DF govt’s four-year stint of failures

Having completed four years at the helm on October 30, the Congress-NCP government looks all set to last its entire tenure. But there are tough times ahead as it has to cope with greater challenges on the administrative front, in the agriculture, law and order and power sectors.

Despite mega projects and support from the Centre, infrastructure remains the biggest mega-block in transforming Mumbai into Shanghai.

At the end of four years, the Democratic Front (DF) government has left behind shocking tales of human tragedy that have rocked the state, raising a question mark on its law and order. Whether it was Dalit killings at Khairlanji in Bhandara district, the harassment of minorities post the terror strikes in Mumbai and Malegaon, or the MNS’s agitation against north Indians, the ministry of home failed to tackle the issues on a war footing. 

Today, a confident home minister and deputy CM, RR Patil, assures that the government will leave no stone unturned to address the unrest among citizens, arguing that the administration has done a good job. However, former home minister Gopinath Munde counters, “There is a complete breakdown in law and order. The communal riots in Dhule brought life to a standstill for 10 days, and nothing was done. Similarly, in the case of Khairlanji, the culprits were punished after a CBI probe. The state administration showed total apathy in handling the Dalit killings. They covered up a heinous crime, which is a shame for a progressive state.”

The challenge for chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who leads the state in an election year, will multiply in the coming days. Whether it is the farmers’ unrest against special economic zones in Raigad, or suicides in the cotton-belt in Vidarbha, signing financial packages will not heal the wounds. Not surprisingly, the government is planning to counter the unrest with a Rs4,500-crore package to help 36 lakh farmers who were deprived of PM Dr Manmohan Singh’s bailout plan, helping 39 lakh defaulters in agriculture sector.

Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said, “The farmers are leading a terrible life, with the government turning a blind eye to their problems. All these packages have remained on paper, and have not served the needy. When you hear heartrending tales of farmers’ plight, it makes one wonder if there is any government existing at all.”

At 2% growth, the agriculture sector is far below the Planning Commission’s ambitious target of achieving 4% growth at the national level. What makes the situation grim in the agriculture sector, which provides employment to 55% of the rural population, is the shrinking in cultivable land. The drought this year proved that Maharashtra will have to provide farmers with mechanisms to override water scarcity and poor rainfall.

The economic survey 2007-08 states: “Despite huge spending on the irrigation projects, the proportion of gross area irrigated to gross cropped area in the state is around 17% as against about 43% at the national level.”

The Congress and NCP are trying to market the nuclear deal to undermine the government’s failure in generating power, which remains the biggest worry for the state. The power shortage has touched 4,500 mw. The minister for energy, Dilip Walse Patil, reckons that the state will achieve power-surplus status in 2012, throwing up a vital question — how is Maharashtra going to retain its leading industrial-investment status in the next five years?

According to Devendra Fhadnavis (MLA), “Even Gujarat is facing a power crisis, but they have managed things better compared to Maharashtra, which shows no signs of plugging the loopholes in the administration.”