Former lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma on Sunday made a veiled attack on the UPA Government at the Centre for promoting sops like food security Act, direct cash transfer etc and neglecting education and employment opportunities.
Speaking at a youth convention, ‘Yuva Dastak’, organised by Vikas Bharti Bishunpur, an NGO, at Morhabadi ground, the founder of National People’s Party took recourse to a Chinese proverb — Give man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime — to drive home his point. “Instead of giving them fish, the Government should train the public how to catch fish,” said the former Speaker.
Around 10,000 youths, mostly from the Naxal-hit districts of Gumla, lohardaga, Simdega and Khunti cheered Sangma when he exhorted them to be self-reliant instead of depending on the Government. “Today the Government is not giving enough priorities on education and employment but snatching water, forest and land by giving fishes (sops) to the people,” he maintained.
Jharkhand’s first Governor Prabhat Kumar, veteran journalist and Rajya Sabha member Harivansh and Vikas Bharti Ashoka Bhagat also spoke on the occasion. Harivansh, during his speech, stressed to focus on building characters among the youth. later speaking to The Pioneer, the former Speaker said that, Jharkhand should come under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution instead of the Fifth Schedule so that tribals can fully enjoy their powers.
Explaining the benefits of Sixth Schedule prevalent in States of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya, Sangma said, “In Sixth Schedule areas, tribals have Government of their own and have all the powers to protect their minerals, forests and customary laws. IPC and CrPC do not apply there. Every major tribe has an autonomous district council, which is not mentioned in the Fifth Schedule.”
“Data refers that for Fifth Schedule areas, every State Government has to earmark 10 per cent of the Budget and similar amount has to come from the Central Government. But, in Jharkhand the money does not come to the area, the State Government always diverts the money. This is the reason of communication gap between the people and State Government. For example, education facilities are lacking,” he added.
The senior leader was also against the Third Front concept for the upcoming lok Sabha elections. “We have experimented third fronts many times right from VP Singh, Deve Gowda, IK Gujral, Charan Singh and it never worked because every political party is equally strong and arrogant. The NDA and UPA are stable because in the NDA there are major political parties.”
“In Third Front everyone is equal. There is a struggle for leadership. So, I am not favouring Third Front in the context of political stability of the country,” he maintained.Regarding the upcoming lS elections, he said that his party will have alliance with the NDA in Meghalaya, Manipur, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Highlighting Jharkhand Government’s biggest problem, Sangma had held a short discussion with his friends here which shows that there is crisis of leadership in the State. He said, “My friends say that Jharkhand could not produce a correct type of leader so far.”
He requested Vikas Bharti’s secretary Ashok Bhagat to organise leadership development programme for the youth and he will extend his all possible support. Comparing the 100 per cent literacy of Mizoram as a small State he stressed on providing better facilities for the tribals in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for education. Pointing out the impact of literacy on elections, he said, “When Assembly elections are held in Mizoram, a candidate spends just Rs 10,000. But it is Rs 10 crore in other States.”