Sunday 11 October 2015

The Dark and Desperate State of Uttar Pradesh by Ramchandra Guha .. . ...Taking it further

The column by Ramchandra Guha with the title "The Dark and Desperate State of Uttar Pradesh" published in  the Hindustan Times  on  Sunday,October 11,2015  is thought provoking.Anyone  connected in any way ,with Uttar Pradesh , needs to ask himself or herself a few questions.
1.Do you agree that  three decades on ,while Bihar,Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan   have shown some (modest) signs of progress ,UP has become even more sick ,whether reckoned in terms of  economic development ,education , health or social (and especially communal) peace, it is absolutely the worst governed state.?
2.The political class in UP-even by Indian  standards-is excessively prone to corruption?
3.The most important  reason why the state of UP is so depressing  is its large size?UP  should be divided into four smaller states for more focused and fairer governance?
                Having worked in UP as an IAS officer for 35 years and experienced the above problem continuously ,I  can say without any doubt  that I agree with  questions 1 and 2  above.
But I am not sure if the solution lies in dividing the state into four smaller states .While I agree that smaller size is easier  to monitor  , both from the point of view of development as well as law and order. But  smaller size alone will not help.The real remedy lies in rooting out the endemic corruption  in the governance apparatus(political , bureaucratic,police, judiciary) at all levels.The cancer of corruption is so chronic that a major surgery is needed.The  questions are:Who will do it?How will it be done?And when?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Corruption is so deep rooted that while doing surgery the whole body need replacement and that is only possible by supreme power not by any man power

Vidya Nand Garg said...

As they say,'God helps those who help themselves".I am sure ,with efforts , corruption can be reduced.

Sumita Kamthan said...

Sir,
It's really a thought provoking blog. I agree with you that God helps those who help themselves. Nothing is impossible as the word Impossible itself says that I am possible. ...sincere efforts only needed from large groups of masses. ...I am sure, with sincere efforts , Corruption can be reduced. Thank you for sharing this article Sir. All the best.👍

Vidya Nand Garg said...

Thank you for such a positive view.