Swachh Bharat: Modi's promise of cleaning Varanasi doesn't appear to be an empty one

[East or West India Best]

Modi did a good gesture abut I think its impossible to clean UP/MP/Bihar/Rajastan etc. While rest of India is going forward these few states are pulling backward. Sorry to say that. No contribution in last 67 years.

Best to kick UP/MP/Bihar states out of India. Rajastan can change.

 

[Kinetic]

Best to kick UP/MP/Bihar states out of India. Rajastan can change.

The situation in the villages of UP bihar and MP are so rotten u can't believe. I think they still live in middle ages. So to say this about my fellow Indian.

 

[East or West India Best]

The situation in the villages of UP bihar and MP are so rotten u can't believe. I think they still live in middle ages. So to say this about my fellow Indian.

Why are they like that? Save for Agra (which was horrible besides the Taj), I've never been to those states.

 

[JanjaWeed]

A lot of it is dirty work. But I am up to the task," declared Narendra Modi a year ago when he descended on Varanasi after deciding to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the holy city.

He wasn't exaggerating when he called it "dirty work". Solid waste, liquid waste, paan stains, silt and garbage from households are as conspicuous in Varanasi as its temples and ghats that lead to the banks of the river Ganga.

Cleaning up and beautifying India's spiritual capital was one of Modi's biggest electoral promises to the people of Varanasi. A year later, it doesn't appear to be an empty one.

READ ALSO: Urban Gujarat speeds ahead in implementing Swachh promise

"Look how Assi Ghat (the southernmost of the 84 ghats of Varanasi which is known to accommodate over 20,000 people during festivals like Shivratri) looks today — as clean as a new one. Modi is here and changes are visible. There may be some delay in work but transformation of Varanasi looks inevitable," says Praveen Kumar, an employee of Banaras Mercantile Bank, whose T-shirt with Mai Narendra Damodardas Modi emblazoned all over doesn't exactly leave you wondering about his political leanings.

Varanasi's Assi Ghat. (Getty Images photo)

There are those like Deepak Madhok who runs the Sunbeam chain of schools in the city who will tell you that the cleaning of Assi Ghat began before Modi chose Varanasi as his constituency. "Our school kids were working on the cleanliness of the ghats on a war footing since September while Modi came in December," avers Madhok. "When our boys and girls were doing the work on Assi Ghat, not a single BJP man visited the place and the moment Modi entered Banaras, throngs of them came in overnight and flew away with all the credit."

READ ALSO: 'Swachh Bharat' campaign is beyond politics, PM Narendra Modi says

Assi Ghat in the evening. (Photo taken from Twitter)

When your MP is also the PM, it's inevitable that the buzz factor hits a crescendo, along with expectations. "Earlier, dharnas and even minor scuffles between smaller political outfits were a regular feature, but now almost all political activity is limited to the PM and his talks," says Kaushal Kishor Mishra, professor of political science at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). "There is a demand from certain circles that Varanasi should be made a union territory so that it can be under the direct control of the Centre. Expectations are really high." He's hopeful, and points to Assi Ghat as the basis for that hope. "A big part of the (Assi) Ghat that was till now buried under silt has re-emerged. There's hope that there will be changes in Varanasi — something that most of us had never imagined till the PM entered Varanasi," adds the professor. "Work is on in full swing," pipes in an enthusiastic state BJP spokesperson Ashok Pande. And no prizes for guessing his frame of reference — "Visit the Assi Ghat and see for yourself," he says pointing southwards.

READ ALSO: Swachh Bharat may add 1% extra service tax to 5-star hotel bills

Meanwhile Pranjal Yadav, Varanasi's district magistrate, has been moving in tandem by initiating a cleanup of another kind — encroachments from congested roads. Rubbishing claims that there is friction between the Centre and the state for funds or projects, he says the roles of the two are well defined. "Land has been acquired for the ring road that will help decongest the city. Work will start this month and the project should be ready by April 2017; all the hanging wires of the city will be covered underground under the Integrated Power Development Scheme; streetlights will have LEDs; and the capacity of liquid waste management will be increased."

City mayor Ram Gopal Mohale, too, is full of beans. "Everything will change in three years. Varanasi will transform into the most beautiful city in the world," he gushes.

Photo of a cleaner Assi Ghat, Varanasi.

The hope over Varanasi would have been unthinkable a year ago. Local civic authorities had almost given up on this city of 15 lakh people with a population density of 2,400 persons per square km — till the point Modi entered Varanasi.

Scepticism of course can be found in generous doses, and from predictable quarters. "Third-grade material is being used for all the construction work. Besides, most of the work is the initiative of the state government and the Nagar Nigam. Where is Modi's contribution in all this," asks Congress' Ajai Rai who had contested the elections against Modi in 2014 and is a five-time MLA. Remind Rai about the regular visits by ministers from Delhi, such as the one last week by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, and he offers a different perspective.

