Assembly elections: Manipur wants issues fixed, does not care who wins
MOIRANG/BISHNUPUR/NAMBOL: K Inaocha Singh is upset that the price of urea has shot up manifold under the present BJP-led dispensation in Manipur.
He wants the next government — whichever party forms it — to stabilise the price for the benefit of retailers like him as well as the farmers. The government rate for a 45kg bag of urea is Rs 270 but Singh alleged it was being sold at Rs 1,400 in black market.
“There is black-marketing. It is sold to people in Burma (Myanmar) and other places,” the man from Moirang tells this newspaper.
“Look at my shop. I have everything except urea. It is so essential to farmers,” he said, pointing to the miscellaneous items stacked on the floor and the shelves.
Singh said if he purchased urea at the price of black market and sold it with a marginal profit, the police would come, pick him up.
“The government has no plans for the farmers,” he claims.
Recently, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had accused the BJP-led government of diverting its quota of urea to the state’s hill districts where poppy is allegedly grown for opium.
He said although Manipur was getting twice the supply of urea it needed, the farmers complained of shortage. He alleged the government was fully complicit in this.
The former Union minister’s barbs were based on the statement of Loumi Shimee Apunba Lup, an Imphal-based farmers’ body, which had received complaints over shortage of urea due to smuggling.
The farmers had staged protests over the issue. During a recent visit to the state, PM Narendra Modi had claimed 60 per cent of the households in Manipur had been covered with tap water under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
However, an auto-rickshaw driver, who identified himself as N Singh, alleged the services had been erratic.
“I don’t have the numbers but the BJP is known to talk big. Modiji came and said every household would have access to tap water. I get it twice a month,” Singh says.
“Modiji keeps visiting foreign countries. He is concerned only about the rich. His government proposed to hand over the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport of Imphal to a private party. People are angry,” Singh adds.
Perhaps, it is for fear or their disinterest in politics that not many people come forward and talk to journalists freely. Some, who do, say there is no difference among political parties.
They allege merit does not count in Manipur and one is required to shell out lakhs of rupees to get a government job.
The locals also complain of bad roads in pockets, alleged deprivation of the beneficiaries of government’s welfare schemes, etc.
However, the government earns praise for “Chief Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT)” scheme and the “Go To Hills” initiative.
The CMHT is a health insurance scheme that provides cashless treatment to the poor and cover up to Rs 2 lakh per eligible family per year.
“I appreciate the health insurance scheme. If not many, some people have reaped the benefit,” the auto-rickshaw driver says.
There has always been a divide between the Meitei-majority Imphal Valley and tribal-majority hills. Jamuna Devi of Moirang is effusive in her praise of the state government for its efforts to bridge the gap with the “Go To Hills” initiative. She also praises it for providing rice to the poor at Rs 3 per kg.
Meanwhile, although the polls are round the corner, there is hardly any campaigning.
The only signs of the polls are the posters of political parties, particularly BJP and Congress, put up here and there. The ordinary people are visibly least bothered about who will come to power.