THE SOONER WE WAKE UP, THE BETTER!
This had been brewing, or should I say churning inside me for quite a while, and the desire to write about it was getting stronger by the day. But there would be moments when I would simply want to scrap the idea, doubting if it would be of any use at all and end up just being a futile cry in the dark. But when I saw my own beloved state of Maharashtra being ridiculed in another state, I knew I had to have a hearty vent-out
So, the powers that be in Maharashtra, it’s high time you stopped the mockery that you have been perpetrating in the name of politics, for the common man is getting mauled in the process!
There was a time when just belonging to Maharashtra used to draw respect and admiration. Here is a little example. A few years ago, my friend Hemant had come from Gujarat to Pune for a job, and he had said “Wow, the people here are so talented and hardworking!” Though he as merely stating a fact, I can’t help but wonder why Maharashtra couldn’t attract big business projects. Can you please check and let me know how many projects with significant employment potential have been brought to Maharashtra in the past few years? The Tatas who commenced their conglomerate in Jamshedpur, and then went on to put up their next big plant in Pune, have carried out all their expansion out of Maharashtra. They moved to Singur with the Tata Nano, and upon stubbing their toe on Mamata Banerjee’s obstinacy one would have thought that the plant would come to Maharashtra, but that wasn’t to be. It went to Sanand in Gujarat instead, where they are producing their EV’s in full swing. Their march in Gujarat doesn’t end here, for they were quick to acquire the 300 acres out of the 430 that Ford had vacated in the neighbourhood. This venture is all set to become the biggest EV plant in the sector. The fact that despite having the Tata Aerospace factory in Mihan, Nagpur, the Tata Airbus project shifted to Vadodara underlines my concern here.
Even the great Mumbai that the Danish Engineers Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Toubro were enamoured with, so much so that they made it the home for their Larsen & Toubro, a giant name in every sense, couldn’t retain any of the subsequent major projects undertaken by L & T and they all went out of Maharashtra. Today, the sight of the sprawling establishment of L & T at Hazira is awe-inspiring to say the least. They took the rest of their projects to Bengaluru and Chennai, by the way…
The legendary Dhirubhai Ambani launched his great journey from Mumbai and put up a plant in Patalganga, but all the subsequent projects with huge employment opportunities went to Hazira and Jamnagar.
All the Sunrise Industry plants from the Aerospace are shifting to Hyderabad, Kolar, Bengaluru…
The hugely ambitious announcement by Foxconn, the Cell-phone makers, of their upcoming plant in Talegaon and the proposed investment of a whopping 25000 crores too met the same fate and the whole project tiptoed away to Hossur, from right under the noses of Maharashtra’s political leadership. Following Foxconn's lead, Tata Electronics, Rising Star, Salcomp, Dixon Technologies, Vistron, and many others relocated and are now operating at full capacity, generating job opportunities for thousands. Kia Motors has found its new home near Anantpur while Ola and Ether found theirs in Bengaluru and Hossur respectively. Despite talks of a railway plant coming to Latur, major developments in the Vande Bharat initiative are primarily occurring in states other than Maharashtra. It has been two years since General Motors shut down their operations in Talegaon, and despite Hyundai's ambitious takeover of GM, the company is encountering numerous challenges.
Both the people and politicians of Maharashtra appear unaware that their combined productivity and perspective are becoming ensnared in unproductive pursuits and endeavors. If the trend of renaming cities had to begin, it should have started with Ahmedabad. Instead, the city is thriving with the establishment of prestigious institutions like the IIT and IIM, as well as new plants by Maruti Suzuki and Honda Motorcycles. As Ahmedabad thrives in generating significant material and intellectual wealth, Maharashtra is caught up in the emotional fervor of renaming its cities to historical appellations. The Government too follows suit and pats itself on the back for this perfectly inconsequential change. While the Aurangabad in Bihar is ignored conveniently, but the Usmanabad in Maharashtra doesn’t escape their attention. While local political power typically drives regional progress, Pune stands as a glaring exception to this norm. Despite being the top revenue-generating city in Maharashtra, its Metro project advances at a sluggish pace" In stark contrast, Metro projects in low-trade regions are executed rapidly, yet run trains that are often near-empty. And even after a decade and a half, the Pune Airport remains 'in talks'. In the same period, the ultra-modern Bengaluru Airport is not only off and running, but its second terminal too has started operations in full swing. Apart from a project or two, the Khed SEZ remains largely inactive. In contrast, Bengaluru boasts an Industrial Machine Park and a sprawling 1200-acre Japanese Industrial Park under development.
The least is said the better about roads and highways. Once known for its excellent roads, Maharashtra now suffers from the opposite.
Having said all this, I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion and assert that everything is hunky-dory with the other states. However, the damage caused by those in power, in general, renders the scenario pathetic, to say the least. It brings me more shame and embarrassment than anger. This doesn’t imply, of course, that only present-day politicians or a particular party are responsible for this. It's the culmination of degradation that has been ongoing for the last couple of decades or so. Our beloved Maharashtra of today seems fated to be compared with a cesspool of consequences resulting from narrow-mindedness, corruption, deeply rooted casteism in the leaders elected by us, a working class that lacks both spine and resources to stand up against it all, and finally, a collective society that identifies more with caste and religion than with anything profound.
It is still not too late, though. Let’s look at the silver lining, shall we? Maharashtra still tops the GDP scale. It is the biggest contributor of the GST. All we need to restore its rightful old glory and make the rest of India sit up and take notice is to shed the lethargy from our psyche and channel it towards its full potential. That will mark the beginning of a future day when we can salute Maharashtra with the same pride that we have come to associate with it.
The time to start is NOW!
