By A H Scott Lyngdoh
Much is in the news these days, about the manner in which the Capital city of Shillong has fallen from grace as the Scotland of the East. It’s about stinking garbage, clogged drains, poor garbage disposal, traffic snarls, weak municipal administration and what not. It’s a lopsided situation containing a strong committed Urban Affairs Department leading from the front, weighed down by poor field level activities at the subordinate level. This short narrative is not meant to blame any particular person, but to point a finger at the system gone awry requiring correction. If at the first instance, we look at the systems in place in the management of civic affairs, the Shillong Municipality is at the heart, flanked on the southern side by the Cantonment Board, and hence numerous surrounding localities, which have their own system of Local Self Governance and together constitute the Greater Shillong Area.
The Shillong Municipality as of now is run by a middle level officer with the designation of Chief Executive Officer as a nominee of the State Government. The last elections to the civic body were held in 1966 on the basis of 12 wards, one for each ward except for Laitumkhrah, which was given two representatives. Two were nominated by the Government giving the total at fifteen Ward Commissioners. The last Municipal Board headed by a Chairman with a Vice- Chairman and the elected Ward Commissioners together as a body failed miserably to carry out responsibilities in a proper manner. Encroachments on main roads, sanitation in a mess, scarcity of water supply, defalcation of municipal taxes, employees not getting salaries regularly and other failures gave the Board a bad name in the eyes of the rate payer. There was a hue and cry so much so that the public did not want such elections anymore. Since 1970 – 71 on the expiry of the term of the last elected board, a Chief Executive Officer was appointed in the place of an elected board and this practice has continued till date. It may also be mentioned that the last elected board had recommended increasing the wards from twelve to twenty seven which is at present the official figure, though no elections have been held on the basis of the increased number of wards. Compare this to the much lesser numbers of MLAs, four for the Municipal Area (Shillong East, North, South & West) and five for the adjacent area (Mawlai, Nongthymmai, Pynthorumkhrah, Mylliem & Nongkrem). Thus, this three-tier system of MLAs, MDCs and Rangbah Shnongs joining hands with the CEO form the core of civic administration in the Municipal Area. At the helm, is the Govt which handles the funding, while keeping an eye on various developments from time to time. MDCs come in only marginally with little to offer in the form of funding. At the core is the Rangbah Shnong, the Kingpin at the local level. But since neither the non tribal nor the women are eligible as members of the Dorbar Shnong, a large chunk of the population is left out of the participatory and decision making process, despite the fact they are rate payers contributing regularly to the coffers of the Municipality. No taxation without representation started a revolution. Citizen apathy is therefore a contributing factor to the mess that has been created and needs cleaning up. Invariably the no doers point the finger at those exercising power.
Given such a background, are there any fresh initiatives, which would give the people a bigger voice in the shouldering of civic responsibility? Please consider the following options:
1. Should Municipal elections be held?
2. If so, what would be the suitable number of wards considering there are only 4 MLA Constituencies within the Municipal areas?
3. What would be the likely duties of the Ward Commissioner, since the selection and funding of the civic welfare schemes at the local level are done by the Govt and the MLA concerned?
4. The fear of the tribal voter, who opposes a Municipal election, is that inter alia the non-tribal would gain a majority in running the Municipal Board. Could this fear be neutralized were the Govt as the main funding agency, be given the right to nominate a sufficient number of members with proven capacity, integrity and commitment?
Alternatively:
5. Constitution of Municipal Board with
a) Nominated members comprising leading non-tribal and women representatives.
b) Rangbah Shnongs within the Municipal area.
c) An element of the election process in the form of members comprising (a) and (b) to elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the board.
Other related matters: Apart from the suggested restructuring, a few suggestions on improving Municipal administration may be considered. Since the CEO’s responsibilities are of a full time nature, the person in charge should not be saddled with any other duties. He or she has to be on the move regularly with the capacity to interact with people’s representatives. The Khasi localities are generally clean, and the bad name comes from the market place and the commercial hub, which do not directly come under any Dorbar. The main force of karamcharies should be concentrated in such areas on a round the clock basis.
Note:
Having established a House in order, the big problem for action is as under.
H. N. Ramakrishnan writes from Michigan, USA about the disposal of garbage in a scientific and responsible way. Oslo generates power from household trash, industrial waste, even toxic and dangerous waste from hospitals to heat almost half of the city and most of its schools. Plastic bags that are used for garbage should be banned. The Govt should put a tax on the use of plastic bags, as was done for tobacco, and raise revenue. If necessary the price of cloth bags can be subsidized from the revenue generated through plastic bags tax. This will make citizens either reuse plastic bags, or buy cloth bags. It is estimated that each cloth bag eliminates about 1000 plastic bags. Citizen should also help the authorities by not throwing the garbage indiscriminately everywhere.
6. The Shillong Municipal Area is a part of a conglomeration expanding rapidly in all directions forming the Greater Shillong Area. Inter connectivity could be considered by creating a Greater Shillong Authority to handle common subjects such as drainage, transport and water supply on the Canadian model. Representation to this higher federated body could be on the basis of population of the component parts.
A.H. Scott Lyngdoh Convenor, Meghalaya Chapter