Column

The Congress and the Akali Dal-BJP combine may be locked in keen electoral battle. The Congress may be expanding its base in rural as well as urban parts of the state, and the Akalis may be strengthening their grip on the Sikh farmer. Sukhbir Badal, the heir apparent (it’s not just the Congress that suffers from the dynastic malaise) and Amarinder Singh may be engaged in mortal combat for the chief minister’s slot. But none of this reflects the real challenges in one of the most successful and prosperous, and in many ways deeply communally conscious,states in the country.
Deeper social and economic problems never surface during an electoral battle. The excitement of an election should not, however, prevent us from looking at some of the uncomfortable aspects of Punjab. One of the best kept secrets of the Green Revolution is that agriculture in the state has almost turned into disaster. Yes, Punjab still is India’s granary — the state produces more rice than many other rice-growing regions in the country — and its wheat output remains high. Yet Punjab’s rural youth are listless. There is not enough work to absorb their energies. They drift to Delhi and other metros. More dangerously, the rural Punjabi is one of the tragically prominent illegal emigrants to be found in the Philippines, in Italy and in Greece apart from the familiar haunts of England and Canada. Many a time they pay with their lives for the misadventure.

The health problems arising out of the salinity of the soil has not attracted any epidemiological study of significance, but people familiar with the region see a rise in cases of cancer and people going to neighbouring Rajasthan for medical treatment. The suicide rate may not be as high as it is in Kerala, but it is a troubling aspect.

More than the economic and health woes of the Punjabis, there is the disturbing aspect of social ennui. It is easy to be charmed by the achievements of the Chatwals and Malvinder Singhs and Raunaq Singhs of the world and see them as the community’s face. Even the Sikh communities abroad face loneliness, and the elderly are left to fend for themselves.

Punjab’s politicians can say it is beyond their remit to look at the social and psychological problems of communities in the state, and that they focus on things they know and can do. But what politicians and people have to recognise is that as states and communities grow, they may have to tackle more difficult, even intangible issues.

The Akali Dal plays the religious card. Amarinder Singh, who had walked over to the Akalis after Operation Bluestar in 1984, said some years ago that the Dal was a communal party and it was difficult to remain in it. The Akalis are incapable of solving the complex challenges that Sikhs, especially the youth, face in the country and outside. The Congress has nothing to offer either, except economic sops.

The truth is that Punjab remains a troubled state, and its loud politics cannot hide this tragedy for long. Here is a state and a people who are unable to build a prosperous society, which includes social well-being, better education, and the higher goals of producing scientists and engineers, doctors and economists.

Here is a state that should have taken off from its base of economic well-being. It has not. It is time to look at the reasons for this failure. But these questions are not being raised by people in the state and in the country.