There’s a time of the year across states and countries which is notorious for raking up diverse issues among people. Elections bring several issues to the limelight, either deliberately or accidentally, this is done not only through the ruling government, but also various outfits including the opposition.
From promises like ‘free electricity for 300 units to families’ to the selection of a government that works for the people, various issues enjoy the limelight as elections are around the corner. As time and again people fall victim to various mind games by politicians, how do we decide what’s best for a state? While firms have a designation called ‘Business Analyst’ why do we fail to decipher the issues that matter the most to us?
More often than not we tend to focus on the ‘what’ aspect of things that occur rather than placing an emphasis on ‘why’ does it occur. An excellent example of this is the emergence of the newly formed political outfit called ‘Revolutionary Goans’. I strive not to advocate for a particular political party as I too share a dream that many have. I believe we can attain this by analyzing several issues.
Sunny Fernandes is a person whose life drastically changed when a series of unfortunate events culminated with damage to his retina, resulting in him being 75% visually challenged since 2014. ‘Snehadeep Trust for the Disabled’ is an NGO in Bangalore that taught him to use computers again with the help of JAWS (Job Access with Speech) and NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access). NAB Rehabilitation Centre is another institution that is based in Mumbai that assisted him with his mobility like using the white cane and being independent.
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| Sunny Fernandes |
Sunny utilizes diverse skills in daily life which he picked up when he was out of Goa, for example the white cane aids in his mobility. He uses the NVDA in computers while working at home as well as office. His cooking skills come into the picture everyday as he stays alone. According to Sunny there are differences in the infrastructure that cities outside Goa have. While Bangalore has special sirens installed at signal crossings for visually challenged people to cross the road, metro stations too have special tiles that guide visually challenged people to the doors.
The local train stations at Mumbai also have similar tiles that assist visually challenged people find their way to the special compartments, along with beepers that guide them to special compartments on the train. Two of these compartments exist per train.
Goa can go above and beyond to boost employment for the visually challenged in private establishments especially in scenarios like back office jobs in hotels. The government too can focus on having footpaths built in areas that enjoy a good crowd like marketplaces, government offices, bus stations. There can be accessible gardens and open spaces where the ‘Persons with Disabilities’ (PwDs) can go during their leisure time.
While the employment of the disabled in private sectors calls for an immediate resolution, there are many others too that deserve to be in the limelight. Often political outfits toy with the emotions of people and put ideas into their head. Revolutionary Goans is a simple example of this. People are so caught up with the issues of ‘Goans vs Outsiders’ that they fail to ponder the issues of increased paychecks in Goa to match cities like Bangalore. While the outsider issue is a sentimental one, if we go by the ideologies of hate we might as well block all means of travel in Goa.
While AAP’s intention of distributing cakes to defected MLA’s may have been a reminder of the embarrassment that turncoats have to endure for opting to sleep with the enemy, no political party is exempt to the rule of defection. Elected representatives probably do this as they view political parties as corporates, where it’s normal for people to switch jobs for higher packages. While the betrayal of turncoats can’t be justified, an efficient method to strive to embarrass turncoats would be to vote for their rivals.
While the upcoming months will unveil a lot of drama, we must differentiate between the crucial and trivial. A calculated approach is the need of the hour rather than an emotional one. Let’s show our anger by saying “Enough is Enough”!!!
