Editor,
Apropos the reported news item in your paper dated (Jan 12, 2012) on matters pertaining to the Congress ticket aspirants and the public statement made by Mr Sanjay Bapna (AICC Secretary In-Charge of Meghalaya) that the prevailing system of conducting I Block Level Elections’ in various part of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills District, for obtaining party tickets is being held without any official approval of the AICC is shocking and unbelievable! It goes without saying that lack of direction and indiscipline in the Congress Party is now the order of the day. It was reported that in Sohryngkham, Shella (and probably the same will happen in the case of Jirang , Nongkrem ,
Umsning and others) the kith and kin of the top brass in the Congress or their favourites will be allotted party tickets. This practice will further deepen the crisis within the party and the results of the 2013 elections will boomerang on the expectations of the party . What the general public are made to understand is that Block level elections are held in those constituencies where there are no sitting Congress MLA’s / MDC’s. These Block level elections should have been held in a more democratic and transparent manner as enshrined in the AICC Constitution. But the case of Jirang Constituency where a non- member of the Congress Party is being allotted party ticket, is another point to ponder.
The tyrannical attitude of the Shillong West Congress Block Committee is another factor where selection of candidates for the ensuing 2013 Election is completely undemocratic and lacked transparency. Most Congress loyalists are un-aware of who actually is the party nominee. The party President one Ms Havergall Edwina Bareh , a resident of Malki locality is known for creating a rift among the party workers at the grass roots level at all times and to decide things arbitrarily without taking party workers into confidence. She manipulated the entire process of recommendation in connivance with her handpicked office bearers, ensuring that a business magnate (who is yet to resign as one of the Myntri in the Mylliem Syiemship – for entering the political arena ) gets a party ticket . With the frequent change of leadership in the State within the Congress Party and followed by the process of manipulation in the selection of party candidates compounded by bad governance (namely the traffic snarl, incomplete Shillong bypass/4 lane issues, unrest of NGO’s, upsurge of militancy in Garo Hills , Govt. employees & teachers not getting proper salaries, raping of the environment particularly in the coal & cement belts in Jaintia Hills, etc. ) we can only pray, “God Save Our State.” We pray that the right people are elected in the next Assembly election irrespective of party affiliation, so long as they deliver the goods. We have had enough of speeches and promises.
Yours etc.,
lbadahun Kharsyntiew & Cleveland Suting
Shillong-02
Govt vrs NGOs : Perennial tug-of-war
Editor,
Being in government in Meghalaya is a nightmarish experience for the fact that you are often between the devil and the deep sea. The government in Meghalaya has to wrestle not merely with the opposition but with a worse enemy, the NGOs. Meghalaya is an exceptional state where NGOs wield tremendous power and influence and they form a formidable pressure group. Often government policies are indirectly dictated by such groups. While upholding the necessity of NGOs in a democratic system, we need to be critical about the negative role they often play. NGOs are meant to safeguard the people’s interest, to check government aberrations and to spearhead development. Some of them deserve our compliments and support but there are others who deserve our criticism. When an NGO behaves like a wet blanket or adopts a dog in the manger policy towards any effort for development, then it has ceased to live up to its objective and becomes undesirable. The anti-development stand that some NGOs have been taking all these years has cost us much. Everyone knows that wherever NGOs have adopted such policies, development has been minimal like in West Khasi Hills. The negative attitude that some NGOs in Ri Bhoi district have taken with regards to the government’s decision to construct the four lane through the Umsning by-pass, is typical of such a non-constructive policy. According to me, when it is a question of developing public amenities like roads, electricity, water supply, education or health care, no one should grudge the effort. Trying to oppose such projects only exposes the selfishness and personal motives of those concerned. I hope that broad mindedness and a sense of common well-being will prevail over such groups.
Yours etc.,
B. L. Mawrie,
Via email