Politicians And Their Empty Promises “Roti, kapda aur makan”, no !!, I am not talking about the bollywood movie, but rather of the slogan that every political party, trumpets before the elections. Promises have been made in the election manifestos, from podiums and stages and during their election rallies. India has been hearing these very elusive and empty promises for the last sixty odd years. Our economics and statistics departments have been over worked planning a formidable India but there are millions who still hunger for a single “roti” a day, there are still millions who do not have “kapda” to cover their scorched and dehydrated naked bodies, yes, there are still millions in India who do not have a “makan”, a roof over their heads to shelter, from rain, wind and heat, so what went wrong with the “roti, kapda aur makan” express from Delhi ?
“Gharibi hatau” was another slogan that had been making the rounds during elections, a cosmetic surgery for the “roti, kapda aur makan”. Has any of the governments actually taken the desired initiatives to alleviate poverty and provide “roti, kapda aur makan” to the beleaguered millions ? In India the gulf between the rich and the poor is becoming wider by the day and our government has fallen flat on it’s face in fulfillment of it’s promises.
Our politicians are aiming for the stars in the sky but fail to realize and accept the abject reality of mired poverty around, people are thirsting for water, hungry for food, and aimlessly wandering in search of shelter. Children and women begging in the streets, others searching for morsels of food in bins, living on the pavements and footpaths, struggling to survive the day and only hoping for a better tomorrow, is this the shining India that our politicians promise ? Now a days, every politician aspires a halo around his head, in search of their hollow and shallow austerity but it is somehow obvious, that the gluttonous and dysfunctional politicians would not readily want their slices of cake to be reduced and they do that regularly with élan.
Six decades of independence, six decades of self rule, poverty has not declined, we have made immense progress in science and technology but failed miserably to alleviate poverty. The dream of the Father of the Nation, “food, shelter and clothing for every citizen of India”, is still a pipe dream.
Our politicians have forgotten their own pathetic past in the wake of their new tryst with destiny in politics. They would rather build statues of themselves, be garlanded with currency notes, weigh themselves with gold or silver, butcher and roast a few fellow humans and divide the nation in the name of religion but not lift a finger to help improve the quality of life of the poor and the downtrodden or the backward class.
Goan politicians too have fallen flat on their faces in fulfillment of their promises. Last month during the budget session our esteemed CM said that more stress would be given to agriculture, but unfortunately their actions are not entirely in consonance with their statements nor in the interests of Goa and Goans. Agriculture in Goa is on the ebb, and it the duty of the government to encourage farming especially organic farming with subsidies and land, but unfortunately our Government is hell bent on destroying agriculture, allowing land conversion of fertile fields to facilitate mega projects, farmers from the mining areas are forces to change their age old profession of farming because the mining dust and it’s rejects have scorched and made their fertile fields barren and the immense dust pollution causing health hazards to the residents of those areas.
Today the farmers from Thivim are crying “forget cricket, give us water to irrigate our fields” is a perfect example that our government is working against the will of the people. People are crying for food, water and shelter but politicians are forcing cake on the people in form of cricket stadium. The huge amount of money for the stadium and the sea link should be used to alleviate the water and electricity problems of Goa. Do we really need a cricket stadium or the sea link, or is it just to inflate their own fortunes through a few scams ?
We the Goan people want uninterrupted water running through their taps, uninterrupted electricity lighting our homes and our roads, a good, feasible and affordable health policy, education policy which is more practical and for all, better roads and safety measures and above all, a better quality of life with good governance, and for this, a long term strategy has to be built within the precincts of development, economic improvement and political involvement of the grassroots of rural Goa. Is this impossible to achieve ?
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE
