Governor Bhishma Narain Singh has said that he would make relentless efforts to ensure that on no account the people lost their faith in the gubernatorial office.
In an exclusive interview to The Shillong Times, the 50 year old sprightly politician-turned Governor said that contrary to popular belief, the Governors were not the ‘agents of the President”. He quoted from the Governors’ conference of 1971 to make his point. The framers of Constitution, Mr Singh said, had equipped the Governors with a lot of authority under their elbows. But it was left at the discretion of the incumbent to invoke the powers at the right time and in a right manner. “I am fully aware of my authority as well as my limitation. I will not act like Mohammed Bin Tughlak,” he added.
Mr Singh said in reply to one question that as the “guardian of the State” it was his primary concern to see that he inspired confidence in the minds of the people and set up examples for the Government to accelerate the process of development. “I am totally against maintaining status quo when it comes to economic development. At the Governor it is my bounded duty to ensure that the process of development is further accelerated. Unless I do that people will start losing confidence in the office of the Governor.”
“I have not come here to enjoy tribal dances and merry-making I shall not allow grass to grow below my feet,” Mr Singh made it plain.
He said that he was all for austerity, although the Constitution provided for a great deal of liberal financial powers. “The Governor’s accounts are not audited and I can jolly well spend as much as I wish to. Here, I exercise my discretion and restraint”. As a concrete step, the Governor said that he had discontinued the use of imported cars in order to save some precious fuel. He does not use helicopters where cars can take him. Besides, he has discontinued the system of keeping an exclusive accommodation at Delhi. Instead, he has retained his allotted MP’s quarter and is paying for it from his own account. “Mr Hiteshwar Saikia requested me `not to insult the people of Assam’ by refusing to accept an official accommodation. But I stood firm about it.” The Governor is entitled to take his own cook, orderly and an additional helping hand when he is on tour to Delhi. But Mr Singh has preferred to forego the privilege.
Asked what come first in his priority list, Mr Singh said that he was primarily trying to create “an atmosphere for new development tempo”. Says the Governor, “the north-east is most fortunate to have four-tier development agencies. Apart from the financial allocations from Centre and the State, there were District Councils and the North-Easter Council. Besides, we have very fine people here. All things put together the region is all set for taking massive developmental strides.”