Uttar Pradesh

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India Diary: On the roads in Bundelkhand!

I am currently in India, visiting my extended family in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh [UP].

Bundelkhand is the region between UP and Madhya Pradesh [MP] in the southern part of UP. Prominent places in this area include Jhansi, Khajuraho, Banda, Mahoba, Kalinjar, Chitrakoot, Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Satna and of course, Maihar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundelkhand

It is such a fun and pleasure to be with my mother, brothers, nephews, nieces and relatives.

Many things have changed here, and they have changed in the right direction.

Internet is fast and cheap. At 800 Rupees [$15] a month, you can get unlimited broadband internet access at home!

Mobile phone rates are dirt cheap. Connectivity and coverage are great. Almost everyone I know has a mobile phone!

Flash and flashier cars on the road these days!

Roads are better, but still, a lot of work is required.

The biggest bummer is the electricity supply. There is no electricity between 10AM to 4PM, forcing people to use inverters and generators!

Poverty is all too pervasive, with lack of industry everywhere except a few. It is basically a feudal society with farming as the backbone.

I travelled to Maihar, Madhya Pradesh to visit the famous temple of Goddess Sharda right on the top of the mountain. My nephews and nieces have been insisting on this visit for years.

We could have taken the train to Maihar but we chose the car for the convenience and control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maihar

Sharada Temple Maihar

Mahindra and Mahindra’s Scorpio Four Wheel Drive on 30th Dec, 2012 was comfortable and right for the journey. 220 Km distance each way was no problem. We enjoyed songs from latest Bollywood movies. Children knew which song was from which movie. Amazing!

Banda to Maihar distance should have been about 160 Km but our driver took us via an alternate route due to bad  road condition on the regular pathway.

Arriving at Maihar at about 1PM, we had two choices for going to the temple. Either we go via the Gondola or negotiate about 1000 steps. We chose the former, for both efforts and time. There was a big crowd for Gondola too, but I have the feeling that my brothers were able to impress the Police and security that we deserved some sort of special treatment, hence a special entry to Gondola platform. I wonder whether my background as a Sydney medico worked here or was it money to grease the palms of people who were managing the Gondola!

On the top of the mountain, and at the temple, there was another crowd but this time we stayed in the crowd, taking about 1 hour before entering the temple itself.

We prayed, offered flowers and other things including Coco nuts before exiting the temple. We certainly prayed for health, peace and wellbeing of our family and friends.

It was cold but pleasant. We were full of devotion, enjoying devotional songs.

After being there for about 1 hour, we set out on our drive back to our home.

The roads in Bundelkhand from Maihar [MP] to Satna [MP] to Panna [MP] to Ajay Garh [MP] to Kartal [UP] to Naraini [UP] to Banda was fine except about 3 km stretch where work on the road was in progress.

I was pleased that I was able to visit this famous and historical temple which counts Alha, the brave Bundelkhand warrior, as its devotee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alha

Dr Yadu Singh/Bundelkhand, India/2nd Jan, 2013

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Why Akhilesh Yadav should be Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh?

English: The Flag of Samajwadi Party, India wi...

Image via Wikipedia

Sydney, 7th March, 2012

The biggest state [by population] in India, Uttar Pradesh [UP] had just completed the election for the Legislative Assembly. Samajwadi Party [SP] has won the majority of seats in the assembly [224 out of 403]. Previous Govt led by Chief minister, Mayawati was defeated squarely.

I know UP and UP politics well.

SP campaign in the state was led by Akhilesh Yadav [who was SP’s state President], who is currently a second term member of National Parliament, Lok Sabha, in New Delhi. Akhilesh has been educated in Sainik school and had engineering training from University of Sydney. He is in his late thirties.

With his style of politics, down to earth nature, effective networking, and intelligence, he managed to create a wave of support for his party, which led to this victory.

In contrast to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and many other states, Uttar Pradesh lags behind in development. Law and Order has also been a problem. Bureaucracy, as usual, is not that responsive to the needs of people. Political leadership has not been focussed on the core job-development. UP sends the largest number of federal MPs to the national Parliament and used to have the honour of having one of its MPs as the Prime Minister until early 1990s.

Prior to this incoming SP Govt, Bahujan Samaj Party [BSP] was ruling the state, after winning a majority of seats in the assembly in 2007. Before that SP was in Govt with the support of other parties. For a while, SP and BSP alternated in the Govt. With the clear majority this time too, hopefully the rule of minority Govts which needed support of other parties, thus creating some instability, has ended.

Now, the Govt can concentrate on development agenda. Roads and transport, quality health services, quality educational facilities, job opportunities, welfare assistance for the needy people, transparent and efficient governance, and Policing and human right issues need full attention. Many of these are possible only if there is more investment and industries in the state. Only then, there will be sufficient money to develop the state.

UP Govt must be able to reach out to all people and understand the needs and aspirations of all people. It must deliver what its people need and deserve. Everything must be streamlined.

