This is the time when all the political parties come out with a document of their vision for ‘development’ the constituency, State and the Nation. The biggest question is what each one means by development.
It is unfortunate that ‘development’ means different things to different people. Worse what each party promises in its manifesto as its vision of development is shelved once it comes to power. What we see today is the ‘development’ of individuals who are at the helm of affairs, said speakers at a seminar on ‘Best model of development’ organised by the Movement for People-Centred Development here on Sunday.
Development has to be inclusive and ensure that the quality of life of the poorest of the poor improves, the speakers from different walks of life pointed out. Unfortunately, today the development is more for the gain of a few contractors and other capitalists. Rights of tribals and other poor sections of society are totally ignored.
AgendaIt is essential that the voters draw up an agenda of their needs that they want their representative to address and vote only for the candidate who gives an assurance on fulfilling them. Once the elections are over the voters have to monitor the performance of their representative and pull him or her up for lagging on delivering promises.
Professor of Anthropology in Andhra University P.D. Satyapal, convenor of committee against privatisation P.V. Ramana, member INTACH Rani Sarma, CPI (ML) New Democracy leader J.V. Chalapati Rao, and J.V. Ratnam of Movement for People’s Centred Development were present.
