The elections in Jharkhand are going to take place in few days from now. The election process has already begun. In a month or so the process will be complete. But what would be the result of the process depend directly upon the common men and women who are the electors. The harvest depends upon thae seeds us sow. It is very important that people use this power to elect with a sense of moral duty. It is the same right for which the many of the founding fathers of our republic had to lay their lives. People can not and should not squander it away. It is the last hope for the state.
The future of Jharkhand will be entirely dependent on quality of legislatures that people will be sending to the legislature. For more than fourteen years in the past, the legislature has repeatedly failed the people of the state. The state has lacked stable government. Without the guidance of political executive, the state has frequently lost touch with the aspirations of people. The state has fared poorly in all spheres of human development.
Despite of being endowed with mineral wealth, the state finds itself jostling with other poorly human developed states of the country. More so Jharkhand finds itself in league of countries of sub Saharan Africa on many of the human development indices. Some of the districts of Jharkhand have one of the highest Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR) in the country. In Godda even now pregnant tribal women die for want of blood bank in the district.
The problem of naxalism, illiteracy, hunger, unemployment has remained as it is. More so the state has got unnecessarily mired in irrelevant problems like that of domicile policy for so long. The corruption has penetrated into all levels of the government. These problems have sapped all the zeal and enthusiasm with which this state was formed. Internal vigilance is the price of democracy. The time has come when every citizen of the state become vigilant and perform their constitutional duty to elect with religious fervour.
It is high time people send highly competent people to hold high offices. For that it is very important that citizens spend some time researching about the past of candidates. The internet can play a handy tool in this context. I would request each and every political party to field candidates of clean image and high calibre. They should also come out with their manifesto and come clear on major issues confronting the state. I urge youth of the state to come out in full force and take the reign of the state in their own hands and provide the state with a vibrant leadership and new vision. Ultimately I would urge people of the state to judge every candidate on his or her own merit.
Civil society, Election Commission, citizens and all political parties must come together to make this election a watershed election in the development history of the state. All political parties must take clear stand on issues like illiteracy, hunger deaths, High IMR and MMR, malnutrition, maladministration, corruption, unholy collusion between politicians and bureaucrats, deplorable power situation , lack of medical facilities, non-existent municipal facilities, stagnation of Chotanagpur industrial region, lack of infrastructure, deplorable regional connectivity, negative externalities due to mining, problems of pollution, loss of tribal languages, way of life, and culture due to land acquisition, problem of rural stagnation and resultant migration, problems of rain fed agriculture, almost non-existent formal channels of rural credit, deplorable handling of MGNREGA by government officials and many more other issues directly affecting the people of the state.
In this season of election the citizens should not be hesitant to ask uncomfortable questions. Let there be debates on these questions in every nook and corner of the state. Let the elixir of development emerge out of this Political Manthan. Without convincing answers to these questions none can have confidence in the future and without confidence any progress.
O- Vishnu Kant
Vishnu Kant, IRPS 2012 batch. Views are personal, not representing either Government or the Department.

Hastakshep