Re: [Assam] Identifying Assam's problems

[Ram Sarangapani]

Dear Santanu,

 

Mosquitoes in Assam bother me. In fact, they bother me a lot

 

That is a good one. They bother me a lot too. Could that be categorized as lack of sanitation/health issues. It also tells us about the general attitude of people in the cities specially of keeping their homes clean and neighborhoods dirty.

 

Because it is not clear what such a list is supposed to mean.

 

I agree. The list, might make us come to some consensus of what the problems are. If you notice, some of the problems may actually be 'perceived' ones and not actually something that hurts the economy.

 

For example the 'getting' recognition from people from other states. I am not even sure if that is a problem that hurts us. My take, is 'so what, I will keep doing my thing as I see fit' kind of attitude.

 

Even the problem of an identity crises. Some may actually argue, that in the final analyses, identities are bound to mingle and new identities are formed - a kind of 'one world, one country' view. I am personally NOT convinced that is healthy view (at least for the moment) - but that kind of view does exist - even on this net.

 

But does that make it a problem or not? I think any answer of the form of yes or no is likely to be useless – reduce it to the level of the mosquitoes.

You may be right - but my intention was to first see if people at least agree if these are 'problems', and then we could discuss how we go about it.

A Yes/No may actually not tell us much. So, maybe to the Yes/No, we could ask respondents for some reason why they think so. Or to even assign some percentage to define how big they think the problem is (if at all).

Then again, the whole thing may be an exercise in futility.

Regards,

--Ram da

 

On 1/5/06, Roy, Santanu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Dear Ram-da:

 

I am rather skeptical of the idea of having a enumeration of "Assam's problems". Because it is not clear what such a list is supposed to mean. I guess we can include anything that has an adverse consequence on the economy, the existing society, the welfare of the existing population or in fact, on anything we happen to like - as being a problem. An even more liberal list would include anything that bothers us.

 

Mosquitoes in Assam bother me. In fact, they bother me a lot – hell of a lot more than Bangladeshis. And they cause more deaths. Are mosquitoes a problem? Shall we include them in the list? What would it mean?

 

Regarding "Bangladeshis!" - I think an unnaturally high rate of migration of population to Assam in the last century has caused severe problems for the ecology of the state, degradation of natural resources such as land, forests, has led to depletion of common property and state owned assets and has threatened the existing cultural assets (such as language, social norms) of the indigenous people. On the other hand, it has also contributed positively to raw economic growth in the agricultural sector and may provide the essential stimulus for attracting industry through cheap labor if proper infrastructure is available some day. However, I think, by most social criteria, one can say that on balance, the adverse effects are dominant.  

 

But does that make it a problem or not? I think any answer of the form of yes or no is likely to be useless – reduce it to the level of the mosquitoes.

 

Regards,

 

Santanu.

 

 

---

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Ram Sarangapani
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 2:18 PM
To: ASSAMNET
Subject: [Assam] Identifying Assam's problems

 

There have been a lot of discussions on this net (and in Assam) regarding the problems that Assam faces. One of the things that struck me was Santanu's query about Bangladeshi  immigrants. I am not sure where exactly he stands on that issue, but the thought occurred to me that maybe we all do not agree on what the problems are. We also seem to have some difficulty in identifying the problems.

 

For example, the influx problem. Some think it is a huge problem, while others don't.  Also, we have problems even if we agree that 'influx' is a problem ie. in identifying who exactly are the illegals in Assam.

 

So, I thought it might be of some use if we could come up with some sort of survey that would tell us what most of us think Assam's problems are. It is not exhaustive, and I am just giving a few here (as a sample). Maybe some questions are too sensitive and could be cast away. Others are just too broad - but at least it may give us some direction and tell us if we are all on the same page on most issues.

 

Once we can identify the major issues, then we can discuss a more meaningful manner.

 

Sample Survey (Answer Yes/No/Maybe) Identifying Problems for Assam

 

1. Is illegal immigration?

2. Is the GOA a problem for Assam?

3. Is the GOI a problem for Assam?

4. Lack of reforms in Assam?

5. Lack of reforms in India as a whole?

6. Are bandhs a problem for Assam?

7. Is the ULFA (or other insurgent groups) a problem for Assam?

8. Are attitudes of Assamese intelligentia a problem?

9. Being a part of India a problem for Assam?

10. This attitude of some Assamese to separate from India a problem for Assam?

11. Is losing the Assamese identity a problem for Assam

12. Is the Assamese work culture a problem for Assam?

13. Not getting due recognition from others in India a problem for Assam?

14. Not enough large industries or quality educational institutions in Assam a problem?

 

Feel free to add/delete :

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