By HH Mohrmen
Some readers have complained that they are fed up with all the election news that the media feeds them on a daily basis and they wish the election ends sooner than later. Another common refrain is that it looks as if nothing else happens in Meghalaya- except elections. It is true that in the run up to the election, the media both print and electronic certainly reflects this image, because every newspaper edition is filled to the brim with election news and there is very less or no space given to other news. Election comes only once in five years and the media gives space to views pertaining to elections to bring before readers the issues or non-issues on which elections are fought. However, this write-up in is an attempt to do a balancing act of writing about something else but which is also connected with the election.
This is a story about three villages in the Amlarem Sub Division of West Jaintia Hills District which have brought change to their respective villages without any support from their MLAs or MDC or any political representative for that matter. It is a story of how communities which have made the best use of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme can really bring change in the village.
I was very recently in Shnongpdeng; a village on the banks of the river Umngot in Meghalaya’s southern border with Bangladesh. It is a small hamlet of maybe a hundred or more households, but what is unique about this village is that it is a very welcoming village. Shnongpdeng is perhaps the only village which has an arched-gate at the village entrance to welcome visitors. The arch-gate is so welcoming that it attracts visitor to visit the village or at least peep into the inside of the village. Once inside the village, one can see a typical War Jaintia hamlet with no fence and the path from one house or from one locality to the other passes through the verandah of every house. It looks like all the open space in the village is a community space and individuals only own the land where their houses stand. If one has to walk from one house to another; one has to walk through the patio of another family’s house and there is no room for privacy> It is a perfect example of an open community which is a direct antithesis to the modern gated community. Because of the close proximity of one house to another and the only open spaces in the village are the community pathways, hence one can even smell what the other family cooks if one happens to pass through the particular family house while are cooking. The point is that if one would like to experience tha War Jaintia culture and way of life, Shnongpdeng is one of the many villages that it is still practising and living that culture.
Shnongpdeng is also unique because it is very clean and cemented footpaths criss-cross the entire village, and even before I could ask the Secretary of the Village Dorbar, Lasting Gadew Lamin said the footpaths were constructed using the MNREG scheme. Lamin also added that nowadays they did not need the MLA or MDC to develop the village and that if the villages make proper use of the scheme, the MNREGA is enough. I was taken aback by what Lamin said. To me his statement is that of an empowered person. It is a statement of a person who really understands what the goal of MNREGA is and I consider this as true empowerment. If only all the headmen, the secretary of village dorbar shnong and the nokmas had similarly realized what they can do with MNREGA they would not have to waste their precious time and become puppets to candidates during election because they can bring change and develop their village even without the support of their MLAs or MDCs.
I visited two other villages in the Amlarem Sub Division which have successfully implemented the MGREGA and brought change to their respective villages. They are Nongtalang Mission and Sohkha Shnong. All along the media has reported only about the misappropriation of MNREGA funds meant for development of the village. It is therefore refreshing to see that there are villages like the three mentioned above which made the best use of the government scheme and have brought change to the society. Nongtalang Mission has constructed footpaths, motorable roads and even made retaining walls in the village using the MNREGA. In Sohkha village apart from making footpaths in the entire village, the community has also built a pond for water harvesting with Scheme.
The arched-gate in Shnongpdeng is also geared up to welcome tourists to their village. The Shnongpdeng Tourism Development Society in collaboration with the Pioneer Adventure Tour’s (PAT) Shillong, has introduced adventure activities in the village which includes fresh water scuba diving, rock climbing, angling, boating, rafting and other water sports. The Shnongpdeng Tourism Development Society and PAT’s under the leadership of J.J. Lamare are in a partnership to promote tourism in this village and they have even constructed two home stay huts in the village.
Readers may wonder what this has to do with elections, It is an open secret that most of the villages have not been able to implement MNREGA and the blame should not entirely rest on the villagers. The villages as stakeholders in the Scheme should have adequately been capacitated to implement the Scheme. For village to be able to successfully implement the MNREGA a community capacity building program should be conducted and here is where the MLA can chip in. MLAs can invite NGOs with expertise in conducting community capacity programs like the Bosco Reach Out, Meghalaya Rural Development Society, Khadar Shnong Socio Organisation, Self Help Resource Group and others to train the villages in their particular constituency to develop a master plan and an action plan for their respective villages. The MLA’s role is to empower the villages to make the best use of government schemes and this is one way of doing it.
Candidates are talking about creating employment for educated unemployed, and here again Shnongpdeng has shown the way. This, initiative to attract tourists to the village can create employment in the long run. But Lasting Gadew the Secretary of the dorbar shnong of Shnongpdeng did mention that they needed good roads to the village in order to attract tourists. It is here that a good MLA can be of help. Talking about the river Umngot which is the lifeline of the people in the village, Gadew is also concerned about the coal mining activity that is going on upstream of the river in the village like Shkentalang. If the district administration does take cognizance of this threat, then he is afraid that the river Umngot would also go the Myntdu, Kupli and Lukha way. If Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) pollutes the river Umngot, then people living downstream whose livelihoods depend on the river will be affected. We therefore need legislators to bring about policies that will keep our living rivers and streams and the environment safe for generations to come.
Lastly, I do not normally reply to letters to the editor whether they are for or against my articles in the Shillong Times. I believe every individual has the right to his or her own opinion and it is for the readers to decide. But I have this to say on the clarification made by Dalmia in the letter to the editor column. I respect my readers and know they are discerning enough not to be misled. I would only request the esteemed readers to google Dalmia- Adhunik on the internet and see the truth for themselves.