Saturday, May 16, 2009
Election results
It's scary when there's no strong opposition to pose a serious threat to the ruling party, I've always thought. It makes the govt complacent and socio-eco-political conditions moribund, people secretly rebellious and optimism about the future difficult. The election results in West Bengal especially reflect the common man's opinion : it's time for a change. It remains to see how effective the change is, for mere histrionics (I refrain from mentioning the MB name) do not constitute a revolution.
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3 comments:
you added something to my list of favourite quotes:
"mere histrionics dont constitute a revolution"
wonderful!
...Time for a change, but can anyone replicate CPI (M)'s successes in Bengal?
http://suchismitamajumder.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/defending-the-cpi-m/
“people in Bengal have houses, sanitation” :
You probably mean the rich and the upper middle classes. What about the numerous people sleeping on the pavements everywhere in the city, even on the busiest thoroughfares, whom the VIPS pass by everyday without even a second look at ? I assume you consider these poor people human too ?
On the other hand, illegal construction is getting out of control in the state. The ruling party evidently doesn’t seem to be bothered much about our future, a bleak one with environmental issues being overlooked at all points of time, at the cost of more concretisation. Where does that leave us all ?
What sanitation ? There are numerous open drains in older areas of the city, for instance Behala or North Kolkata. Cases of water borne infections are still rampant. And have you seen what happens to Kolkata after 3 consecutive days of rain ? It’s a nightmare.
“They have brought in industry and factories and generated jobs.” :
They scream their lungs out against globalisation and yet have been surreptitiously encouraging the same. Not everyone belongs to the IT enabled industries. The other areas are crying out for much wanted attention. The same courses are taught year after year in universities (I only exclude JU) without attention to changing times and needs. People had almost stopped grumbling because they considered it futile. and isn't it rather shameful that there are more shopping malls cropping up each day instead of more pertinent ones, like blood banks ? Despite the so-called 'recession' ?
“all that the current opposition can give us are traffic jams” :
And what abt the state-supported bandhs, where the police become the henchmen of the ruling party and even the intellectuals of the city are unceremoniously forced into tiny police vans and jailed soon after?
“It has ensured a very public education system where the rich and the poor pay the same and get the same opportunity and means to get ahead” :
The fiasco over introducing English at the primary school level is still unresolved when in an increasingly cosmopolitan world, the solution stares us in the face.
When you pay Rs 75 for a year of education at a university, it’s rather farcical. How do you think the professors are supposed to be paid ? Obviously from the govt coffers, which is tantamount to the taxpayer’s hard-earned money. So what you see is not obviously the whole story.
Secondly, what are scholarships for ? The poor and desrving are welcome to that, I’m sure.
And yes, I personally know numerous people who are at the receiving end of their partisan policies in granting ‘opportunity’, simply because they don’t have the right connections or political clout to avail of those.Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a teaching post in a good govt or private college or university in West Bengal if you don’t have people in the right channels to recommend you ?
And now, let us come to the single most important need : medical attention. My father has been a doctor with the West Bengal Health Services for over 2 decades now. , He has worked in numerous govt hospitals day in and day out. There is no infrastructure to speak of, not even the minimum level of hygiene, medicines are always out of stock, diagnostic apparatuses always in need of repair. Funds are never sanctioned in time. In an emergency, only the influential get attention immediately. That's some good government administration for you.
N.B. I myself am not for or against any political party at the end of the day. All I care about is a democracy in its truest sense. I’m still waiting for that to happen.
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