Shimla: Pointing out the predominance of CD culture in the state, leader of the opposition Vidya Stokes launched an offensive against the government saying that the polity had become subservient to corruption.
Participating in motion of thanks to the governors’ address, she said that if the state had to regain its clean image, there was a need to finish the prevailing CD culture, take effective steps to contain corruption or otherwise the state is doomed.†When one goes out of the state, she said, people mocked us by asking which is the latest CD out in Himachal.
She counted dominance of land mafia, failure to ensure teachers in educational institutions, shortage of doctors to man institutions, farmers left in the lurch when crops have failed and increasing drug addiction among the youth others as failures of governance in two years of the BJP government.
Stokes mentioned sale of land in contravention of Section 118 of HP Land Reforms and Tenancy Act, whereby landlords had been bought out in Mashobra suburb of Shimla and rampant violations having taken place in Solan districts, which the government had failed to check or investigate.
In the absence of qualified doctors, she said, practice of Jhola Chap (Quacks) practitioners was flourishing for the people had nobody to turn to in ill health. Objectives of national rural health mission were proving to be a failure, she added
The opposition leader took offense to omission of the central government’s role in bailing out the state in various sectors.
“The government has been insisting upon discrimination against it by the centre but the fact remains that it is only the union governments funding which enables implementation of states programs. Other than that the state is hardly in a capacity to get anything done on its own,†she said.
Rubbishing the awards given to the state by private organizations, she said, “harping upon having won such awards was a mere drama, which two years ago even our government got and at times are given when one does not deserve them.â€
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
To a point, it is true that, the State of HP may not be able to provide any services without the support from Union Government . What the MLAs are missing is to mention about the pecularities of Himachal – like Kerla, Himachal is facing Gen-II issues and the Union Government has no answer to this. For example, the total fertility rate in Himachal is well below 2, and still the Union Government wants us to spend money on Family Planning campaign (which is not at all required) but at the same, rising number of oldaged women and their economic exclusion leading to not getting health care services (for age-related disabilities) is the concern for which neither Himachal nor Delhi has any answer.
It is a farce now to use the terms “bhole bhale Himachalies” and “devbhoomi”. Self praise blocks all options of improvement. Sukh Ram, Virbhadra cases are well known in the country and at least people in Himachal also understand the basic motives of many others. We are constantly reading about bribery across Himachal, which can perhaps bag top position if we take it on per capita basis, as we conveniently propagate in education and health. Reported rape cases are also on rise. There is certainly a large number of unreported cases of exploitation and harassment due to social stigma in the smaller societies.
I am sorry to say but I have a very bad opinion about contemporary Himachalies. The innocence has been taken away by the urbanization. The biggest pollutant is off-course the nuisance based, narrow minded and complexed babudom, which has percolated to the whole society. Perhaps we have been engulfed too much within the vicious circle from where only the CDs can provide a short term relief.
It is now upto all of us whether to banish CD culture or mend our public service delivery system.