Jiribam of my dream

Pounamjuan Panmei *

Jiribam (also known as Jiri), a border town between Manipur and Assam in April 2013 :: Pix - Daniel Chabungbam

Though I do not belong to Jiribam and have a very limited knowledge about the place, I share a very profound intimacy with Jiribam in my heart.

With my village very near to Jiribam and as a small boy, I used to go Jiribam with my mother to buy new clothes in christmas season,and it was also happen to be my first encounter with a town life. After completing my higher secondary grade,I visit Jiribam after a decade or so gap.

But I found not much difference in infrastructure and other parameters of development- may be because of my experience with a larger city like Imphal. But one thing it inspires me is its calmness and peace comparing to Imphal where bomb explosion by the miscreants and fake encounter by the security forces become the routine of everyday life.

Unsurprisingly Jiribam also offer a sound and favourable environment for business,because of its sharing border and vicinity to Assam where every rupee is counted. Jiribammers valued money and used frugally in the era where five rupees in other parts of the state would easily forget away excusing the unavailable of change in our commodity-monetary exchange. And strolled down the Jiribam market especially in the Sunday evening when day-to-day marketing activities is in bay and having a glimpse of occasional beautiful tuition-going girls is quite a mixed-experience for people like us.

In my little experience with the place, there seems to be a political stability and found only a fraction of vagabonds. But the cruiser and sumo drivers shouting with their loudest ever volume to attract passenger is little irritating,and if possible I would want the municipal body to take up some corrective measures to educate the people concern to have a standard etiquette and do their business of transportation with decency.

Another silver lining for Jiribam is GOI recently awarded Jiribam as the best city for implementation of Integration of Housing and Slum Development Project (IHSDP).

This trend of development raised the hope of common man and expected from the leaders who are responsible in the discharge of their duty for the public good and continue to do the same. Another move which will leverage the development is the Prime Minister Dr. Singh called upon the Chief Ministers of NE states to discuss and setting up a deadline for the completion of the Infrastructure project which is a cornerstone for all round development to connect the states capital and inter-district will no doubt puts impetus economy in robust growth of the town and the region at large.

It is our humblest request to our political brass, bureaucrat and militant groups to spare their personal whims and private pockets and co-operate to realized the project in practical,but not to remain only in the paper.

From the Infrastructure prospects,Jiribam already enjoyed an adequate facility of transportation—there is a 24 hour round passenger and goods vehicle plying between the town and silchar, and there is every day bus and sumo services to Imphal which is only interrupted by the occasional road-block due to the rampant condition of the road.

Another pivotal and need of the hour is to produce a productive human resource. Jiribam lacks good institution and many students who are the products of Jiribam Institutions are incompetent and lagging behind comparing to students from other places.

Good institution and skilled-based education should set up in the town.With the changing order of the economy,imparting a market-oriented education is imperative to help students find a better place in his/her career.

The vogue of the college-going students in Jiribam Higher Secondary will not push them climb a higher career ladder,but end up their life in Govt. teacher,that’s also after paying a hefty amount of bribe.

But how will we enjoy the development cited above with a cripple health. Hospital and other health facility stood another yardstick to measure the social and economic development of the society. There is an ample need of upgradation of a lone Jiribam hospital and installing a the state-of-the-art medical equipment. OT and emergency ward should come up with an efficient human resource providing a medical service at twentyfour-seven basis.

I had came across once a fateful night in Jiribam hospital in the month before september 2010,the situation which led me to ask a life-long question,that I’ve seen a man suffering from a malaria struggling for his life which is probably going to be his last struggle in this world. Never seen a man in his dying bed and I asked to myself seeing such a situation how painful and hapless he had gone through ?.

His life could have save, if there is a proper medical facility in the right time. Town beautification and improvement of the market place should take forefront in its urban development agenda to provide customer and businessmen convenient. When I was studying in Silchar,whenever I got chance to pass through the town I used to click my camera to take the photos of thouna kanba Emas and Ebos selling their vegetable under the punishing heat of sun. They are badly in need of infrastructure where they can undertake their entrepreneurship peacefully.

Open vendor by the roadside is the ugliest part of the town,they should be relocated to a confine place where all forms of informal sector of the economy can do their business. Cleaning and proper maintenance of the drainage system and disposal of waste to the public notice should be checked. Makeshift shop near the police gate near the Assam-Manipur border bridge should be replace by little sturdy and commercial house-like shop.

And a stoutly standing Jiribam shopping complex should begin its operation if Jiribammers do not want the building to stand rotten. If atleast these improvement measures I have noted above turn out in real shape,jiribam will beyond doubt become a beautiful and business-friendly town.

I have a dream of Jiribam becoming a glitzy city.

I cannot wait any longer the moment to come when I will commute from Gularthal to Jiribam Bazaar by metro. I cannot wait any longer to see Thoibi and Malem going for shopping spree in the mall of Jiribam city. I wish I could see a world-class glitzy city of Jiribam in my generation.

And yet, when we wake up in the morning and look at the world, what do we see? We see a change, transformation and the news of advancement of Science and Technology hitting the headline of morning newspaper, and Jiribam also should not be fail to become the family members of these transformations.