By Barnes L Mawrie
Isn’t it an irony that elected representatives or the so called MLAs of the rural areas, prefer to pitch their camps in Shillong? They have their bungalows in the city with all the attendant creature comforts. They claim to be representatives of rural constituencies, but often their people have to come all the way to Shillong spending a lot of money, in order to meet them. The only time they visit their constituencies is when there is an official function or at best when the election is approaching. During the election campaign these politicians are frequent spectacles in the villages and they even take trouble to visit people from house to house. But alas, once they are elected not even their shadows are seen in the rural areas. They pack their things and head for the comfort zone of the city.
Now, if our leaders and rulers are indulging in city migration and seek the comfort of the city, how can we expect development to extend to rural areas? Surely, if our ministers were to live in remote villages, they would make sure that road connectivity and communication are provided for and public amenities are made available. But precisely because they are rural-shy and city-crazy, things have never improved in our rural areas. In this respect the churches have extended more help to the rural people. Had it not been for the church, there would be no good educational institutions, no worthy dispensaries, no community development centres for our rural people. If many villages have developed as they are now, it is thanks to the great missionaries who chose to live and identify themselves with the rural poor. If we are to wait for our politicians to bring development to our rural areas, I fear we may have to wait till judgment day!
The Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme is running into the third phase in order to provide water to the Shillongites, but there are villages in our State where people still walk for miles to collect water. How much public money has been wasted in our city which should have gone to rural development? Personally I feel a sense of shame whenever I look at the abandoned traffic lights all over the city, which stand as monuments of colossal waste. Or again watch at the footpath railings which are haphazardly done.
With all our politicians and bureaucrats firmly rooted in Shillong, how can we expect a rural-friendly governance? Every kind of development is concentrated in the city. There are some roads in Shillong which are being routinely done up while there are hundreds of villages in our State which have not yet seen a black-topped road. All VIP houses in Shillong enjoy unlimited power supply. All government offices burn heaters even in mid summer but there are hundreds of villages where electricity has not reached. The Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme is running into the third phase in order to provide water to the Shillongites, but there are villages in our State where people still walk for miles to collect water. How much public money has been wasted in our city which should have gone to rural development? Personally I feel a sense of shame whenever I look at the abandoned traffic lights all over the city, which stand as monuments of colossal waste. Or again watch at the footpath railings which are haphazardly done. A good number of them have already crumbled down. It seems that the department concerned and the contractors are making good profit from such projects. I am sure that crores of public money has been wasted on this while our villagers do not even have decent footpaths. The poor villagers of a village called Ummir in the suburbs of Shillong are still cut off from civilization during summer because there is no bridge yet over Wah Shala. If such a situation is prevalent in a village just 10 km away from Shillong, who can imagine the plight of the poor people in remote villages? How can we justify government spending on useless projects when thousands of poor villagers are deprived even of basic amenities?
Incidentally I was told by one vet working in a rural area, that the Department had asked him for a full fledged report on his programmes. The poor man was at a loss because the Department has never provided the office a vehicle but expected him to travel to remote villages by public conveyance at his own expense. To make matters worse, the Department has not even provided a refrigerator to preserve the vaccines. As a consequence vaccines could not be supplied to the poor villagers. How often we blame doctors, nurses and other government employees for shying away from rural areas. But I think they have every right to do so considering that facilities are almost nil in such government institutions in rural areas. You cannot expect a doctor or a nurse to be happy in government quarters where there are no provisions for electricity and water supply or to be effective in health centres or offices where facilities are almost zero.
This is what I call a rural-hostile governance in Meghalaya. This is the main reason why migration to the cities from the rural areas is on the rise. This is another reason why Assam is taking advantage of our border areas. One sees the difference immediately between villages on the Meghalaya side of the border and those on the Assam side. The Assam government is encouraged to encroach into our areas when they see that our government is least interested in the development of our villages. The Garos are right in accusing that “Meghalaya means only Shillong” because that is the hard reality. The way our government functions seems to indicate this sort of thinking and policy. As right thinking Meghalayans, we appeal to our government to widen its vision, expand its developmental projects and ensure that our poor villagers enjoy equal benefits and opportunities. It is high time to formulate rules that our MLAs representing the rural constituencies should reside in their proper constituencies for at least half a year. This could open their eyes and help them to encounter the existential problems of their people and thereby do something about it. (The writer is a scholar of culture and social and political commentator)