Excelsior Correspondent
DAVOS (SWITZERLAND), Jan 23: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here that the world today is looking for a new “global” roadmap with uniform parameters, inspite of all the diversities and heterogenecity. He said, it may not be possible to easily visualise the local perspective in different countries because of their diverse characteristics.For example, he said, the population of Switzerland is only 8 million which is less than the population of Delhi, but nevertheless, with an accountable government and citizen participation, maximum problems arising in a growing world could be addressed.
Speaking at a Panel discussion, along with co-penalists David Cameron former Prime Minister of United Kingdom and Berset, President of Switzerland, on topic “From Fragile Cities to Renewal”, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that more than 239 cities around the world are classified as “fragile” due to pollution, conflict, terrorism, unemployment and lack of electricity, besides other factors. What is needed, he said, is to upgrade the urban space and offer better protection to the population.
When asked to narrate his experience of fragile cities in the context of insurgency in the North Eastern region of India, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last four years of the Modi Government, a lot of stability in the region has been established and asserted that insurgency and “fragility” also have a correlation with lack of development and ineffective political leadership. He said, corruption not only leads to loss of moral authority of the State leadership but also causes a huge pilferage of the State exchequer, which would otherwise be gainfully utilized to address the fragility.
However, Dr Jitendra Singh added that with the growing aspirations among the youth, which is a welcome development, there will always be a certain amount of fragility noticeable even in the most ideal situations because fragility itself is a relative term and what was fragile yesterday may not be fragile today, and what is fragile today may not fragile tomorrow.
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