UP Govt should order fast and professional reviews to understand causes for the poor state of development and to seek ways to remedy the shortcomings. UP has to figure out why it is not as developed or rich a Gujarat and other states.

UP has the potential to be  one of the most developed states, if not the number one state in the country, provided genuine and sincere efforts are made in this direction. Obviously, statues and other wastage of public money must never be allowed again. Populism must be balanced with real development work.

Uttar Pradesh leaders need to think out of box and can’t continue following same old style of governance. It is about time that UP Govt leaders start focussing on people lot more than they have done so far.

UP state MLAs must not be allowed to think themselves to be above law, and must conduct themselves as “public servants”, not as “Public masters”.

I have high regards for Neta Ji [Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav] who has been Chief Minister many times, and is an experienced, capable and a veteran leader. His experience and ability will of course be very handy.

I do believe however that it would be more effective if someone with new thought, outlook, energy, vision, ability to connect with today’s people and “can do” attitude is at the helm of the Govt, under the overall guidance of Neta Ji.

UP needs fast development, which needs fast, smart and out of box thinking to encourage investment in UP from within India and outside India.

To achieve this, UP needs a new style of leadership and Governance.

Akhilesh Yadav will be a perfect candidate who will be able to deliver these outcomes.

I am aware that elected MLAs will want to have Neta Ji to be the CM, which is perfectly understandable. If that is the case, it would also be reasonable to have a new ministry named “Minister for Development” with umbrella power over other ministries to pilot the development in UP. Akhilesh will obviously be the right choice for this position.

I wish and hope that UP turns the corner in all aspects of governance and development!

I do wish and hope that UP becomes number ONE state in India in all respects!

People of UP need it and of course, deserve it, no less!

Dr Yadu Singh

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A Brain-less and criminal act of burning the train in India: Culprits must be tracked down and punished!

Train torched

The Mahananda Express on fire in Hathras on Wednesday. PTI
 
Uttar Pradesh has a significant law and order problem. We all know it. Probably, Bihar is the only state which is worse. Mayawati Gov is trying its best to control the menace but its success is only partial. We recall that Ms Mayawati’s Party came to power in 2007 largely because of the serious law and order situation prevailing then.
 
After coming to power, CM Mayawati appointed Mr Vikram Singh as the DGP of UP police. He did a good job in getting Daduwa and other dacoits like Thokia eradicated. Despite Mr Vikram Singh’s efforts, things did not improve fully. You might recall the case of an engineer in Etawah District who was allegedly murdered by an MLA of CM Mayawati’s party, BSP. I am originally from UP and I know for sure that she has been trying to control the lawlessness in UP. She is the only CM who got one of her MPs arrested from her office because he was into crimes. She also got a minister arrested because his name appeared in an FIR.  A lot of things have been done in UP but a lot more still need to be done.
 
Crime is common in UP. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon that people who have connections and muscle power [often the politicians] are involved in criminal activities.
 
Political leaders, if we can call them leaders, have their supporters who will do anything at their behest. Processions, rallies, disruption of normal lives and destruction of public properties are very common. They do not realise or do not care that destruction of public property is a stupid activity. Damage to buses and trains is going to cause difficulties in having these facilities.
 
Damage to buses, trains and other public properties is a recurring problem and nothing seems to be done effectively to stop this.
 
Even the people in UP have become disinterested in looking after their needs. They should oppose the traffic jams by the stupid processions, and destruction of the public properties. They should not elect those who are involved in such activities. Apathy rules in UP.
 
One very important reason why it has continued to happen, is the apathy of police which does not investigate, arrest and prosecute effectively the anti-social elements who come back again and again to repeat the crimes.
 
It is the tax-payers and general public which suffers as this leads to more difficulties in getting the services.
 
It is about time that CM Ms Mayawati, Home secretary and new DGP UP, Mr Karam Veer Singh do something serious which will stop this nonsense soon.
 
DGP Mr Karam Veer Singh has a reputation for a great officer. I remember his work when I was in KGMC in 1980s. To begin with, DGP should order the local police in Hathras to form a team of sub inspectors [or a team of SIs is sent from any other district] which is given the job of identifying the culprits who should then be charged with the damage. The case should be fast-tracked in the court not only for jail terms but also the recovery of the money for the damage. 
 
 Hathras Police should seek the help of the local intelligence unit of the dept. The leaders of the agitation must be charged. DGP Mr Karam Veer Singh and home secretary, Mr Mahesh Gupta should do a direct supervision of the investigating team to ensure a fast, fair and a good investigation.
 
The culprits of the Mahananda Express train damage must be made to pay for the damage.
 
 A message must go out that such activities would not be tolerated in UP. A message should go out that the crime and criminals would not be tolerated in Uttar Pradesh. A message should also go out that UP Police means business and will control crimes at every cost.
 
UP Police will need some reforms in regards to its work culture and professionalism which is do-able and should be done at a fast pace. A sense of self-respect must be instilled among the lower rank officers and constables to encourage a better performance from them.
 
UP gov will need the will power which should not a problem with Ms Mayawati as the CM.
 
Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/04-10-09