Dreams are made of idealistic goals. Transforming idealistic to realistic requires meticulous planning and an action oriented task force. Let us begin with the first major challenge in Bengal (forgive me respected CM for not writing Paschim Banga, as I prefer a name without a directional bend, whether east or west, right or left). The challenge is of removing unionism.
It’s appalling to see that the traffic police are unable to control the auto rickshaws and their hooliganism on the roads. The reason being the fact that they are all members of some union or the other and that they seem to have more “power” than the police themselves! Irony is irony no more; this has become part of our lives.
Look at the helplessness of the same policemen when they want to remove the hawkers from the footpaths. What is the reason behind this? Unions again!
Unions can do what the common man cannot. Unions are politically affiliated. Unions have power. Unions can stop work whenever they want. But why were they formed in the first place? What is the objective of having such groups?
If fair treatment of workers and the right pay is what unions fight for, do they have the right to use whatever means they want? On the other hand, does it mean that unions misuse their power to break basic rules and the law?
Think about the rogue auto-rickshaws. They flout rules like anything, from carrying more passengers than allowed to driving recklessly, stopping and parking at any place they want, playing loud songs that make the passengers go deaf, abusing passengers, and giving that wicked smile to the traffic police which indicates how helpless the police are.
Political parties who back these unions would probably have logical reasons to support these groups – votes of course! Anything for votes!
I was thinking about the figures of the number of people who belong to unions and the number of people who don’t. Which is the larger number? So, for a small percentage of people breaking laws in the name of political and union affiliation, the larger mass of people are suffering everyday!
In the age of technology and knowledge workers, the form of protest can change. Kolkata can change, but first the unionism has to stop. A small step towards achieving a greater good. Whichever Chief Minister would be instrumental in the transformation of Bengal and Kolkata, would definitely go into the history books as the greatest. So who will do it?
there seems to be no point in this type of "gimmick" (nd yes not idealistic)transformational dreams to get votes, period. Nothing else.
ReplyDeleteWhen you have an idealism, you work for it, but when your mission is to win election....you win and sit back for sometime, then again fight for another election......rather than working for your "supposed" ideals.
If she would have the ideals we would have seen bits and pieces in better roads (roads are worst), more infrastructure(when was the last time that 5 months went by without any new infrastucture work starting), fulfillment of the promises (13 factories, not even 1 built upto 5%), newer industries..... etc etc etc but yes top it all......stop unions or atleast lessen its power but with things like strengthening Chattra Parishad.....she is doing just the opposite.... :)
so even if she says that she wants to make Kolkata in 10 years like today's Mumbai it would even then be like a BHAG.....considering her track record as railway minister, sports minister, mining minister and obviously 5 months+ of CM.
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