By Phrangsngi Pyrtuh
The last few months saw the state government hurriedly passing important acts in the assembly with the most recent being the amended Lokayukta Act 2012 some days back. With barely few months left for the incumbent government before it demits office, the Congress led MUA coalition has decided to mark the end of its tenure with a legislation that supposedly fulfils the long cherished dreams of the people of the state. This year saw two important acts turned into law – the first being the Mining and Minerals act and the second the Anti-corruption act. We do not need to be experts or part of an activist group to recognize the shallowness of these laws. They were done as part of a project to highlight the achievements of the MUA government before facing polls.
The Mining and Mineral acts is alleged to be heavily influenced by the mining lobby. It was done after due deliberation or so said the Mining minister. Ironically the government began the initiative of legislating the M&M act as soon as it assumed office five years ago. It was kept in public domain and suggestions were invited earnestly by the ministry so that wide ranging consensus could be made around it.
The ineptitude and the callousness of the government was exposed when the legislation finally saw the light of day with several glaring flaws which need no recounting. It was our hope that perhaps public opinion would count and the voice of the majority heard. But that was not to be. The M&M shattered the spine of those spearheading for a strong pro-environment act. The earnestness with which the government proceeded with the M&M draft was nothing but a charade. It was working out its own agenda all along while keeping the public busy debating on the pros and cons of the said act.
During the hullabaloo surrounding the indictment of Ms Ampareen Lyngdoh by the CBI for what is nothing less than corruption in moral sense, we would have imagined the government strongly pitching in for a zero tolerance anti-graft Lokayukta Act. Running in the heels of the education scam which was a slap on those genuine candidates who never made it to the list, the government used its hand and foot to shake and break the people of the state with the passage of the Lokayukta Act 2012. The act does not embody the required safeguards and most importantly assurances that corruption will be minimized through strong deterrent measures.
But we have come to anticipate this from such a peculiar government. For instance the Chief Minister has a knack of making a very late entry and then delivering an astounding speech that leaves even his worst critic smiling (and forgiving). Another distinction of this government is to introduce important bills on the last day of the assembly. What is worse is that these bills were passed and became law. We do not need to remind ourselves the names of these bills but to remember that they are bills that impact the public interest. No bills are less or more important than the Lokayukta Amendment bill. There is already a sinking feeling about the system getting sucked by corruption at all levels- the bureaucracy, the police, medical profession, the shopkeeper in the street and what have you.
Jurisprudence demands that an anti-corruption act that is to take on such a rotten system certainly deserves more than a day’s discussion. The act again serves nobody’s interest except the political class and its patrons – the babus are rubbing their hands in glee for the yeomen service rendered by the government to protect them from anti-graft charges. These laws are life-time insurance for them and thus the vicious circle continues.
The government insists that it has kept its word and that it is “promise fulfilled” and hence an achievement. A promise fulfilled with no sincerity is nothing but betrayal. These are not achievements by any standards. The government can claim achievement if we can repose our faith in the system which it not the case. How can we when the likes of Ampareen Lyngdoh are still running the system and calling the shots without so much of a prick of conscience or guilt?
Election is part of this huge carnival that democracy offers us. In a few months time we shall elect new representatives (or old depending on which constituency you are voting from). Most will storm back to the corridors of power. And there is no law to make them accountable because the same guys are insulated with toothless laws. There is no measurement to scale and grade our representatives for their actions, words and deeds so that public can decide if they are fit even to re-run for election. This is the ugly truth of democracy. When the entire country is demanding a strong anti-rape law, we have representatives in Parliament with rapists and molestation charges who will most likely frame a new anti-rape law. So when we are demanding a strong anti-graft law we are probably barking at the wrong tree because we are asking our law-makers embellished in graft to legislate a strong anti-corruption law. Until we rout the existing political class we will have laws that are ill-suited to address any issues that involve the common man. But this is not going to happen. The Election of 2013 will bear testimony to this fact.