Just two weeks old and too early to pass a comment on the functioning of the new Government. However what Mr N Biren and his Council of Ministers should not forget are the huge promises the BJP gave to the people in the run up to the Assembly election. After 15 years of Congress rule, the weight of expectations will obviously be heavy, but this is what should bring out the best in a Government and clearly the task before Mr N Biren and his Council of Ministers must be clear. Living up to the expectations of the people. This is what any Government worth its salt should try to achieve. Five years down the line, how will people and the BJP led Government look back at the years gone by ? This question may seem very early at this stage, but it is important that the new Government function keeping this question at the back of their mind. As things stand today, the BJP led coalition Government seems to have started off on the right note, if the response from the hills is any indication. After 15 years, it is certainly a welcome change to see the State Government being ‘accepted’ by all, far away from the ‘communal Government of Manipur’ tag which was synonymous with the Congress Government. How the BJP carries forward this new found acceptance remains to be seen and if one may add, the Government seems to have struck the right note by announcing that at times Cabinet meetings will be held in the hill districts. This is definitely one way of taking all sections of the people on board. To repeat another point, it will also help a lot if Ministers are made to visit the hill districts at least for a few days in a month, along the line of how Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his Ministers to visit the North East States by turn.
The need to take everyone on board need not be over stressed here, for it is of extreme importance to take everyone along with the idea of Manipur as a socio-political reality and the BJP led Government today has the right opportunity to work towards this. Not an easy task it will be, but a start has been made and this is saying something a lot. Apart from addressing the hill-valley divide, it will also be interesting to see how the BJP led Government goes about with its promise of ensuring piped water supply to all the households in the State. This is something which the Congress Government failed to address to in its 15 years in power and it is important for the BJP led Government not to reduce the promise of piped water supply to a poll gimmick. Manipur is blessed with good rainfall and it is incumbent on the part of the Government to see how this can be harnessed to meet the requirements of the people. The presence of private ponds and community ponds in almost all the leikais in the valley area should underline the point that Manipur receives a healthy amount of rainfall every year and it is up to the Government to harness this and ensure that people have access to piped water supply. It is upto the BJP to decide how it would like to look back five years hence.
Source: The Sangai Express
