The grave problem of drought in Maharashtra has been becoming much of a topic for controversies these days. While there was news of lush hotels wasting a lot of water to maintain their lawns and keep them green, there immediately followed a news that claimed a massive wastage of water for maintaining politicians’ helipads. And, while the government has been making attempts to send water to the drought-hit areas by sending water trains, here comes another controversy!
Pankaja Munde, the Minister of Rural Development, Women and Childcare in Maharashtra, has now been accused of clicking and posting selfies in the drought-hit areas of Marathwada. The BJP politician posted a series of selfies to her Twitter account which sparked the controversy and invited criticism from not only the opposition and the ally but also from people all over the country.
Again, just like any other controversy, this issue has divided people into two categories- the supporters and the non-supporters. As explained by Ms. Munde in her disclaimer tweet, the selfies were taken to make people aware of the anti-drought measures being undertaken in the Marathwada region and to acclaim the great job done by the minister’s department in the region. And, while there are people who support the reasoning and the minister’s act of clicking selfies in the region, there are the others who feel the act is a mockery.
According to me, no, there is nothing wrong with clicking pictures of a place where your department is doing good work for the people and anti-drought measures are being implemented at full pace. However, I do not agree with clicking selfies for the same. I mean, why does the minister have to be in the picture to show that work is being done in the affected areas? Is it a proof that she actually visited the place to keep a tab on the work going on there? Or is it a mere selfie craze that has been rising manifold among people over the last few years?
In my opinion, one must understand for themselves where to click a selfie and where not! People nowadays have been going crazy over selfies and it has become a rage among youngsters, adults, common people and even ministers. However, the rising
selfie craze can be dangerous for anyone and everyone, also including the Pankaja Munde selfie controversy. People nowadays want to click selfies everywhere and do not think once about doing the same. And, while this craze has been taking many lives since the last few days, it has surely put Ms. Munde into problems now.
If the only motive of Ms. Munde was to make people aware of the good work happening in the Marathwada region, she could have simply clicked pictures where the workers were working and anti-drought measures were being implemented. There was no need for her to be present in the pictures to prove her visit to the region. This, although her intention might not be what it is now thought to be, has put her into the controversy that she wanted to show off. She is also being accused of making fun of the drought in a way.
The rising selfie craze among people needs to stop now. If the situation continues, we will have more people losing their lives to performing dangerous stunts for selfies. And, although it sounds a bit weird and funny, there will also be a time when governments would collapse because a minister clicked and posted a wrong selfie on social media!
