Shiv Kumar Padha
It is said that some persons are born great, some achieve greatness by dint of their good deeds and on some persons the greatness is thrust upon. But there is a new variety of the persons who become great by using their muscle and money power in the world.Such types of persons are shrewd, cunning and dangerous to the society and the institutions they work or join. The countrymen have watched how did the flocks of the sons and brothers of the influential political leaders, members of the corporate houses and criminal mafias, turncoats and multimillionaires thronged the offices of the different political parties to grab the candidatures for the ensuing elections for the 12 th J and K Legislative Assembly lock stock and barrel. They consider the elections one time investment where only one six year tenure as MLA or MLC is sufficient to secure the future of their coming generationsforever. The post-independence political history of the country is the witness of all such type of persons in social and political circles. It is experienced that many legislators and parliamentarians especially from the rural and remote constituencies manage their entries in the temples of democracy with the help of money and muscle power. Such type of the persons lack both vision and wisdom which is considered as the prerequisite qualification for any politician. Their main motive remains only to grind about their own axes, feather their own nests, veil or hide their deeds (Kale Karnamey), escape the convictions for the crimes they committed and mint money by adapting even undemocratic means. They create fear and terror among the public and meddle in the process of smooth functioning of administration. The administration, feeling helpless, easily falls in their trap because their promotions and transfers solely depend upon their frowns and favours.
The Constitution of India has empowered the nation with the adult franchise which enables them to elect their representatives so that they can highlight their problems in Legislative Assemblies and Parliament and get them addressed. It becomes the moral duty of these representatives to ensure the all possible development of their constituencies in the field of education, health, employment, connectivity, eradication of poverty, provide equal opportunity to all to get benefits from the welfare schemes of the government meant for them, provide and develop playgrounds for the children and the youth, public parks, community centers, providing pure drinking water, power supply to each family unit, regulating and monitoring the public distribution system. In short the representatives are the mouthpieces and custodians of the overall welfare of the masses.
But the case is totally topsy-turvy in the case of majority of the representatives from the urban and therural constituencies as their preferences are totally different from what they are supposed to have because they;
From the very first day start devising such ways and means as can help them make huge assets and fortune for their generations to come and ensure their stay in the LA for the tenors to come.
Develop friendship with different types of mafias who later help them encroaching the government and forest land wherever they can lay their hand on.
They spare no grazing land, gorges, Nallahs, graveyards for their personal benefit. Maximum number of the private colleges of education, law colleges, multipurpose medical institutes, public schools named after the saints, Rishis, social reformers, freedom fighters and the ex-Prime Ministers of the country en route the national highway and in the cities are either situated in government land or on the land of gorges and Nallahas forcibly occupied by them. These colleges and institutes are run by none other than the ‘honorable’ legislators or by their associates under their patronage. Prefer remain dozing in the House or watching the objectionable clips in their mobiles.
In order to hide their intellect they avoid tabling the quota of questions fixed for them in every session. People had seen how only 600 questions, out of 1,200 question allotted to 61 MLA’s ,were tabled in the last session of the Assembly by the ‘honorable’ MLAS when none of them has refused taking the remunerations for that session.
– strive for getting bar, bar cum restaurant licenses in the name of their wives, sons, daughters, or their daughter in laws.
– prefer remain surrounded by the crowd of sycophants and the fistful of persons committed to their cause.
– help manage contracts for the sycophants under CDF/MPLAD or any other programme/scheme.
– help provide monetary benefits to them from the government sponsored public welfare programmes schemes ignoring the interest of needy and the deserving.
-pressurise the local administration to work as they are dictated and compel them to follow their motorcade frequently ignoring their office routine work.
– discourage the administration taking independent decisions at their own consequently depriving the poor man from the justice.
– are seen during the distribution of relief to the poor by the concerned authorities and during the inauguration of the incomplete or partially completed projects.
– sell their loyalties for petty personal benefits and betray the voters and the parties they belong to
Such public representatives should realise that the masses have reposed full confidence in them and their integrity as such it becomes theirmoral duty to come up to their expectations because they are the true mouth pieces of their grievances. They should broaden their vision and device and explore new ways for the multi pronged development of their constituencies.
