The plan by Gujarat chief minister, ministers, and IAS officers to travel to Somnath by train seems to be a hoax. Despite all the talk about addressing people’s issues through ordinary travel, the ministers and IAS officers opted to travel by plane instead.

The three-day ‘Gir Chintan Shibir’ began in Somnath on Thursday, with discussions on increasing employment opportunities, boosting rural incomes, government schemes, and the role of local self-government institutions in tourism development.

And to address the problems the chief minister had travelled to Somnath.

While the people of Gujarat are suffering from issues like rising inflation and unemployment, there are several pressing concerns, including the exploitation of poor patients in hospitals, fake officers, corruption and fraud in government offices, and the growing menace of alcohol and drugs. 

Recently, villagers in Somnath have been raising concerns about the ‘eco zone’ issue, but the government has shown no interest in resolving this problem. Crime rates, including murders and rapes, are rising, and the growing number of issues has led to severe criticism of the government.

In the past, ministers used to sit in the secretariat and show interest in resolving the public’s issues. Now, ministers hardly ever visit the secretariat, and the number of visitors has drastically reduced. 

Under these circumstances, a plan was made that the chief minister, ministers, and IAS officers would travel to Somnath by train.

However on Thursday, ministers and IAS officers boarded a flight from Ahmedabad airport to Keshod and then travelled to Somnath by car.

If these ministers and officials had travelled by road from Gandhinagar to Somnath, they would have faced the traffic problems and poor road conditions first hand, and they would have understood the reality of Gujarat’s infrastructure. 

The ministers deliberately avoided road travel to avoid facing any problems during the journey. Furthermore, they are not interested in addressing the issue or making any efforts to resolve it. Only the citizens of the state suffer; the leaders do not have to face these issues as they simply avoid them by travelling by air.

Earlier in October, Gujarat’s Minister of Energy and Petrochemicals reportedly travelled to an event by both train and air, as the roads from Ahmedabad to Junagadh were in a dilapidated condition.

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