Maha to Mumbai

Fri, Oct 23 05:14 AM

Once an election campaign is done, the votes cast and counted, and the results dissected, there is usually, among those concerned about issues of governance, a distinct feeling of relief — if the verdict is clear. A government with a solid mandate, so thinking goes, will soon take office; it will have the political capital to take difficult decisions; and the momentum of the election campaign will give it energy. But, alas, although Maharashtra's electorate handed out to the incumbents as clear a mandate as could be expected, there will be little such optimism this time. That governance nearly

collapsed under this formation's previous terms is a bit of a dampener to enthusiasm of that sort.

But, nevertheless, this is a new chapter. If there is a moment at which Maharashtra's administrative trajectory can be set right, it is this one. And it must not be wasted, for Maharashtra's new government has a tremendous amount on its plate. Consider, for example, the plight of eastern Maharashtra: one huge district is overrun with Naxalites; in most others, the district-level administration is inefficient and unresponsive. These agriculture-intensive areas need growth in their area badly; growth in non-agricultural employment is what they expect, and something previous governments have been unable to provide — or to let happen.

The biggest story of this election is urbanisation. Once again, both the larger cities — Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur — and the many smaller urban agglomerations across the state have been central to determining which combine came out in front. And how this next government handles urbanisation is crucial; managing that process should top its agenda. On the one hand, those who live in rural areas have recognised that working on the farm will not bring in enough to satisfy everyone's aspirations; there is already more than enough disguised unemployment throughout the farm sector. Hence the need for local employment that isn't dependent on agriculture. But that will not be enough, either; the process of migration to cities is a natural corollary to India's development process. The next government cannot afford the colossal callousness to the problems of Maharashtra's towns that previous ones have shown. The size and political clout of the towns will just grow. Neither the Congress/NCP nor Maharashtra can afford a situation when the only political force that appears to be giving voice to the concerns of urban Maharashtra also happens to be a medievalist thug. Building urban infrastructure, the ending of restrictive labour legislation to let formal employment grow, and at least attempting to make Maharashtra's urban areas better and more beautiful places to live: these make sense both as politics and as policy.

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