The practiced elan with which the heads of state government presented various plans and promises would make even the most hardened sceptics doubt themselves, even if for a fleeting moment. It would not be an exaggeration to state that some of these seasoned career politicians and polished administrators have even managed to elevate the very act of dishing out hopes and promises to a form of art. The dismayingly believable farce still continues without any signs of abating or letting up, in all probability because of the utter lack of alternative, or more disturbingly, because these hopes are the only thing left with the public which have for so long been deprived of their prerogative to experience progress and better life. During the course of our lives, we have been promised every single thing that these dream merchants could possibly think of, without anything to show for it, and yet we still linger tantalizingly on their progress, or the lack of it, for that matter, all the while clutching on to our hopes and dreams, like the proverbial drowning man desperately clutching on to a straw as the last resort. The ground reality could not have been any more different. We have been witnessing and experiencing the jolts of shocks of annoyingly erratic spurts of what one can only be termed as pathetic attempts at projecting efforts towards development and progress. This continuing mismatched efforts and haphazard attempts have undeniably revealed a disconcerted and disconnected system of administration and governance which is further dragging down the state and holding back from the increasingly competitive global race towards development and technological advancements. The most disturbing part, however, is that the long suffering public, inspite of its inherent wish to embrace development and progress, seemed to have subconsciously resigned to the fact that such progress and development that have been made possible in other parts of the country will forever remain tantalizingly out of reach for the common public. The widening chasm between the influential and the powerful on the one hand, and the general public without the privilege of connections and contacts on the other, bears testimony to the growing social fracture. Nothing can wish away the stark reality being faced by the common public when it comes to carrying out basic daily chores which should be just that- routine daily chore, but has now been made into an unceasing struggle. The only way to pull the society out of the rut is to adopt radical ways of thinking and doing things. For this to happen, the collective mindset, especially of those who have been sworn to govern and administer the state must synch with that of the public. Coming clean on all issues, building trust, maintaining transparency and practicing impartiality will go a long way in bringing about that much needed positive turnaround. Tuning down on unrealistic promises and putting a halt on the proven and much effective practice of pampering with false hopes would be the most appropriate first step towards the right direction.
