Things Government Can Do Instead Of Building a Shivaji Statue

Pic taken from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Shivaji_statue_in_South_Mumbai.jpg


At times stupid, oh so stupid things happens around us and we do nothing but just wait and watch. For a while now I had been reading random articles online that the government was planning to build a Statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea. The statue was apparently going to be the world’s tallest statues costing up to INR 3,600 crore! 

Initially I thought these were just rumors and that nothing concrete was ever going to happen, partly because such a huge project seemed a little unreal. However a few weeks ago I got to know that this was really happening and I was furious with the news. I am a Maharashtrian, I respect Shivaji and have loved studying about him in school but spending such a huge amount on a statue seems ridiculous to me. 

We are not even a developing nation anymore ( source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/world-bank-to-change-classification-of-countries-india-will-now-be-called-lower-middle-income/articleshow/52512636.cms ) and to do something like this after that shows how we conveniently choose to ignore real issues and focus on something that may help us with the vote bank. 

I am listing down a few things that I, as a citizen of this country, as a layman, can think of doing with INR 3600 crore instead of building a statue which basically would not serve any purpose.


  1. Build a library which would include books from all over the globe
  2. Provide sanitation facilities
  3. Provide girls in rural areas with sanitary pads, educate them about menstruation
  4. Provide better facilities at government hospitals and police stations
  5. Provide irrigation facilities to farmers
  6. Educate farmers on how to take care of their crops / provide them with better equipment and facilities
  7. We have so many forts built by Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra which are in a bad state, why not restore them?
  8. Invest in tourism, make the city safer
  9. India has a ratio of 138 police personnel per lakh of population, why not employ more people? ( Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/48264737.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst )
  10. Provide better public transport
  11. Fix the pothole filled roads
  12. Cancel toll on highways
  13. The statue is going to affect the local fishermen, provide them with better fishing equipment rather than spending on the statue
  14. Making provisions and implementing solar energy
  15. Making provisions for rain water harvesting
  16. The statue is going to damage nature, why not plant more trees instead?
  17. Why not have a screening everyday at Gateway of India depicting life stories of every eminent personalities and not just Shivaji? This could include, Scientist, Politicians, Freedom Fighters, Kings And Maharajas, Social Workers etc. when useful information is taken out of classroom and showcased in a fun and interactive way then even students and kids will be interested in learning about them.
  18. How about not charging us a number of taxes every time we eat in a restaurant? The tax itself comes up to half of our food bill
  19. Build more sports facilities, parks and open grounds 
  20. Beautification of the city

Now, if I can come up with 20 ways of using the same amount of money then I am sure that people in power who are actually the decision makers can come up with many more, if not, please don’t shy away from using one of the above ideas.

And you, I am sure you can come up with more ideas to utilize INR 3600 crore in a productive way. Mention them in the comments below so that we have more options for our dear government. 

Comments

  1. Agree with you 100%. While agreeing with you, I also think thousands of people will be gainfully employed during and after construction of this statue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Found this webcomic on the same topic
    https://www.facebook.com/hariworks/posts/1793100694275298

    ReplyDelete
  3. Absolutely Right Information !
    You May like to book Best Honeymoon Destinations eith best tour operator in india.....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Click here for kashmir tours packages for all kind of long tours with Ajinkya tours.......

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am so happy read people writing about the travesty of inhuman sized statues. Yes we need to depict our leaders respectfully and we must project pride in their achievements. But there has to be an extent to which these contributions are acceptable. Projects costing Rs 3000crores and Rs 3600 crores will never be able to achieve what theis outlay could have if we were investing the money judiciously. Build houses for the poor, clean our rivers, invest in green technology. It makes no sense to create larger than life (lifeless) statues. Why do we not object to this?!?

    ReplyDelete
  6. hey there and thank you for your info – I've definitely picked
    up something new from right here. I did however
    expertise a few technical points using this site, since I experienced to
    reload the website a lot of times previous to I could
    get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK?
    Not that I'm complaining, but slow loading instances times will
    sometimes affect your placement in google and
    can damage your high quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords.
    Well I am adding this RSS to my email and can look out for a
    lot more of your respective intriguing content.
    Make sure you update this again soon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It�s nearly impossible to find experienced people about this topic,
    but you sound like you know what you�re talking about!
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment