January 21 comes and goes with the usual paraphernalia of song and dance and speech-making. Nothing cerebral actually takes place thereby making us citizens who passively wait for the Government to tell us how the day is to be celebrated. Not a single organization takes the initiative to do something on its own and to chalk out a programme that is thought-provoking in nature such as a stock-taking exercise of the balance sheet of Meghalaya in the past 43 years. An individual or institution that sets goals for itself must first know where it is now and where it wants to reach 20-25 years hence. Do we as citizens of Meghalaya know exactly where we are at present? We never set goals for ourselves at the beginning of the journey (when statehood was attained) and have not done so thereafter.
Most states have targets and timelines within which those targets are to be achieved. They have a clear roadmap to tell them how to reach those targets which should of course be pragmatic. In the area of education for instance, the state has no target as to how many primary schools it needs and how many it can set up in 20 years. In higher education too Meghalaya has no fixed targets as to the number of colleges and universities it wants to set up. Private universities have come up but until recently the state did not even have proper guidelines for their functioning until one university got into the business of selling fake degrees. Then only did the Government put together a regulatory framework for private universities. But while regulation is important it is not the only thing that can drive universities. These institutions need land for setting up infrastructure and this should be facilitated by the Government Instead universities which are trying their utmost to put their best foot forward are facing major roadblocks in land acquisition. The Government cannot be wishy-washy about this issue. If it wants institutions of higher learning to flourish it cannot leave them to their devices. After all the state has a responsibility towards them and their effective functioning. Moreover these universities serve an important social purpose.
Whoever is heading the Government in Meghalaya has a responsibility to ensure that projects, especially those with a social purpose such as providing education, are not frustrated in their attempts to set up state of the art infrastructure. The Indian Institute for Public Health – the foundation stone for which was laid down by the UPA-I Government is yet to function organically in its own premises. These and other issues need focus. The Government must set its priorities on these important projects rather than waste its energies on frivolous celebrations which cost the public exchequer dearly and yield nothing in return.