The perennially troubling roadways and caving bridges that serves as the lifeline of the state has been a subject of ceaseless debate, with the ever shifting blame game being played out with finesse and practiced ease. Yet considering the amount of essential commodities that is being brought in from the neighbouring states, it is no wonder that these roads and bridges crumbles constantly, though the quality of work that is being done is a debatable matter, and more so for the heads of state who should have been overseeing such crucial works. People in the government, in their usual victimized demeanour, might object to the opinions on these topics as too harsh or unduly critical of their efforts, yet the fact of the matter shows otherwise. It would sound a tad pessimistic, but if the past performances are any indication, it would be a while before the people in the state can enjoy the benefits of an uninterrupted and smooth highway that could provide for anything and everything the public could possibly afford to get. And while every one of us is too preoccupied with these concerns, we have so far failed to utilize the single largest asset at our disposal- the vacant fields of the state. It will not take much to convince anyone about the yet unexplored potential these wasting fields can provide in terms of food grains which are being brought in from other states at present, with increased cost and often adulterated condition which are being used by the public for want of a better alternative. An estimated quarter of the commodities being transported into the state consist of foodgrains which can be further reduced if the state, or more specifically the owners utilize their lands throughout the year for plantation of crops according to the season. There are a lot of subsidies which are being provided by the Government for development of Agriculture and Horticulture, both at the state and central level, but we still fail to utilize such benefits to increase our output, all the while blaming the Government of being indifferent to the ever present shortage of foods in the state. Although there might be an inkling of truth in the allegations of the common public and the farming community of various instances of mismanagements and deliberate ignorance of the officials dealing with such subsidies, yet most often, it is our lack of knowledge on such benefits that prevents these subsidies to be availed by the farmers. A proactive and positive approach by the farmers will definitely help to make a positive turnaround of such discrepancies. The Government should, meanwhile inform the public and the farmers in particular about the numerous subsidies and their criteria. A marketing strategy to facilitate the profitable disposal of these products should be impetus enough for anyone to strive to produce more. The practice of farming for subsistence needs to be done away with at the earliest. The need of the hour is to focus on optimum utilization of the vacant fields to make our state self reliant, at least with regard to foodgrains, and that would be a start towards prosperity.
