Preparing for visit of US Prez

In the weeks before the scheduled visit of US President Donald Trump to India, one had an opportunity to know through newspapers and visual media about the preparations being made at Ahmedabad, Agra and Delhi. Looking at the visuals, I was reminded of my early days in the police department. Police stations and other buildings related to Punjab Police were on the whole not equipped with basic facilities like running water, toilets, living accommodation, etc. During inspections by seniors, local officers would get buildings whitewashed and also liberally use white lime (choona) to cover up the filthy area around these buildings. It is a different matter that both inspecting officers and the local police knew that ugly things were being swept under the carpet and a false front was being put up.

I found the preparations being made for Trump’s visit on similar lines. Hundreds of people were engaged in cleaning up the route from the Ahmedabad airport to Sabarmati Ashram and Motera cricket ground. Roads were carpeted, bylanes cleaned and rubbish dumps removed. Wherever there were slums along the route, walls were raised to cover them up; and in some cases, inhabitants were relocated.

It must be remembered that Ahmedabad is one of the most developed cities and its municipal corporation is very rich. One fails to understand why these basic facilities were not present there and an effort had to be made to provide these. It is the duty of the civic body to provide facilities like water, power, roads, sewerage system and general cleanliness. Normally, most city administrations make special efforts to maintain roads from airports to the cities. One would have expected this at all times because Ahmedabad receives thousands of visitors everyday and the drive from the airport is a visitor’s first introduction to the city.

Similarly, Agra is also an important town; thousands of visitors from India and abroad visit the Taj Mahal. In Agra, too, one saw a massive clean-up drive from the airport to the Taj. Both in Ahmedabad and Agra, shops and buildings on the route taken by the US President’s entourage were being given a fresh coat of paint. The condition of the roads leading to the Taj and its surrounding areas was pathetic. Even water had to be pumped into the Yamuna as it has gone almost dry and, of course, dirty. If we could do this for one visitor, why could it not be done on permanent basis for the citizens of these cities and tourists?

In addition to the MCs of these two cities, there exist departments of local government, urban development, etc, which are supposed to supervise the functioning of these corporations. It is obvious that officials, both political and bureaucratic, were not functioning satisfactorily. It is clear that the age-old system of regular inspections at different levels is almost dead. Bureaucrats and other departmental heads are busy pleasing their political masters through means other than the efficient discharge of their duties. There are provisions for the supervision of all departments in the rule books, but who has the time to do this tedious work. In order to cover up their inadequacies, massive PR exercises are conducted through print and visual media, spending thousands of crores. However, people have started to see through these campaigns and are getting more vocal in demanding their rights.

I’ve not mentioned the massive public meeting organised at the newly-constructed Motera cricket ground by the state government through its political, bureaucratic and police machinery. Such meetings have not been organised for other heads of states who visited our country. So much so that we give short shrift to our neighbouring countries’ heads of states who are all of greater and more immediate importance to us, be it Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and even China. Large and spontaneous meetings took place during Jawaharlal Nehru’s time and during the visits of Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin from the erstwhile USSR. No developed or developing country today organises such meetings for visiting dignitaries. At best town-hall meetings are arranged and the extensive use of the television network is made. Even our own presidents and prime ministers hardly get this kind of treatment when they go abroad.

It is time we utilised all the money we spend on organising such huge events for the maintenance of our cities and infrastructure. We should provide basic facilities to our citizens on a permanent basis. It is a matter of shame that lakhs of our brethren still sleep on the pavements of big cities and how they manage their basic food and clothing is difficult to answer. To conclude, it would be better to improve the lives of our own citizens rather than splurging on catering to the whims and fancies of an unpredictable leader from abroad.

— The writer is former chairman of UPSC and former Governor of Manipur