Is Manipur ready for the changes ? Train to Imphal and LEP
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 09 2011 -

Before the 10th Assembly ends in 2017, Imphal would have been connected by a rail line. The Look East Policy of the Government of India would have in all probability started impacting heavily on the lives of the people in Manipur on the virtue of it being the doorway to the South East Asian countries.

Manipur occupies an important spot on the map of the Trans-Asian Highway which seeks to open the east-west corridor from Singapore to Saurashtra via Imphal/Moreh/Silchar.

These are the inevitables of the strategic shift of not only Delhi but also the neighbouring countries in South and South East Asia. With the Association of South East Asian Nations becoming more and more relevant in the present context, India had to shift gear from the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation and look towards her eastern neighbours to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore etc.

In India's grand plan of marking a strategic shift, not only economically but also politically and dictated by the need to check the rising influence of neighbouring countries like China in the region, Manipur occupies an important link. It is in fact the gateway to India's policy to extend her vision beyond Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and also to shake off her fixation on the western front.

The upcoming rail line, the Trans-Asian Highway, the opening up of the Indo-Myanmar trade have in fact been specifically worked out under the overall Look East Policy of the Government of India and the interesting point is whether Manipur is going to stand in the strategic shift of Delhi as just another State on the map of this policy or be in a position to work the geographical location to her advantage.

This is an important question that needs to be raised now and what better time than to come out with such a poser when election campaigning has started gaining momentum in almost all the Assembly Constituencies.

When the train comes to Manipur, it will not only bring in the goods and essential commodities. This is a given.

The change will have to be anticipated not only in terms of the train chugging in everyday or on days of its arrival and mobility of the people will not only mean people heading outside Manipur but also coming in.

The accompanying social and economic impact will be profound. Railways not only means bringing in goods and people but it also entails employment opportunities.

Can Manipur expect the State Government to strike a hard bargain for the local population ?

Will it end with the compensation paid for the land acquisition or will it extend to job reservations that only an organisation like the Railways can provide ?

Has the Government of the day started thinking along this line ?

Or for that matter has any political party seriously studied the possible ramifications of Imphal being connected by train ? The Indo-Myanmar trade has already opened and trading is on in some specified goods and articles.

If the two countries decide to go the whole hog, will Manipur be ready for it ?

At the ground level the Trans-Asian Highway could mean a six way highway. The Look East Policy could entail so many other things such as banking facilities, communication network, internet, tours and travels which may also include tourism, etc.

The potential is immense and the question is whether Manipur would have worked itself to a position where the benefits can be tapped to its optimum level.

Or will it see a sharper divide and solidifying of the social and economic strata ? Will it mean an overflow of outsiders and tampering with the flora and fauna of the land ?

For too long, Manipur has simply gone with the tide. It has never tried to dictate the flow of the tide nor think out of the box to see if mechanisms can be worked out to equip the people with the gear that would enable them to swim against the tide, if the need arises.

It would be suicidal to leave everything to the whims of Delhi. The opportunities are immense and so are the challenges.

Opportunities and challenges are two sides of the same coin and more so when the world has become a global village, more or less.

Time now to raise these questions for that is the only way to have the answers or else when the moment of reckoning comes, the people will be left with only the questions.