In a democracy the Government and the administration both work for the people and are supposed to be answerable to the citizens. However, the citizens of Dehradun living in different Assembly constituencies feel distant from their elected representatives.
Majority of people here said that the MLA, who enters in the Vidhan Sabha to raise concerns of the people in his or her constituency, rarely tries to interact with the people.
There are some people who also think that they don’t care unless the apathy of such political leaders affects their lives. Few people also said that their MLA does not even live in the same constituency which makes it difficult for them to raise concerns about their well being.
Aradhna Chamoli, a resident of Doiwala constituency said, “Our MLA is also our chief minister.
He comes during occasions like Rakshabandhan, but at that time people are busy in taking their gifts that they forget that this is the only time they will get to raise their concerns. Even when the CM is only visiting for one day he does not have time to listen about our grievances. He delivers his speech and then leave; the bodyguards don’t even let us talk to him. The other elected members such as local councillors keep saying that they lack budget. Other people who claim that they will set a meeting with the CM always want something in return.”
Sumit Nautiyal resident of Mokhampur said, “If there is some problem we contact with the local representative. In most of the cases we take care of our own problems. Nobody has got time to spend their entire day for a pipeline problem. We collect money in our colony and then pay the private maintenance person.” Bhumika Kaushik, a resident of the Raipur Assembly constituency said, “There are several mediums today to connect with our representatives, but the confusion is about the level of problems.
We don’t know who we are supposed to contact for a particular problem. For example our road is filled with potholes. A number of small time road accidents take place here almost on daily basis. Some people say that Public Work Department (PWD) is supposed to take care of it and some say that Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is responsible. There is the involvement of ADB department as well. When we spoke to some officials earlier in June they said that they will complete the work after rain. Now they say that budget is awaited. We don’t know whom to contact. They keep sending us from one person to another.”
It is pertinent to mention here that observers opine that with lack of time and less effective online mediums of registering complaints people tend to not file any complaint at all. This gives political representatives and administrative workers an excuse to not complete their works.