Marching towards election year Address the basics of governance
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The next Assembly elections will come in a jiffy, and while all talks around the next polls seem to centre on the question of whether the BJP will return or whether the Congress will emerge the biggest party, all political parties and their think tank seem to have always overlooked the most basic questions. Manipur does not and has never expected anything out of this world from whichever party is in power. What concerns the people and what the people want and what will benefit the place and the people is simple enough. The people want motorable roads, regular power supply, regular water supply, good law and order and an atmosphere where students can study peacefully and go after their academic pursuit. In short governance. This is what people want, but it is when the Government of the day fail to deliver on these simple and straight forward expectations that trouble can start. And it on these counts that successive Governments down the years seem to have failed to deliver. At the moment, the focus of the people is on free movement and the return of all the displaced people to the place they once called home, but the very fact that free movement is still a pipe dream and thousands continue to languish in different relief centres set across the length and breadth of the State reflects the failure of the Government to govern. Any Government worth its salt should concentrate on the points listed above and the other things should fall into their rightful place automatically. Ensure governance, show there is the rule of law, ensure that the bare basic amenities such as power and water supply are met with and things can certainly start progressing. It should say something significant that while the rest of the country and other parts of the world are talking about taking their people and the places to the path of development, the talk here is about walking the road to normalcy. A damning statement that sums up the reality that is Manipur. Let the Government do its job and efficiently at that and most of the points that have been mentioned here would have been addressed, but down the years it has always been the same. Free movement, as a subject has risen in prominence after Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023 and far from addressing this issue satisfactorily, Manipur is staring at another ugly reality, a reality in which people of Ukhrul have had to abandon the normal route while coming down to Imphal or while going back to Ukhrul from Imphal ! A damning reality it is that normalcy is still a topic to be talked about while in other parts of the country, the talk is about progress and development. The people do not want any talk centred on some high sounding fundas but just want to be assured of a situation in which they can turn on the TV when they want to, fill their water containers, go to sleep knowing that their children can go to school or college the next day and the Government is there to act whenever their security or existence is threatened.
These are the issues on which the focus of the people and the different political parties should be. And the very fact that this is being referred to here should go a long way in understanding how successfully successive Governments down the years have been in addressing the basics which concern the people. Can the people expect the Government, after the 2027 Assembly elections, to work and ensure that the basics of the people are addressed to ? These are the points which different political parties and their members too should be concentrating on. It stands that once the basics are taken care of, then the others can be addressed more satisfactorily. Healthcare, this is another aspect that the Government is expected to turn its focus on. The warm season is already upon the people and already mosquitos have started making a comeback. The troubling question is whether the Government is well equipped to deal with any emergent situation, such as if Dengue returns and stalk the people like in 2025 ? Work towards normalcy but at the same time ensure that the basics of living are addressed to satisfactorily.
These are the issues on which the focus of the people and the different political parties should be. And the very fact that this is being referred to here should go a long way in understanding how successfully successive Governments down the years have been in addressing the basics which concern the people. Can the people expect the Government, after the 2027 Assembly elections, to work and ensure that the basics of the people are addressed to ? These are the points which different political parties and their members too should be concentrating on. It stands that once the basics are taken care of, then the others can be addressed more satisfactorily. Healthcare, this is another aspect that the Government is expected to turn its focus on. The warm season is already upon the people and already mosquitos have started making a comeback. The troubling question is whether the Government is well equipped to deal with any emergent situation, such as if Dengue returns and stalk the people like in 2025 ? Work towards normalcy but at the same time ensure that the basics of living are addressed to satisfactorily.