March 15, 2018:
* Prasenjit Chakraborty
Dear Sir,
At the very outset, thumbs up to you. I convey my heartfelt congratulations to our beloved Shri Biplab Kumar Deb, the 10th Chief Minister of Tripura, along with all his cabinet ministers.
I also thank the people of Tripura for picking the right choice at the very right time.
I don’t want to recall the sufferings of the people they faced in last 25 years – all things that happened during the Left regime are past now.
My Tripura, I feel, will now experience the ‘Acchhe Din’ in true sense under your leadership.
To be true, whenever I saw you – be it in rally, TV screen or face to face – I always found you humble, dynamic and committed.
There are some personalities who are always in our heart. And, I believe, you are one of them.
Now, being the Chief Minister, you have an opportunity to remove the burning issues which continued to haunt the people of Tripura for the past 25 years.
Through this letter, I would love to draw your kind attention and highlight some issues which might go against the government, if these are not addressed properly at the beginning.
Corruption: As a citizen of Tripura, my first appeal to you will be to closely monitor each and every section involved in finance to avoid any type of corruption at any level. In many cases, selection of the persons, who received facilities from various government schemes, was wrong but the needy people were deprived. In that case, the government machineries have a major role to play.
Fixed Pay: This is the most useless system ever introduced in the field of government jobs. Neither, anybody is happy with this method, nor it has any logical vision. I hope, the BJP-IPFT government will soon take an appropriate step to remove the fixed-pay system in government jobs.
Unemployment: We all understand that government job to every person is not possible. But, if government takes proper initiative and utilizes natural resources, it will not only boost economic status of the state but also generate employment extensively. Apart from this, there should be more efforts to impart skill development training among youths.
Education: The previous government mostly focused on constructing multi-storied school buildings instead of improving the quality of education. Still, Tripura lacks in quality education. Every stage — from Pre primary to University – is important in students’ career. Only a qualified teacher can deliver quality education to the students. So, I feel, the selection of teachers should be perfect in all sense. The education sector needs quick attention of the state government.
Healthcare: Over 80 percent people of Tripura are dependent on government hospitals. But, there is dearth of basic infrastructures and specialist doctors in almost all government healthcare units including GBP hospital – the prime referral hospital of Tripura. Besides, many cases relating to negligence in the part of doctors were also reported during the Left Front era. However, people of Tripura hoped for betterment and voted BJP to power. Now, it’s state government’s responsibility to meet the expectations of common people specially in the healthcare sector.
Law and Order: To make Tripura a crime-free and fear-free state, the Police department should be given free hand in real sense. According to my knowledge, as far as crime is concerned, Tripura Police is competent but there is need of more skills. Besides, the cyber crime cell and women helpline need to be strengthened at the earliest. The state government should strictly deal with any type of political interference in police’s action. It is also expected that the newly-formed state government led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb will give due importance to citizens’ safety. Besides, the security during dark hours should also be tightened.
Journalists’ Safety & Welfare: At first, I convey sincere thanks to new government for taking initiative to recommend CBI probe into the killings of two scribes- Sudip Datta Bhowmik and Shantanu Bhowmik. Despite several requests, the previous state government failed to ensure journalists’ safety. Even, in some cases, a few reporters were assaulted and threatened by some anti-social elements during clashes or any other incidents. Hence, the new government must ensure journalists’ safety on priority basis. Besides, introduction of a welfare scheme for the reporters and increase in quota for issuing accreditation cards is highly desired.
Tourism: In Tripura, there are several ideal destinations for the tourists. Natural beauty of the state attracts a large number of visitors every year. But, almost all the tourist sites lack in basic infrastructures although the tourism sector contributes a lot to state’s economy. According to latest reports, the number of tourists is getting increased in the state day by day. Keeping this view in mind, the state government specially the Tourism department has to take effective initiatives to improve the basic facilities being provided to the visitors.
Industrialization: All-round growth of any state can’t be ensured without industrialization. A new initiative for industrialization by the new government can bring huge change. Industrialization plays vital role in generating employment. Hence, for the greater interests of people, the new government should lay special importance to industrialization.
Communication: The north-eastern state Tripura has been witnessing a major development in railway communication since formation of BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Centre. If everything falls in right place, Tripura will soon be connected with Bangladesh through rail link. But, if we look at road communication, still, the state government has a thousand miles to go.
There is growing demand among the commuters for regular city bus service. The awareness campaign by Traffic Police unit has to be intensified further to drop the number road accidents at zero. There should be specific rules on carrying passengers by auto rickshaws. Any kind of unruly behaviour in this regard should be dealt strictly. On the other hand, electronics traffic signal should be installed at more city points.
Recruitment: The people of state already experienced a gross failure of LF government in terms of fair recruitment. Termination of 10,323 teachers remained the main instance of this failure. So, all guidelines including legal prospects in any recruitment drive should be maintained properly. All recruitment drives by the BJP-IPFT government only based on merit basis is highly desired. The recruitment process should be free of political interference.
Most importantly, good-governance of new BJP-IPFT government is one of the key expectations of the people. Finally, I wish all the best to the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
*** Any feedback or suggestion may be sent to pc2017reporter@gmail.com
(The article published in Tripura Times Eng Paper on Mar 15, 2018)
