UDUPI: One of the most popular Kannada women writers, Janaki Srinivasa Murthy or Vaidehi, is known for her sensitive writing style and is a Sahitya Akademi Award winner. Talking about the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, she said that she doesn’t like to ponder over the new lows political campaigning reached this year.
Rather, she says that she is still optimistic of newly elected leaders working to take up the cause of the environment in their term and to firmly cement its place in the Indian political consciousness. “‘Considering the indiscriminate manner in which almost all political parties have become insensitive to environmental issues in our nation, I expect the new government, led by PM Narendra Modi, to work hard on this front,” the writer said while stressing that mere policy at the top levels of the government was not sufficient and what is required is a well oiled mechanism, compelling the bureaucracy to work as collectively for real impact on the ground.
‘‘Today we hear talks of development. But the slow assassination of nature in the name of development will end up in a disaster. If there is no space for environment in politics, or if the political leader thinks their job is not about being sensitive to the environment, this is equal to saying that he or she does not love the people too. Because to love the people, he or she should love nature first and that is the formula to understand the mindset of a leader. But in the last 20 years, the love for nature and sustainable development has taken a backseat.”
Airing her expectations, Vaidehi said, “It is not enough if the Prime Minister alone speaks about environmental issues, at least 50 per cent of our MPs should know of environmental problems and solutions. They should know that engaging in verbal fights always is not their lone job. They have a bigger responsibility in moulding society to make this society a better place to live in.”
She also pushed for political discourse on water scarcity, a topic which echoes across several states. “But interlinking of rivers is a bad political outreach to find a meaningless answer to a burgeoning issue. Rather, there should be more budgetary allocations to support the cause of plantation of saplings. In Indian politics, the brain is given the priority; let us start giving importance for another organ - the heart. Because that would help politicians increase their sensitivity levels too,” she said.
“Modi’s recent mention of ‘Sabka Vishwas’ along with his previous ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas’ catchphrase has caught our attention, but its execution will be watched by all now,” she said, adding a little bit of advice for the new government, ‘‘I have observed that elected representatives in this media-driven era are giving more work to their tongue, which is mostly useless. Instead, if they give work to their ears, they will hear the voice of the people who have voted them and that is when Modi’s ‘Sabka Vishwas’ idea will get wings.”