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It was no doubt an interesting topic, “Which
of the two is the bigger issue — HIV/AIDS or
Corruption,” and hats off to the Regional News
Unit of the All India Radio, Imphal for
seeking a public opinion on such an
interesting and lively topic. As the opinion
poll demonstrated so lucidly, it was
corruption which won hands down with as many
five out of every six opinions received giving
the thumbs up (or should it be thumbs down ?)
to corruption.
As reported in the State dailies, the opinion
poll was conducted from October 2 this year
over a period of 18 days and listeners were
invited to send in their opinions to the All
India Radio. The opinions were received from a
cross section of society ranging from those in
positions of power and influence to the men on
the street and while we do admit that the
opinion poll cannot be termed definitely
conclusive, it nevertheless shows a trend, a
trend that the people of Manipur are more
worried about corruption than HIV/AIDS.
The HIV virus has already taken a heavy toll
on the Manipuri society with many a young
lives being snuffed out at the prime of their
life leaving many orphans and widows not to
talk about parents who have been left
devastated. HIV not only kills but can also
deal a heavy blow, both economically and
socially on the afflicted as well as the
immediate family members. What is more
alarming now is the fact that HIV infection is
today no longer confined amongst the
intravenous drug users but also to the general
population. This is a dangerous trend and
apart from sports and culture, HIV is one
factor for putting Manipur on the global map
which is nothing to be proud of.
However despite the heavy toll that HIV/AIDS
has taken, despite the fear that this disease
sparks, despite the fact that the people of
Manipur are literally sitting on a keg of
explosives in the form of HIV/AIDS, it is
interesting to see that of the 750 respondents
who gave their opinions to the poll conducted
by AIR, more than 90 pc felt that corruption
is the bigger issue. More than anything else,
this should awaken the policy framers and the
suited booted officers and political leaders
to the rot that has besieged Manipur because
of corruption.
The opinion poll suggests in more than one way
that the people of Manipur are sick and tired
of the large scale corruption that has eaten
into the vitals of all Government machineries.
The fiasco surrounding the Education
Department, the palm greasing that is needed
for any work to be done at Government offices,
the stories of how it takes months to move a
file from one table to another if the right
hands are not greased, the story of missing
bitumen, the increasing allegations against
some political heavy weights by social
organizations of gross misuse of developmental
funds etc are all pointers to the depth that
Manipur has sunk.
Even when it comes to the point of tackling
the menace of HIV/AIDS, the ugly head of
corruption always looms somewhere. The bigger
tragedy is while concerted efforts are being
taken up across the world to tackle the menace
of HIV/AIDS, the powers that be in Manipur are
happily ‘encouraging corruption’ to fill up
their private coffers. |
