March 9, 2021, marks the third year of the BJP-IPFT coalition government, which has come to power with the slogan “CHOLO PALTAI” (Let’s Change). It is not unknown to the politically conscious people of the state how much the BJP-IPFT alliance has changed the overall political, economic and social landscape of the state during these three years of rule. The BJP-IPFT alliance came to power with 299 promises in their vision documents on the last assembly polls,  including the central pay scale, as recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission for state government employees over a three-year period. But BJP-IPFT government has not kept its promise. The 7th CPCs recommendation was not implemented as promised although the BJP-IPFT leadership claimed that they introduced the new pay scale (7th pay commission) on October 01 in 2018.  But it is a fact that the state government could not give allowance as per the 7th CPCs recommendations to the employees due to financial constraints.

However, according to the Chief Minister of the BJP-IPFT alliance, what was promised in the Vision Document has been implemented and in many cases more than promised. There is some work left. They too will be completed within five years. Not only that, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has often said that Tripura has already become a model state in the country. With the launch of Sabroom SEZ, Tripura will be the breadwinner for the people of the North East of the country. The SEZ of Sabroom alone could create employment for 2.5 lakh unemployed people in the state. Besides, Rs. 90 crore is being spent on the beautification of Tripura Sundari Mandir. Once that work is done, there will be employment for another one and a half lakh unemployed. However, according to him, the number of unemployed in Tripura has already come down from seven lakh to two lakh.

The Chief Minister also claimed that 23,000 unemployed people in Tripura have already got regular and outsourced jobs in various government departments. And through various projects of the state and central government, arrangements have been made for the employment of 96 thousand unemployed. Moreover, with the help of bank loans, lakhs of unemployed have been employed in various businesses like bamboo and handicraft products trade, animal husbandry, agriculture, fisheries, rubber, tea industry, etc. There has also been a lot of investment in various industries, especially in the MSME sector. CM also claimed that the Left Front government has not been able to do as much development work as the BJP-IPFT coalition government has done in the last three years for the overall development of the state.

 According to the chief minister, development money in the state has been stolen during the last 25 years of the Left Front government. Therefore, while addressing the inaugural function of five projects of Smart City in the city on February 21, 2021, the Chief Minister said- how many thieves will I catch? So now I have decided to catch the thief and theft later. Let’s work for the peoples first.  The Chief Minister further said that his government has taken a loan of Rs.1,600 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the development of smart cities in the capital city alone and in the towns and cities of districts and subdivisions. The Chief Minister further said that an average of Rs. 80 to 100 crore will be spent in each Nagar Panchayat and Municipal area. All in all, according to the Chief Minister, Tripura is moving fast under the ‘ PM HIRA’ scheme.

But the Chief Minister is reluctant to accept the fact that the people of rural and urban areas have lost their faith in the present administration today due to the actions of his partner party IPFT from the very beginning to come to power with the slogan of ‘Let’s Change’. However, the Chief Minister does not want to say anything loudly in any public meeting in this regard. CM also doesn’t want to say anything about why no minister is being filled in the four vacant posts in the state cabinet to accelerate the overall development of the state. There was an ‘MoU’ signed with the IPFT for the overall development of the people in the hilly and ADC areas of the state. The Chief Minister is also not saying anything in this regard. CM also doesn’t want to say anything with the slogan of building a drug-free Tripura. People have raised their voices against why is permission and license are being given to open local and foreign liquor shops even in places where there has never been before?  The Chief Minister is not saying too much about why the drug menace like cannabis, yaba, phencidyl, heroin, brown sugar has not been stopped in the last three years? Why doesn’t the Chief Minister say anything about it – despite having two medical colleges in the state, hundreds of poor people in the state still have to go to outside Tripura hospitals for better treatment? On the contrary, in the words of the Chief Minister, the health infrastructure of Tripura is better than that of Mumbai.

