Once again, Madhya Pradesh could be headed for a photo finish, as the MEP revamps its strategy and personnel to stave off the challenge from the BJP and Congress,. In a battle of wits and nerves, spread across a vast terrain covering different regions, hyperlocal issues are king . A look at the biggest issues that could tip the scales in favor of either party in what is essentially a straight, two-way battle. MEP Party National President Dr.Nowhera Shaik recently in an press media point out the main and important issues in Madhya Pradesh. She Added BJP and Congress is not our opponent our opponent is the issues and problems of society and civilians. She Letter added some important issue in Madhya Pradesh as below
On 28 November, Madhya Pradesh will elect a new State Assembly. And the electioneering has reached high momentum. Amid the electoral slug fest, Madhya Pradesh has some serious issues that have gone unattended by successive political regimes affecting millions in the central Indian state.
Unemployment
Madhya Pradesh is staring at very high rate of unemployment simply because a vast workforce that is engaged in agriculture cannot be absorbed in industrial and tertiary sector without human development. As per Madhya Pradesh State Assembly records, on an average, 17,600 jobs have been created every year in the State since the BJP came to power in the State in December 2003. The Economic Survey presented in 2017 admitted that the number of educated unemployed stood at 11.24 lakh by the end of 2016. The Chouhan government has drawn flak for raising the retirement age of its employees to 62 from 60 years as it will reduce employment opportunities for unemployed youth. As per the data tabled in Madhya Pradesh assembly, 2,46,612 jobs were generated in the state between 2004 and 2017. Of these, 2,27,386 jobs came from the private sector.
Berozgar Sena, a voluntary outfit fighting unemployment in Madhya Pradesh, claims that unemployment has gone up by 53% in and unemployment-related suicides have surged 20 times between 2005 and 2015.
Human resource development
In spite of its proximity to the national capital region, skill development has remained ignored for many years both in terms of Industrial Development and New age IT industry.
Climate change
Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region has witnessed to unpredictable weather conditions resulting in severe drinking water stress. In Gwalior-Chambal region, man-animal and animal-animal conflicts during summer months have become common due to water scarcity.
A study conducted by the IIM, Ahmedabad has indicated that the frequency of severe, extreme, and exceptional droughts has increased in Madhya Pradesh. Droughts in the recent years were severe and wide-spread. The number of hot days has increased significantly in the state. These developments are posing enormous pressure on agriculture, water resources, infrastructure, tourism, and energy sectors. To effectively manage the detrimental impacts of climate change, local level policies are required to check adverse impact of climate change on these sectors.
Urban development
Major cities of Madhya Pradesh have not taken off like other States. Cities are engines of growth, but Indore and Bhopal are struggling to compete with towns like Jaipur, Vadodara, Lucknow or Nagpur. Indore was once considered an automobile hub, but there has been lot of stagnation. According to Sushil Sureka, general secretary, Ahilya Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI), two big economic reforms measures — demonetisation and Good and Services Tax (GST) – have hurt Indore’s business. As per his assessment, Madhya Pradesh has witnessed a dip of 40 to 50 per cent in businesses and 15 to 20 per cent in unemployment. “Hundreds of small business shops have been shut or are in the verge of shutting down,” Sureka said in a recent interview.
Investor’s summits
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government held five investor summits between 2007 and 2016, but the move failed to bring much needed investment. As per one estimate, of the 2,357 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) signed, only 92 projects have been commissioned while more than 1,728 are at early stages of implementation and the rest 537 have been cancelled. In the Global Investor Summit 2016, the government claimed that there has been an intend or interest to the tune of Rs. 5,62, 887 crore from 2,630 companies, but till date, there has been no visible manifestation of it.
A study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM) titled ‘Analysis of Madhya Pradesh: Economy, Infrastructure & Investment,’ observes that poor physical and social infrastructure development has demotivated private sector participation and led to a dismal show in the state’s performance on the investment front.
