The hills deserve better

The hills deserve better is a poignant look by Pawan Thapa at how we are on our own, with no center or state standing for us

As the year draws to a close, it is time to pause and take stock of the times gone by. The past ten months has undoubtedly been a difficult one for the people of the Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills. With the festivities now behind us and the curtains about to be drawn on another year, one cannot ignore the pressing realities that surround us.

It is a well-known fact that the overall infrastructure across the hills has long been in a state of neglect. However, the recent spell of heavy rains has laid bare the true extent of decay. Beyond the tragic loss of lives and property, the entire transportation network has come to a standstill in almost every corner of the hills. The rural areas, in particular, have been hit the hardest, grappling daily with severe challenges to even the most basic mobility.

The quality of infrastructural projects has remained a persistent concern. Time and again, we witness roads constructed under various government schemes beginning to crumble within months of completion. Despite repeated public outcry, such malpractices have continued unchecked, often flourishing under the silent patronage of those in power.

Even in the face of a disaster of such unprecedented scale in recent memory, there has been an alarming absence of credible announcements, assurances, or long-term plans. The response from elected representatives has been largely limited to half-hearted, symbolic gestures, while a few have gone so far as to dress up their evasiveness in elaborate, decorative rhetoric.

The current dispensation has failed miserably on all fronts and by all measures. The much-touted alliance with the state government, formed on the plank of development, has yielded no tangible benefits for the people. Rural connectivity lies in complete disarray, access to safe drinking water remains a distant dream, and the condition of the National Highway is precarious at best. Corruption and nepotism within civic bodies have become deeply entrenched, eating away at the very foundations of public service and crippling civic amenities.

It would not be wrong to say that Darjeeling is going through an existential crisis. Once celebrated as the educational hub of the region, the number of students in our schools has steadily declined, and many institutions have witnessed a sharp downturn over the past decades. A record number of tea gardens have already shut down, and even after seventy-eight years of India’s independence, tea garden and cinchona plantation dwellers continue to live without ownership rights over their land, trapped in a semi-colonial setup that denies them basic dignity and security.

While massive infrastructural projects are being implemented across the country, none have found their way to the Hills in a manner that brings tangible improvement to the lives of the people. The ruling dispensation has failed to raise these concerns or mobilize public opinion to address these pressing issues.

One cannot help but reflect that we are already a quarter into the twenty-first century, yet we continue to grapple with basic necessities, transportation, drinking water, and healthcare. When will the time come when we no longer have to worry about such fundamental aspects of existence? When will we begin to discuss the blueprints of our economic and political future? our plans for human capital, innovation, and capability building in areas where the next generation of growth truly lies?

Despite repeated movements and the immense sacrifices in terms of lives and livelihoods, the parallel governance apparatus, handed down to us twice, has failed to address the deeper and more structural problems faced by the people of the hills. What was once envisioned as an instrument of empowerment has now become a redundant tool, stripped of its authority and reduced to a mechanism of repression against the very people it was meant to serve.

The people of the hills are yearning for genuine change, and the only weapon they possess is their vote. It is therefore imperative that we do not fall prey to the propaganda machinery that thrives on rhetoric and raw emotions. We must decide wisely, lest we spend another five years trapped in regret, lamenting unfulfilled promises and watching our backyards crumble further.

This is not merely a time to look back in despair, it is a call to look forward with clarity. The hills deserve better. The people deserve dignity, opportunity, and honest governance. The future will belong to those who have the courage to demand it.

The Author: Pawan Thapa is an advocate by profession, and a social change-maker by choice