By H H Mohrmen
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to Meghalaya has not only drawn huge crowds to see him, but he has also been able to get the media hype despite a brief altercation that the journalists had with the SPG and the state security personnel. The front page of all the newspaper in the state had maximum coverage of the Prime Minister’s activities on the previous day and I was surprised that even the mainstream media like NDTV, Asian News International are competing with the social media to publicise Modi’s visit to Shillong. A case in point is Modi’s visit to Elephant Falls and Mawphlang Khasi heritage village was reported even before he landed in Delhi on May 28.
There is no doubt that Modi has charisma and that he can create an aura of awe with whoever meets him. Those who had the privilege of meeting him shower words of praise for Modi. Some say he is down to earth and has elephantine memory and he also takes thing seriously. Others says he has the time and the patience to listen to those who talk to him. He even took part in the cultural programmes et al. But the question that we need to ask is the reason for the Prime Minister’ visit to Shillong.
Modi’s visit was to address the 65th plenary session of the North Eastern Council. Now what has transpired in the 64 other plenary meetings of the Council? Why does the region continue to cry foul against the central government’s attitude towards the states in particular and the region in the general? Is it because of the unrealistic vision or the lack of it (as pointed out by Toki Blah ST May 27, 2016) that has led the region to come to such a pass? If the answer to the question is affirmative then what change can we expect from the 65thplenary session? If we have failed in the past then how can one impress a layman like me that this time it will be different? Or how can the mere presences of the Prime Minister at the plenary meeting bring a sea change to the region?
We are of course good at coining catch-phrases as if mere slogans can bring instant development to the area. For a decade or so the popular catchword that did the rounds in the region was ‘the Look East Policy.’ In the case of Meghalaya I agree with Toki Blah that looking south towards Bangladesh will be more appropriate. Few years have passed by without any result and now we have done with looking and we are now proposing another interesting jargon ‘Act East Policy.’ Forgive me for my ignorance but if it has taken us a decade or more to ‘look’ then I cannot help but wonder how many years it will take us to ‘act.’ I just hope that we will not waste another decade debating, organizing seminars and workshops before we take any action.
I could only get the sense of his speech from the news reports in the press which narrated Modi’s speeches in the many engagements that he had on his visit to Shillong. I was trying to see how Modi’s speech in Shillong is different from speeches made by other leaders from the Delhi durbar who had visited this region in the recent past. But I was astonished to see that there is not much difference in Modi’s speech. Apart from naming a few of our footballers (although his speech writer missed Rokus Lamare another Meghalaya’s important footballers) I did not hear anything of much significance. Making huge promise like earmarking more than 30,000 crore for the development of north east region and fast tracking infrastructure building in the region is not new. Prime Ministers before Modi did the same but the sad truth is that the region continues to be underdeveloped.
If we are to believe the news reports then the Prime Minister also said that the Act East Policy will reduce isolation of the region by improving all round connectivity through rail, road, telecom, power and waterways. This statement is as good as admitting that the region was (purposely) neglected and isolated till the 65th plenary session of the NEC. If this statement is taken at face value, then I don’t see why the youth of the region would not be disenchanted with the government.
The Prime Minister mentioned the potential of promoting tourism in the region, in particularly eco and adventure tourism. He also mentioned that the region’s is blessed with natural scenic beauty, distinct historical, cultural and ethnic heritage but is there anything new about this? Haven’t we heard similar statements earlier? Promoting tourism in the region had been on the agenda for as long as one can remember, but it remains an unfulfilled promise. Many before Modi had mentioned about the potential of starting BPOs here since the youths of north east have natural flair in speaking and writing in English, but all the earlier statements became empty rhetoric. Hence we will have to wait and see how Modi’s speech translates into action.
The people around Modi should make him aware that the traditional agriculture practiced by the farmers in the region was organic in the first place. It was the government which has (forcefully) introduced them to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Now the government and the Prime Minister is again coining a very attractive slogan ‘organic farming’ to convince the farmers to revert to old ways and continue farming the way their ancestors had practiced since time immemorial. Please spare us the slogan. Just admit that the government has made a mistake and it would like us to go back to the basics of doing agriculture as practiced by our ancestors.
The only speech in the plenary session which resonates with popular feelings, particularly that of the youth was that of Lt Gen Nirbhay Sharma governor of Mizoram, who pointed that merely achieving highest literacy rate does not mean that all is well in the state. He pointed that as per 2011 census the percentage of literacy in Mizoram is 91.58 but the high literacy rate is no guarantee for a job. Employment generation is the need of the hour and creating immediate employment for a large section of educated and semi-educated youths in the region is the crying need of the people of north east.
In my opinion this is the crux of the matter and unless and until every young person in the region is decently employed then development remains incomplete. If the NEC and the state governments cannot find employment for the youth in the region then they can explore alternatives where the services of the youth of the region are needed. Kerala has high literacy percentage in the country and yet unlike Mizoram it does not face much unemployment problem because its youths find employment elsewhere in the country and the world.
Okram Ibobi Singh the Chief Minister of Manipur during the celebration of Nurses’ Day mentioned about the demand for Manipuri nurses in Japan. Not only in Japan but there are other countries which are in need of both skilled and unskilled labour, and the youth of the region with their command over English language already have the much needed communication skill for any kind of job inside and outside the country. It is therefore high time that the NEC explores viable employment alternatives for the youth of the region in the country and outside the country. And by the way rather than look east or look west, we would be able to do ourselves a favour if we look inwards.
In my opinion (and I am sorry to say this) I did not see anything new in the Prime Minister’s speech. Modi has not promised anything new for the region. Although there is no rhetoric but the speech is general in nature. It lacks specifics and there are no details on how the proposed project or programmes are going to be implemented. Therefore for me there is nothing in Modi’s speech that I can look forward to. It is like any other visit, where prime ministers come and say something which they forget by the time they reach Delhi. In few days time much water will have flown down the bridge and people will forget the Prime Minister’s visit and all of us particularly the man/woman on the street will continue with what we used to do – toiling for two square meals a day.