An Open Letter to the Chief Minister

Mr.  Chief Minister Sir,

                   India’s democratic structure ensures that every single corner of the country is represented in the democratic institutions operational at different levels such as the parliament, the state legislative assembly or the panchayats. Therefore, even if a government chooses  to keep a certain part of the state perennially underdeveloped, its leaders have to visit those backward areas before the elections for the sake of votes. The same compulsion seems to have brought you to Barak Valley again this time. 

 

                While your speeches did not have much new to offer, we, the common people of the valley have a few questions in our mind of which we seek your answers.

·         Barring a few aberrations here and there, Barak Valley has voted for your party consistently in all elections in the last one decade. In the last assembly elections, the Congress almost made a clean sweep winning 13 out of the 15 seats here.  As a gesture of your appreciation towards the people, can you speak of one grand showpiece project that your government has taken up for the development of this region? We are aware that you have laid foundation stones for an engineering college at Karimganj, a bypass near Silchar along with a new bridge over the river Barak, but none of these projects have been completed so far and these projects have been taken up along with many such projects in other parts of the state. Have you chalked out a vision plan through which the economic turnaround of this area with tremendous potential can be brought about?    

·         The broad gauge conversion project between Silchar and Lumding and the ‘maha sadak’ project connecting Silchar with Saurashtra are currently competing with each other in a ‘deadline missing’ competition.  Both these projects involve construction of roads and railways of more than 200 kilometres in your state. However, quite inexplicably you have never seemed very concerned about their slow progress. Can you kindly elaborate the reasons behind the inordinate delays and cost escalations of these projects which have already hit the national exchequer very adversely? Even after a decade of beginning of construction work, some stretches of both these projects have not received clearances from the forest authorities. How can such red tape be even tolerated by an efficient chief minister like you?

 

·         Even after 65 years of independence, Barak Valley does not have an all weather road through the territory of Assam that can take its residents to the state capital. During your tenure as the chief minister, first the road link via Haflong became unmotorable and now the so called national highway via the Meghalaya hills is also threatening to go the same way, all because the public works department of your government is so grossly inefficient and corrupt that it cannot even properly maintain the arterial roads of the region. So, when almost 30 lakhs of your subjects staying in an area which is approximately one fifth of the state, cannot even travel safely to the state capital, how do you explain your slogan of ‘Bikoxit Axom’.

·         During the last assembly elections, the 1000 crore promise was your public relations masterpiece. However, two state budgets down the line, the 1000 crore carrot continues to hang in front of the people without any sight of it actually coming their way. So, without any further delays, please let the truth out so that the people can get on with their mundane lives without dreaming too much about a ‘bikoshit’ Barak Valley.

 

·         Finally, nowadays whenever, I visit any state government office in Barak Valley, I find them filled with my brothers and sisters from the Brahmaputra valley, which leaves me wondering, whether the locals here have stopped taking education or have they become so incapable that they fail to get through any of the vacancies offered by the state? Many of our parents worked with pride for the government of Assam, however, in my generation, I am yet to come across even one person who has managed to get a permanent job with the state government. I am not casting any aspersions on the recruitment procedures of the state government, nor am I claiming that there is discrimination. But wouldn’t it be worth the effort to find out whether the people of Barak Valley are getting enough state government jobs in proportion to their population?

 
Probably, your answers will never come. However, this forum will always remain open in case you choose to answer us someday. Finally, wishing you all the success for the ongoing Panchayat elections in the state.

 Regards,

Team Concern For Silchar