However, the Chief Minister of the state himself is saying that the state of Tripura is moving fast under the Prime Minister’s HIRA scheme in all areas. On the other hand, the BJPs partner party is saying that the people of the rural hills of the state are not getting various government schemes benefits like before. Many people’s social allowances have been withheld. New names are not being added to the list of social allowances. There are no new roads in the village. Many old roads are dilapidated. Not being repaired. Many schools are facing closure due to a lack of teachers. There are not enough teachers/professors in the colleges. Many colleges do not have a permanent principal. Many hospitals do not have the necessary doctors, nurses, medical equipment. In many cases local contractors, entrepreneurs are unemployed. In many cases, recruitment notices have been issued and interviews are not being conducted timely.  Hundreds of vacancies in TSR, police constables, doctors, nurses, agriculture department, rural development department, health department are not being filled permanently. Everything that is being recruited is through outsourced agencies.

But before the BJP-IPFT coalition came to power, their election vision document promised that 50,000 vacancies would be filled within a year of the new coalition government coming to power. The Vision Document further promised that all contracted irregular government employees would be regularized. Young people will be given smartphones for free. The social allowance will be a minimum of two thousand rupees. But one thousand rupees is being given. The promise was that the minimum MGNREGA wage would be 340 rupees. But 205 rupees is being given. There was a promise that legal action would be taken against those involved in the chit fund scandal, including Rose Valley scams. All BPLs will be given free insurance. Pure drinking water will be provided in everyone’s home through the free pipeline. Above all, a promise was given to the State Government Employees to provide a new pay scale according to the Seventh Central Pay Commission including scale and allowances. There was a promise of guaranteed employment for one person in every household in the state. The BJP’s vision document, including speeches by state and central ministers and leaders, had made at least 299 such promises.

On the contrary, in his speech, the Chief Minister has repeatedly said that the people of this state have been fooled by the Left leaders and ministers for the last 25 years. There was no thought of moving the state forward as a whole. In the words of the Chief Minister, there was no ‘sehi sauch’ in the Left leaders and ministers of the then government bureaucrats, officers, and employees. But now he has been able to change the mindset of the leaders, government officials, and bureaucrats. That is why the officials at one time did not allow the construction of more than five or six storey buildings in the state because of the earthquake. Now the same officer bureaucrats are not hesitating to approve a 15-storey building in Tripura despite being in Earthquake Zone-5, although the states with the highest danger signal for the earthquake. According to the Chief Minister, its name is Sehi Souch and Sehi Disha Development. The Chief Minister has said these things while campaigning for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls too. He claims that most of the promises out of 299 promises in the Vision Document have already been fulfilled and the rest will be fulfilled before the 2023 Assembly vote.

But a section of the people of the state especially the opposition parties are not accepting all these tall talking of CM and his alliance partner IPFT leadership also has already been raising questions about how many promises have been fulfilled or initiated in practice?

The BJP is expected to publish a white paper before its third anniversary. The opposition political parties, including the Congress, the CPIM, have also complained that people cannot open their mouths against the government. People are not able to express their views in various print, web, and electronic news media, even on social media. At least half a hundred people have been sued for posting various information against the chief minister or BJP leaders on social media. In the last three years, at least 21 print and electronic media journalists have been attacked in different parts of the state. Several cable channels, newspapers, and magazines have already closed.

According to the Assembly of Journalists, the largest organization of state media workers, the administration is not treating some media outlets in the state fairly with those who want to criticize the government for its immoral activities. Advertising is being stopped for no reason. Accreditation card is being withheld. Although some senior journalists are entitled to get a pension as per the circular of the Information Department in accordance with the government rules, their pensions are not being paid.

At the same time, for the overall welfare of the state’s newspapers and journalists, the BJP has made multiple promises in its vision document before the last assembly polls, but in very few cases it has taken steps to fulfil these promises. All in all, in the language of the opposition, the BJP has been in a state of turmoil for the last three years due to various internal activities of the BJP, including the BJP and the IPFT’s alliance to stay in power in the state. Needless to say, both the BJP and Biplab Deb will face a more difficult situation in the near future if the slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Bikash O Biswas’ does not follow or implemented in letter and spirit.

 (Author Jayanta Debnath is the Editor and MD of Tripura’s highest viewed news website www.tripurainfo.com)