No less than a High Court verdict was required to set aside appointments to the State Agriculture Department. This is not a solitary malfeasance resulting in applicants taking legal recourse. There have been several other appointments as well such as those in the Education Department which have been revoked. Several complaints have appeared in this newspaper regarding lack of transparency in appointments to different departments. Often the appointments reek of nepotism and corruption but the Government is not seen to be taking corrective measures. There is an air of defiance against these public anxieties. This is not how a democracy should be functioning. When members of the public make their complaints in a public forum, the least that we expect from the Government is a clarification that there are no anomalies and that appointments are made in order of merit. There should be a system whereby candidates can access not only their own answer scripts but also those of their peers. This is what transparency is all about.
In Meghalaya no one believes in professionalism. Hence important Commissions and Boards are headed by hand-picked political appointees whose only qualification is their loyalty to the political party ruling the state at a given time. These appointees in turn yield to pressure from those who appoint them. Perhaps they are already given a list of names that they should promote by any and all means. Subject experts who are called to preside over personal interviews are themselves surprised by the candidates selected because they know how each of them fared. The present system has turned the young people very cynical about whether merits really matters. The worst harm we can do to our enterprising and hardworking young people who appear for competitive exams with much hope is to show them that political and financial clout trumps over merit and to be disdainful of their protests!
It is not understood as to why the Government treads on the very path that creates disillusionment and cynicism. Today if militancy is on the upswing then the Government should be introspecting on its own actions and/or inaction. If the Chief Minister is serious about setting things right he should reconstitute the Meghalaya Public Service Commission and make it a professional body. The members appointed should have a track record of integrity and selfless public service.