Coining a new phrase : Let them use Urea
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 18, 2012 -

"Let them eat cake", is an infamous quotation, normally attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette of France, who supposedly uttered them upon learning that the peasants had no bread to eat during one of the worst famines during the reign of her husband king Louis XVI.

There is also a similar anecdote in Chinese culture, where, instead of bread and cake, Emperor Hui of Jin on being told that his subjects didn't have enough rice to eat, reportedly retorted, 'Why don't they eat meat?'

Although raging debate over attribution of these two infamous quotations is still on, nonetheless, they have come to identity with the obnoxiously oblivious nature of the ruling class towards the condition of common people.

In case of 'Let them eat cake', it acquired such great symbolic importance during French revolution and pro-revolutionary historians cited it quite often with a vengeance to demonstrate the obliviousness and selfishness of the French upper-classes of that time.

Indifference of the ruling classes towards the plights of common men have always been at the root causes of the mass public movements or revolutions in the history of human civilization around the globe and Manipur has been no exception to such conflicts.

We may not be exactly in a 'Let them eat cake' or 'Why don't they eat meat?' situation right now, nonetheless, it is interesting to note that the State Cabinet has come up with the idea of making Urea available at subsidized rate to the farmers, who are currently worried over the drought-like situation prevailing in the state.

Although officials of Agriculture Department have ruled out possibility of drought in Manipur, monsoon rains continue to play hide and seek causing sleepless nights to many a poor farmers, who are apprehensive of crop failure from want of water in their fields.

It's a fact that farmers depend heavily on annual monsoon rain to irrigate their fields for agricultural activities and thus failure of monsoon always spells disaster.

Reports doing the round say that Manipur is now in a drought-like condition with the total annual rainfall short of 313.22 mm than the normal range this year.

In such a condition, it is questionable why the State government is so much after providing subsidy to farmers on Urea instead of making necessary arrangements to irrigate the fields of the farmers.

What can abundance supply of Urea can do wonder in cultivation of rice when there is inadequate water?

At least, we do not know. All that we would like to know is why the state government is not paying attention to the minor irrigation projects that were taken up at great expenses but are lying not in working order today.