Monumental Blunder
It is common for Indian politicians, cutting across political parties to splurge precious resources to build monuments to further their political careers at the cost of the hapless needy poor.
‘In the absence
of affordable accommodation, the poorest of poor patients taking treatment at
Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, Mumbai have made the space under Hindmata
bridge their home. The Hindmata flyover is almost like a post-operative ward of
Tata Memorial,’ Mumbai Mirror reported prominently on 15 January, 2020.
Tata Memorial,
one of the largest cancer treatment institutes in India, gets 65,000 new cancer
patients every year and another 4,50,000 for follow ups. As per Dr. Shripad
Banavali, director, academics and professor of paediatric and medical oncology,
Tata Memorial, over 80 percent of the hospital’s patients are from states other
than Maharashtra and nearly all of them are poor. Dr. Banavali also said that
with the support of various organizations and generous donors the hospital has
been able to ensure all the children being treated at the hospital get proper
accommodation.
‘You build Ambedkar
statue but ignore sick and poor. For the statue money is there, but the same
people Ambedkar represented all his life can die,’ Bombay High Court slammed
the state government over the funds row at Wadia Hospital, Mumbai. There was a PIL on the freeze of grants from
Bombay Municipal Corporation and the state government which had left the
patients at the Wadia maternity and paediatric hospitals in Parel at lurch. The
bench of judges asked the state government after the state cabinet raised the
cost of the Ambedkar memorial project, taking the total cost to Rs. 1070 crore.
The judges also said that the state is competing to build a statue of Ambedkar
taller than that of Sardar Patel and whether by looking at the statues,
hunger, physical ailments and miseries would go away.
On 22 January,
2020, Times of India, in its Mumbai edition reported the following news:
State
has no money to repair poor student hostels in the city
The government run Sant Eknath Hostel in
Chembur, which houses impoverished, backward class students from rural areas,
has fallen into disrepair. This happens, at a time when the state has cleared a
revised plan of Rs. 1070 crore to build 450 foot memorial of Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar. ‘Babasaheb worked to bring backward class students into the
mainstream. But, sadly there is only politics in his name today. Everything
else that he advocated has been forgotten,’ said one of the students staying in
the hostel.
The statue of
unity of Sardar Patel was built at a cost of Rs. 2989 crore.
The budget for
Shivaji Maharaj statue in the sea in Maharashtra is Rs. 3700 crore.
It is proposed
to build a statue of Lord Ram at Ayodhya at a cost of Rs. 2500 crore.
Mayawati, the richest
dalit leader during her four terms as the Chief Minister of Uttarpradesh,
between 1995 to 2012, built several memorials at a monumental cost. As per
Lucknow Development Authority, she spent a total of Rs. 5919 crore.
‘The greatness
of Dr. B R Ambedkar can’t be measured with the height of a statue. It is a
futile exercise undertaken by successive governments to serve their politics.
An international study centre dedicated to the architect of the Indian
Constitution would be a better tribute,’ said Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of
late Dr. B R Ambedkar and the President of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, a political
outfit.
Consider the
response of China’s political system to tackle a serious coronavirus outbreak
in the country. On 25 January, 2020 President XI Jinping announced that a
second makeshift hospital with about 1000 beds will be built in Wuhan city,
which is facing a grave situation due to the spread of the deadly coronavirus,
within 15 days.
Ours is a
country, where even after 70 years of independence, more than 22% of the
population is poor (Census 2011-2012). When the country is struggling to
feed the poor adequately, building monuments and statues are senseless colossal
wastes. The money can be better utilized for providing medical care, rural
education, clean drinking water and for poverty alleviation.
Unfortunately,
the Indian political class is more concerned about holding on to the power than
addressing the basic issues. The public indifference and the apathy have given
them a freehand to take dubious reckless decisions. It is time the citizens of
this country raise their voice loud and clear and oppose the blatant misuse of
power for personal gain by the so called law makers (breakers).
Dr. C K Sreedharan
Website - www.sreedharanck.com
I totally agree with you. The voices has to be raised against such tasks. The students are now coming up and would lead the nation to a better path.
ReplyDeleteR S Juneja
A very relevant topic indeed! When so many in our country need help, diverting scarce resources into unproductive activities must be avoided.
ReplyDeleteHat's off to you sir for motivating the citizens of this country to raise their voice against such issue.
ReplyDeleteIn a country grappling with considerable poverty and serious civic issues, it doesn’t make sense to give more importance to dead icons than living people.
Of late, an unprecedented wave of statue politics seems to be sweeping the nation. From building giant statues to vandalizing existing ones, this trend reflects one of India’s worst cultural afflictions — our millennia-old obsession with the past, often at the expense of the present. It also reflects our penchant for paying hollow lip service to towering lives but failing to practice the values they inspired in real life.
Nor does it make sense to spend crores of taxpayer’s money on putting up new statues — for instance, the proposed Shivaji statue off the Mumbai coast or the under-construction ‘Statue of Unity’ honouring Sardar Patel.
In fact, both Shivaji and Patel are remembered for the way they cared for the welfare of their people. In all probability, they would never have permitted grandiose statues in their name, when the massive public funds allotted for them could be more wisely used for the welfare of so many people in so many ways.
Here are five things India can spend thousands of crores on instead of statues. May compassion and common sense prevail!
1. Quality and quantity of public healthcare.
2. Better equipment for the police and fire department.
3. Scientifically designed and pothole-free roads.
4. Waste management and climate resilience.
5. Making public spaces accessible for the differently-abled.