"The people who are coming here on courtesy calls have no sync with the culture of Varanasi," says Rai. "Forget that, Jaitley said on his visit that the local officer-bearers must spend time here. Does it take a Cabinet minister to remind a local office-bearer to do his duties, address public grievances and be in his constituency?" he asks. "Where were the office-bearers in the last 10-11 months? It is a sign that nothing will happen. The new Modi office [in Ravindrapuri, also called mini-PMO] has become a post office. Just that the letters are never delivered to the PM," he adds.

READ ALSO: How Swachh Bharat can succeed

Modi's apparent proactivity has had an unintended ruboff effect, which Radhika Ranjan Tiwari, a priest at the Vishwanath temple, spells out: "There's a chain reaction. After the PM came to Varanasi, the CM [Akhilesh Yadav] too has become more active." The healthy competition it seems is working well for the wellbeing of this ancient city. "Many of the projects that were stalled since ages got approved recently."

View of Assi Ghat. (Photo taken from Twitter)

BP Singh, a professor of statistics at BHU, explains Modi's catalytic effect. " On his own, he may not have achieved much as of now but his entry in Varanasi has galvanised many NGOs, global organisations and individuals to participate for the uplift of the city."

Alok Kumar Rai, professor at Faculty of Management Studies, BHU, says certainly there's hope — and not hype — that things will change in the city. "As yet nothing tangible is visible on the ground except for some improvement of train schedules. But it is too early. Rome was not built in a day. Varanasi too must wait."

Swachh Bharat: Modi's promise of cleaning Varanasi doesn't appear to be an empty one - The Times of India

Looking at the way Varanasi is getting transformed...maybe everyone would want Modi to contest from their constituency next time around.

 

[Kinetic]

Why are they like that? Save for Agra (which was horrible besides the Taj), I've never been to those states.

Villages are fighting with each other. middle age like caste system is the base of the society. In many areas there is no rule of law. U can't even see police. No development. No intention or interest for development. Mafia raj. Above all no security for women. These worse even compared to India standard.


Pathetic.

Why they don't learn from punjab gujarat maharashtra or even haryana. South India is much better though.

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Villages are fighting with each other. middle age like caste system is the base of the society. In many areas there is no rule of law. U can't even see police. No development. No intention or interest for development. Mafia raj. Above all no security for women. These worse even compared to India standard.

Thats there because no investment is done to keep these empty minds, without work youth or people of those villages to provide them work. These people have no option but to either sit idle and do anti social things or migrate to cities where they are forced to do inhuman stuff. Governments need to invest in the places where people live i.e. in villages, small towns and generate jobs there. Else there is no end to this.

 

[Kinetic]

Thats there because no investment is done to keep these empty minds, without work youth or people of those villages to provide them work. These people have no option but to either sit idle and do anti social things or migrate to cities where they are forced to do inhuman stuff. Governments need to invest in the places where people live i.e. in villages, small towns and generate jobs there. Else there is no end to this.

Why govt will invest there? From where the money will come? In our time investments mainly comes from private sectors not govt. Also if you talk about Central Govt, then why should other states allow that? They are earning the money and just because most of the ministers and MPs are from these heavily populated backward states, doesn't mean that they will get the money.


Investments come where there is a environment and work force. but these states have none. All they can do is farming and fingering fellow villager's arse. These two are aim of life for these people. They don't even learn by going to better regions like south and west India.

@East or West India Best

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Why govt will invest there? From where the money will come? In our time investments mainly comes from private sectors not govt. Also if you talk about Central Govt, then why should other states allow that? They are earning the money and just because most of the ministers and MPs are from these heavily populated backward states, doesn't mean that they will get the money.


Investments come where there is a environment and work force. but these states have none. All they can do is farming and fingering fellow villager's arse. These two are aim of life for these people. They don't even learn by going to better regions like south and west India.

Then why should i pay tax when I know my tax money will be used to give subsidy to those where there is no development or progress or there is no hope.!!!

 

[Kinetic]

Then why should i pay tax when I know my tax money will be used to give subsidy to those where there is no development or progress or there is no hope.!!!

We should to educate them first, everything later. We should educate them to understand what is good for them, thats enough. They will take care of themselves.

 

[itachiii]

]

 

[Bang Galore]

Governments need to invest in the places where people live i.e. in villages, small towns and generate jobs there. Else there is no end to this.

Wrong diagnosis. People have to migrate to cities, otherwise we will just be doing the equivalent of throwing money outside the window.

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Wrong diagnosis. People have to migrate to cities, otherwise we will just be doing the equivalent of throwing money outside the window.

We need to create jobs at those places where people live in order not to let them migrate to the cities and clutter them. This will also let those places to develop too....

 

[lasttry]

@Guynextdoor2

Could you kindly not invite AAPtards to such threads please!

 

[unbiasedopinion]

Holy cow!!! What are cars and bikes doing inside the premises of the temple complex?

 

[itachiii]

Holy cow!!! What are cars and bikes doing inside the premises of the temple complex?

no idea sir..