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Front Page >> Editorials > Story

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Eyes On The Hill Districts
Very often what it takes to placate the people is a little but sincere demonstration that the Government of the day is aware and understands the feeling of misgivings amongst the deprived section of people. Very often, it is also true that far from poverty what hurts the sentiments and feelings of a people is unequal development where some section of the people is thought to have reaped all the benefits of the Government, depriving other sections of the people. 

It is when such stage of social evolution becomes over riding that fissiparous tendencies begin to rear its ugly head and this is where the Government or authority need to get its act together and show that it is committed to the equal development of all the region and different section of people. We agree that absolute equality can only be read in Marx' Das Kapital and Utopia is at best an academic concept that offers one different approach to study the different stages of evolution the human society has gone through, but what cannot be denied is the point that stark inequality causes heart burn of a much greater intensity than non development at all. 

We talk about the unequal pace of development today because the problem that we see in Manipur is not so much the lack of development as gross inequalities that we see all around. When the hill people say that the State Government has not been paying enough attention to their woes, we can only dismiss the sentiments of the hill people at the cost of the overall welfare of Manipur. This is not the time to discuss who should be held responsible for the lack of development in the hill districts but yes we need to acknowledge that not enough has been done for the hill districts particularly those located in the interior areas.

It was only on January 4 that Chief Minister O Ibobi inaugurated the two Glory Day celebration of Tungjoy village in Senapati district. Expectedly the Chief Minister acknowledged the lack of modern amenities in the far flung areas of the hill districts and even added that a number of villages are yet to get adequate health care facilities. We know that given the acute financial constraints, the State Government is hard pressed to take up developmental works but what needs to be noted that it is not only the acute financial constraints that has kept the hill districts caught in a time warp but lack of any cohesive policies and programs down the years. 

Along with the absence of any concrete and viable developmental plans for the hills, there is the culture of corruption that has got a vice like grip on the administrative set up and we have the perfect recipe for not only the hill districts but the whole State to be caught in a cesspool of all round stagnation. Funds meant for the development of hills never actually reach the targeted people. It is also true that the number of welfare programs meant for the hill people are sucked away by some of the well to do, suited, booted hill people who have managed to penetrate into the corridors of power. 

These are the factors Chief Minister O Ibobi should address to on a priority basis, if the hill districts are to be developed adequately. We have said it earlier and we would like to repeat it again. It is not lack of development per se that will trouble Manipur but the acute sense of unequal development.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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