Monday, February 18, 2013

Meghalaya youth says India a failed democracy surrenders Voter identity card









A youth from Meghalaya has surrendered his Election Voter Identity Card (EPIC) to the Election Commission of India with a dissent note stating that the bourgeoisie “democracy in India has failed” and doesn’t inspire him any longer to vote.
Likening the present governance of India as one for the bourgeoisie, Sajeki Passah, a law student from Meghalaya’s Jaintia Hills district in northeast India surrendered his EPIC (No.  BKX0651000), to the Election Commission of India, through the state election department here.
Passah lamented to the Commission that the “have nots” have been sidelined and ignored in the present democratic set-up with the government machinery only “favouring ‘the haves’ who in turn reap the benefits from the prevailing system of flawed governance.”
Speaking over the phone from Jaintia Hills district, Passah said he took the decision to surrender his EPIC and not to vote any longer a few days back as he “lost hope” on the present system of governance.
“I have lost hope on the present system of Governance in India. The politicians promise during every elections and forgets. They only work for the high and the mighty and the common men’s plight has not changed,” Passah added.
Citing that the present “failed democracy” is the cause of hardship of the ordinary Indians, Passah said, unless the system was drastically changed than rampant corruption, backwardness, and under-development would continue to further corrode the system and unhappiness would shadow the “have-nots.”
“Scores of ‘have nots’ are left with hopelessness and unfulfilled dreams,” he rued in his note to Commission. “Politicians instead of representing the people are representing for their self-interest and their parties. They have failed the people in addressing to their miseries,” Passah, who lives in Panaliar locality of Jowai in the coal-rich district of the state, said.
Due to the failure of the present Governance, Meghalaya has remained under-developed in terms of infrastructure development, health care, rising unemployment, corruption, law and order problems, and environmental degradation.
“Villages have remained unconnected for years now, some are left unrepaired despite money being sanctioned and work orders and deadlines being issued,” Passah said adding that such delays have resulted in huge losses for tax payers with reformulation of estimates.”

With regards to the youth, he asked, what is the need to pursue education, which only leads to years of struggle?  “The luckiest and not the fittest get jobs as nepotism prevails and the qualified are abandoned,” he said.
Moreover, on corruption he said in his note: “The democracy speaks of ending corruption and malpractices by only instituting malleable committees and commissions to inquire into matters and concludes with none being held liable.”
Similar dejections were noted in terms of health care, environment protection and other issues that are rocking the state and the country. “I am unaware in what way my decision not to vote would help the system, but I have made up my mind not to be part of the present failed democratic set-up,” Passah asserted. 

No comments: