Uttarakhand State celebrated 18 years of its existence on November 9. So much has been said in favour of the achievements of the past eighteen years from time to time, even though no less has been critically commented on the omissions and commissions of the successive governments. But the prime question making rounds among the thinking people is - this state, whither to? Ultimately, one tends to think that some new arrangement is needed now to challenge this status quo as never before. What it means for the people is to seek justice from the ruling class in order to experience the benefits for which the state was sought to be created. Clearly, the distraught and impatient people have been not only looking for that justice to take place but also wish to push the ruling elite towards accountability. They persist that culprits and corrupt must be brought to book. Now people are rearing to stand up and speak the truth about the eighteen- year-old history. It's not only about political parties and moral degradation in the Devbhoomi, its also about complete absence of ideals and ideologies.
The time seems to be approaching when masses will adopt an activist mindset to keep the rulers on their toes.
Today the general refrain seems that the unconcerned rulers should no more be allowed to ride a rough shod on the hopes, aims and aspirations of over one crore of people, most of who reside in the rugged mountainous terrains under trying circumstances. Liberation from a reconciliatory and accommodative mindset is the need of the hour.The current situation sends a clear message for the people :unite or suffer endlessly.
For nearly thirty years now here in Uttarakhand, the author has been constantly watching the successive governments both in Lucknow and Dehradun to check migration, but of no avail.
I can vividly recall how a number of big schemes for promotion of tourism , horticulture, floriculture, hydro power, bee-keeping, fishery, poultry, potable water supply, medicinal plants, tea plantation, milk production, handicrafts and others were supposed to have been launched for the mountainous region of the then western Uttar Pradesh for the over all benefit of region and its people. Some more special developmental programmes had also been put in place with the massive financial assistance from the World Bank and European Economic Community (EEC). Activities under these programmes, which were launched in the early eighties and continued into late nineties, were regularly publicised by the then Uttar Pradesh government, but with precious little impact on the ground.
Even while this is so, the fact is that contractors, middlemen and businessmen involved in various projects have made the most of it without having any illusions about what is what ought to be. But there does not seem to be a big change in the format of implementation of plans and projects.
Same age -old scripts of the plans and their implementation methodology have not yielded positive results. Therefore, today out of a total number of over sixteen thousand villages in the nascent state, fewer have some people left behind to fend for themselves. Thousands have been forced to sell their land to eke out a living both in the mountains and plain areas. The picture is really very grim.
Much water has flown through the river Ganga all these years, governments have changed ,bureaucrats have changed, but no one is there to answer for this dismal state of affairs even after eighteen years of the existence of this state. Much due to what is called “democratic centralism” vested interests come into existence easily.
Naturally, the issues pertaining to moral decadence and financial scandals were bound to come up. Probe panels appointed by one or the other government to fix the accountability have not been able to pronounce their findings.
Scores of bureaucrats and politicians, who could have been questioned , have either retired or are no longer in the reckoning. State’s political parties, which have suffered from the problems of democratic centralism, are bound to lose sight of the ground reality in toto. It is only just before the election time, that the party leaders seem to be reaching out to the people and making all kinds of promises.
(The writer is a veteran journalist and columnist based in Dehradun)