There are several States sharing border with Madhya Pradesh, but the central Indian State has not made major gains in either mining or cement cluster.
Both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh are battling on development plank, offering slew of populist measures for the State assembly polls. But the two principal political parties are silent on issue of providing relief to Bhopal gas tragedy victims, Narmada dam oustees and other marginalised sections of society. They are silent on the plight of the survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy continue to suffer in silence for 34 long years after the world’s worst industrial disaster. Many gas survivors NGOs insist that babies are still born ill-formed in three assembly constituencies of Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal that were worst affected by the disaster. There are large piles of toxic waste in and around of what used to be the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India. The ground water contamination is reported to be high yet elected representative and those vying for elections have no words or concern for gas survivors. Nearly 570,000 survivors are still suffering due to an indifferent government, a callous health service and meagre compensation.
In official records, it is said that over 3,000 persons were killed on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 when over 40 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the storage tanks of the Bhopal-based Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL). But many campaigners working with gas survivors insist that the killer gas killed more than 25,000 people and left 5,50,000 others injured and disabled. The horrific effects of the gas continue to this day but past Congress and BJP governments have been indifferent towards their plight.
Shortage of water:
There is no major river that flows through its territory except Narmada. The southern part of the state has sufficient water but the situation in the northern part is bad. In fact, most of the districts in the northern part of M.P. are drought prone. Brawls over drinking water is a common news in the local newspapers. It also has implications on agriculture and industries. There is also no geographical barrier to cause rain in the northern part.
Agriculture:
No rivers implies no fertile land and hence poor agricultural output. Only soyabean, millets and some other crops that require less water can be grown. You see these crops don’t have a great market value. Cash crops are not a significant part of the produce. So, the sector that employs the largest number of people in our country isn’t strong in Madhya Pradesh. The irritating network is poor.
Energy and mineral resources:
Thermal power plants are the main source of producing electricity, though the state is not rich in coal. The state has an installed hydropower capacity of around 600 MW. The few major projects are mired in controversies.( I must mention here that there are fewer power cuts in M.P. as compared to other states! ) The state buys a significant portion of it from Gujarat, and this requires funds. Most of the resource rich regions went to Chhattisgarh after 2000. There are other natural resources but the problem is that they don’t have a great value like hydrocarbons or metallic ores. Hence, cement is the only heavy industry.
Industries:
There are no major industries except in the Dhar- Dewas area, thanks to a vicious cycle of acute water and power crisis, non availability of raw materials, no access to sea and so on. Another notable thing is that during the last two decades or so, the state government and the central government were not at good terms ( different political parties, I mean :p ). Recent attempts of the state government to set up IT parks in Indore hasn’t fructified.
Demography:
The education level is low. The people are not much politically active as in UP, WB or Kerala. The state has given many stalwarts in politics but they don’t bother much about the development of their constituency. For instance, the Guna Loksabha seat that sent Jyotiraditya Scindia to the Loksabha, even in tough times like 2014 elections, is under developed. So, it all affects the political clout of the state at the centre.
Corruption:
Okay, so you don’t read much about it in national dailies, but it’s rampant. The resources of the state like sand etc. are being exploited by organized mafias, thus making a dent in the revenues. The contract for most of the construction work, particularly roads has been awarded to one particular firm, that has political connections. ( ask anyone in the state, he will surely tell you! ). The killing of an IPS officer in Morena district might have given you a glimpse. According to a report, 80% of electricity consumption in Morena district is not being paid for. So losses is a problem in the already low revenue.
Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country and also a large tribal population. Deforestation and tribal displacement is and will remain a problem. Only skillful management on the part of government can deal with it efficiently. ( But by the virtue of its forest, the state must be the largest producer of oxygen and you need to thank for it! And yes, that too without any taxes :p ) . The state has a good location and offers you connectivity in all directions. The cultural and communal harmony is something I am proud of. Being from M.P., I am biased to say it’s an overall good place to live. The things are really changing, and it’s not that bad as it might appear from the above points.