by-pass which should by now have become operational. It is amazing that there is no civil society to hold a counterpoint to those who wish to halt development. Civil society is by nature a tenuous entity. It is not accountable to anyone. So can civil society take a decision that is counter productive for the larger population? But this has been the trend in Meghalaya. For those who have conceived the project and also got the money for it, these bottlenecks can be very frustrating. Can we blame the bureaucracy for being on tenterhooks about most things? Half the time they are afraid of taking decisions lest they be hauled over the coals. It is time for the people of Meghalaya to learn to debate issues of public importance and to resist the attempts of a few to hijack projects which could benefit the largest number of people. Many would wonder why anyone would oppose a slaughter house. In fact the younger generation which is knowledgeable and have seen a better world outside Meghalaya would agree that an abattoir is an attempt to make animal slaughter a more hygienic process. It is time they educate their wilful elders not to be pessimistic, negative and anti-development?