By H. H. Mohrmen
The New Year celebration is over and for the government employees finally the ten days paid holiday to celebrate the season has finally come to a close on New Year’s day. But winter being the preferred season for hitching, we are not going to see the end of partying as yet. Partying in the state will continue till the onset of summer. Whew! At least for now we can breathe easy and look back and learn from the past on how we can live the present and plan for the future.
This weekly column has appeared on a regular basis since 2009 and 2014 is important especially for a column which was started merely as a voice against the rampant destruction of the environment in Jaintia hills. This column has for many years constantly voiced against the unscientific and illegal mining which has destroyed the environment in Meghalaya. In April 2014 the order of the National Green Tribunal has vindicated what we have been saying all along. Apart from highlighting the issue both in Khasi and English dailies, complaints were also sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forest against mining in the State. This writer was even detained by the police because somebody complained against an article in the Shillong Times on the issue. The opinion of this writer on the issue of mining in the State was sought for and reported in many national and international dailies and magazines and I was also interviewed by international news channel and documentary film makers.
After the mass death of fish in the Lukha River was first reported in 2007, a visit was made to other rivers affected by coal mining and an article on the dead rivers of the district captioned, “Jaintia Hills the land of dead rivers,” was published. In a way we have been able to internationalize the issue, but sadly the State Government has failed to deal with this very important issue until the NGT intervened and banned mining and transportation of coal from Meghalaya.
New Year also unwrapped new challenges for the government. The point is whether Dr Mukul Sangma’s government has any plans on how to deal with the important mining issue? Does the Government have a policy in place to start sustainable mining in the State? Does the Government have a mechanism to reclaim all the dead rivers in the State? After the three months had lapsed since the NGT permitted transporting of extracted coal and the entire extracted coal is expected to be transported and the entire dumping yard to be free of coal stocks. But the opposite is happening. If one visits the coal mine areas one will see that coal yards are replenished with freshly extracted coal all over Jaintia hills. One would expect coal stocks to be empty but it is a different story altogether. In spite of the ban miners exploited the three months period and continued extracting coal from mines and transporting the same to the coal stockyard near the highways, openly violating the NGT order. It is for everybody to see that stock yards are full of coal now. Where has the coal come from? Now what does the government and the Committee constituted by the Tribunal have to say on this? What will happen after the three month window period since the NGT allowed transportation of coal has lapsed and the dumping grounds are full of coal? What will happen to the stockyards filled with coal again? It remains to be seen if the MUA government is really serious in protecting the environment.
It was reported that the NGT ban on coal has not only had an impact on the economy but even the State exchequer is also affected by the ban. The million dollar question for the government is how can we run a state if Government is dependent entirely on taxation from mineral resources only. The challenge for the Government is to look beyond coal and limestone because it is well known that minerals are non-renewable and therefore unsustainable resources.
Come spring and the people of Meghalaya will experience regular power shutdown. The other major challenge before the State is the power crisis. There is no solution to the problem in the foreseeable future, and obviously there is no plan to augment power production in the State as yet. How can this State develop without energy? How did Meghalaya change from a power surplus State to a power deficit one? This is an important question? But the other important question for the government is whether it has any plans to augment the power production in the state in the near future and ameliorate the difficulties faced by the citizens.
The other major issue facing the state is the growing numbers of educated unemployed youths. Meghalaya is yet to have any policy or mechanism to address this vital issue. But the saving grace is that the North Eastern Council in its recent meeting has decided to take up this issue and stop this brain drain from the region by creating employment avenues for the youth of north east. The State Government needs to capitalize on this opportunity and address this vital issue as soon as possible.
It is also unfortunate that the education scenario in the State is not as expected. The Department has been in the news but for all the wrong reason. Be it the never ending Lower Primary School teacher’s appointment scandal or the Meghalaya Board of (Higher and Higher Secondary) Education’s decision to derecognize Khasi as the Modern Indian Language (MIL) and a host of other issues facing the department. Hundreds of crores rupees of money are drained outside the state to educate the youths who wish to study courses which are not available closer home. Meghalaya does not have any medical college, engineering college or other educational institutes of higher studies other than government colleges. The maximum level of education under the State Education Department’s purview is college education. Most of the institutes of higher studies in the state are central projects be it NEHU, IIM, IHM, NIIT or NEIGRIMS. The state much talked about Medical College proposed to be started is yet to see the light of day. Again the only silver lining is that the NEC has accorded top priority on improving education in the north eastern states and one only hopes that the present government will make the best use of the opportunity.
About the Health Department it would be safe to say that ‘the state of health in the state is unhealthy.’ The CHCs, the PHCs and the sub centres leave much to be desired. The CHCs, the PHCs are being managed with less number of doctors than mandated and with few or no modern medical equipments. Supply of medicines is not regular and in most cases sub centers are kept open only a few days a week.
Dr Sangma’s pet project the Integrated Basin Development Program is yet to have its impact on the common people particularly people in the rural areas. Dr Sangma’s dream of converting agriculture in the state from chemical to organic farming is a good idea but even this is easier said than done. Government projects and programs still remain Shillong-centric and anything important that is happening in the state is happening in Shillong only as if Shillong is Meghalaya and Meghalaya exists in Shillong only.
Coming to the most difficult challenge, violence in certain parts of the state have crippled development in Garo Hills. On this front although there is hope after two militant groups have given up armed struggle, it certainly is not the end of violence in the Garo hills as yet. One only hopes that more groups will enter into ceasefire agreement with the Government and the winter break is not just a lull before a storm.
The Government is obviously facing many challenges and already has its plate full even at the beginning of the year. One can only wish it all the very best and hope for better days to come in Meghalaya in the New Year.