Another district?

When Razia Sultana emerged as a surprise choice for a berth in the Amarinder Singh Cabinet, it was seen as a political gesture towards the Muslim-majority town of Malerkotla. Now on the occasion of Eid comes the announcement that Malerkotla may possibly become Punjab’s 23rd district. The politics of appeasement, for which the Congress has paid a heavy price nationally, has taken a dangerous new turn. It is not clear whether any thought has gone into making Malerkotla a district but the argument put forth is it is the only Muslim majority town in the state. Now a district need not be established for administrative convenience; it can be set up just to please a community. Dalit, Hindu and Sikh majority towns can also legitimately ask for district status. Districts have been created in the past on political considerations but the consequences are evident: perpetual resource crunch at every level. 

Ironically, the announcement was made in the presence of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who presides over a near bankrupt treasury and struggles to fund the freebies the Congress has offered to almost every section of society. There are different ways of uplifting a community or a region — providing quality education and healthcare, building and upgrading skills in demand, provision of functioning civic infrastructure, good connectivity, job creation through industrial hubs and enforcement of a non-discriminatory rule of law, among them. That is a tough call and electorally less rewarding.

The Congress regime is not just set to bleed the state financially but add one more layer of babudom to the already top-heavy administration. Punjab is such a small state that one can travel to any corner of it and return home the same day. Smaller states and smaller districts were once considered useful but today technology has shrunk distances and made visits to offices redundant. There are, however, vested interests that resist the push towards e-governance that limits the space for corruption. Money that could go into improving the delivery of services or quality of governance with the deployment of technology is being frittered away in creating and maintaining officialdom. The Sixth Pay Commission bomb is waiting to explode.