By Albert Thyrniang
Last week Saleng Sangma made headlines when he met the Governor, Krishan Kant Paul to hand him a letter of complaint against the Chief Minster, Dr Mukul Sangma who is regularly absent from his office. Terming the Chief Minister as ‘absentee Chief Minister’ the Gambegre Independent MLA made a dampening observation that the office of the Chief Minister is the least functioning office in the state thus affecting governance and development initiatives. The former Community and Rural Development Minister in the MPA -1 government, who was denied the Congress ticket in the last Assembly Election ‘because the Chief Minster was scared of him’, lamented that the Chief Minister was habitually absent at the time when the insurgency-ravaged Garo Hills is in turmoil.
Earlier there were reports of poor culture in State Secretariat, Shillong. Sadly the main secretariat is a bad role model. No wonder thin attendance, late arrivals and early departures are traits of every office in Meghalaya. Widows, the elderly, the poor from far flung villages are made to come to office again and again for tiny benefits due to repeated non-availability of officers. This writer’s institution was a beneficiary of insignificant MLA and MP schemes sanctioned in 2012. After several visits to the block office, numerous phone calls, SMSes and finally an RTI, the matter was finally disposed off in May this year. Excuses after excuses were given. Pure poor work culture coupled with corruption are the reasons.
This unhealthy culture has to be corrected. But how do you expect good work culture at the district and block levels when there is no work culture at the capital’s head office? How do you ensure regular attendance of officers when the Chief Executive Officer of the state is regularly absent from his duty? How do you ensure punctuality among officers across the state when Chief Officer (Minister) is habitually impunctual? To his discredit, the Chief Minister, on several public functions was reported arriving late. On the only public function I attended, on 28th August, 2013, the first foundation day of North Garo Hills District, the programme was to start at 10 am but the Chief Minister arrived only after 1 pm keeping the people and school children waiting in the scorching heat for more than three hours.
Poor work culture is compounded by frequent holidays. Holidays facilitate poor work culture. Work is kept pending. Files lie on the table longer. To improve governance, the government has to cut down the number of holidays. According to the holiday list 2014 there are 157 holidays and 208 working days. The number of holidays will increase (and workdays decrease) as 5 days are allotted for local holidays. This means that out of 12 months we work for 7 months and the rest 5 months are holidays. Effectively, for 5 months the government employees draw salary without working. Only the government can afford this. No private enterprise can. To survive and make profit many companies work even on Sundays. But who thinks about profit in the government? Government enterprises are incurring huge losses but holidays, poor work culture, impunctuality and absenteeism are the norms. That is why people hanker after Government jobs! They promise security despite non-performance.
Meghalaya is the only state in the country that declares Saturdays as holidays. The reason is unknown. This has to be done away with to increase the working days by 40-45 days. Or at least when a holiday occurs in a week day the Saturday of that week should be automatically a working day. In other words, compulsorily there must 5 working days in a week. But who will take this tough decision? Not the Chief Minister who is alleged to be taking unusual leave! Not any government because the employees will vote against it in the next elections! Therefore, all governments prefer popularity than development of the State! All governments will prefer to please their employees rather than lose power! Status quo will be maintained in a long time. In the meantime we will lag behind in all aspects.
The list of holidays is amusing. Holidays are declared to enable the general public to celebrate a festival or feast. However, very often very few actually celebrate a festival or feast for holidays declared. This is because festivals of a few are declared as a general holiday. A festival of a small minority is declared as a public holiday. Even when the vast majority has no connection with a particular festival or memorial, a holiday is listed. For example, due respects, the vast majority of people in Meghalaya (particularly in rural areas) do not celebrate Id-ul-Fitr or Krishna Janmastanmi or Maha Stami or Muharram. Why should these days be declared a state holiday? It is ridiculous. At the most they can be declared as holidays in Shillong.
According to me a holiday should be declared only when a festival or memorial is celebrated by or when connected with the majority. So, Behdiengkhlam is naturally a local holiday in Jaintia Hills but it need not be a holiday in Khasi Hills and Garo Hills. Similarly with Shad Suk Mynsiem and Wangala. This is in no way showing disrespect to the festivals. Holidays are not the only way to honour and celebrate festivals.
Above it all extended holidays are taken unscrupulously. Winter holidays are from 22nd to 31st December but officers join office only by 15th/ 20th January. Doors of offices are open but without personnel.
The former governor RS Mooshahary had on two occasions, expressed concern at the poor work culture in the State. While noting that the Government has granted too many days to its employees, he was for limiting holidays only to the people who actually observe the festivals. He appealed to all to change the holiday- inclined attitude. The progressive view of the former Governor found no takers. There was not even a debate in the press. Pessimistically though but the present Governor too will not be able to do anything to improve the work culture in the State. The Governor might have patiently heard Saleng Sangma’s grievances and received his letter but the constitutional and titular head of Government can’t do much unless the executive and all of us change our mindsets. Saleng Sangma has also threatened to move the Centre for President’s Rule in the state if his complaint bears no fruit. He warns that he will meet the Union Minister of State in charge of Home, Kiren Rijiju to impress upon the Union Government for President’s Rule in this non-performing State. That would be wonderful! Work culture will improve overnight. Insurgency in Garo Hills too will be put down with a firm hand. At present politico-militant nexus is too entrenched that expectations of neutralizing militancy is nil. We have an incompetent government and an ‘Absentee Chief Minister’ that does little work and allows Garo Hills to spiral out of control.