As we are slowly inching closer to the General Elections in 2019, the real questions that the government needs to be asked are the ones that would hold them accountable for their work in the last four and a half years. But these questions have been buried deep under the dust of communalism, fake news, and false claims. Unfortunately, most of the media is too busy to ask such questions.
Some of my questions are:
1. How many jobs did the government create in the last four and a half years? The Prime Minister promised to create 2 crore jobs while campaigning for elections in 2014.
2. How clean the Ganga or rather as Prime Minister says “Ganga Maa” is now as compared to the Ganga before 2014?
3. How much money the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has allocated and spent on cleaning the Ganga?
4. What is the status of the bullet train in India?
5. What is the status of initiatives such as Make In India, Swatch Bharat, Startup India, etc?
6. The Prime Minister vowed to send criminal politicians to jail in April of 2014. So, how many politicians with a criminal record have been put behind the bars?
7. Why have the prices of petrol and diesel increased even when the price of crude oil decreased in the international market?
8. How many Kashmiri Pandits returned to their homes in the valley?
9. What are some of the steps the government has taken to improve the living standards of the poor?
10. Did Bihar get the special package as promised?
11. What about corruption, are we corruption-free now? Where is Lokpal Bill?
12. Why is the rupee value is falling? The Prime Minister linked the falling rupee to the pride of India in 2014. So, what has he to say now about Indian pride now?
13. Where are the smart cities? What is the budget allocated for smart cities, and is that budget enough?
14. Any positive results of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna?
15. The black money was coming back to India within 100 days, what happened to that? What is the result of demonetization?
16. Have terrorism or naxalism stopped? Has their funding been blocked?
17. What is the government doing to bring back people involved in the recent bank scams?
18. How many cases has the insolvency court settled till now?
19. How much NPA has been recovered?
There are more questions that need to be answered and we must ask them because people who should be asking the questions are silent for some reason. If we also remain silent and ignorant, then I am afraid we ourselves would weaken the roots of our democracy. The answers to these questions are important so you can make a more informed decision on the voting day. A healthy democracy can only exist when its citizens are aware of their government’s policies and decisions.