Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain courted controversy after he rebuked a retired school teacher in Nagaon district of Assam for highlighting the bad condition of roads in his neighbourhood.
On May 8, at a Swachh Bharat programme in the district, presided over by Gohain, a retired school teacher, who was asked to speak, publicly deplored the pathetic condition of the roads near his neighbourhood. On hearing this, Gohain stood up, blocked the mike of the teacher in full public view and rebuked him for raising the issue. A video clip of the incident went viral sparking massive protests against the minister across Assam. Student organisations burnt the minister's effigy while the state primary teachers’ association demanded an apology from the minister. Abusing a teacher in a public meeting by a public representative is not acceptable, they said.
But Gohain doesn’t seem perturbed about the noises around him. He said to THE WEEK, “I am not going to say sorry to anyone. That man who spoke was a Congress agent. I have not understood why he spoke like that at the function, which was meant for some other purpose. I found out later that there was only a small patch of road, about which he was mentioning. I will do whatever is necessary. But I reiterate that I have an issue with problems being raised in this manner.”
Gohain said nobody should raise grievances in public and that there was a need to crosscheck the background of people who attend these events. “I have no problem in meeting people. Hundreds of people come to me daily with their grievances. I do address all of them. But using public meetings or rallies to raise your issues is not right,” said Gohain.
The problem is with the attitude, said Sushmita Dev, Congress MP from Assam. “See, as a minister, he [Gohain] must have done a lot. But, if you are not listening to people, you are killing democracy. Development is an ongoing process and it needs people’s participation. The minister, in this case, should have taken down the street’s name from the teacher and made sure his problem was addressed immediately. But, like they say, arrogance and the BJP go hand in hand,” she told THE WEEK.
Dev is also the president of the All India Mahila Congress.
Meanwhile, the construction of India’s longest road and railway bridge—the Bogibeel Bridge—connecting Dibrugarh in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh is on its last legs. It will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the end of this year. The bridge, 32 metres above the water level, will be the second longest in Asia, with three lane roads on top, and double lane rail below. The decision to construct the bridge was even strategic, as it would help the armed forces at the China border get stocks and ammunition from Assam and neighbouring states.