By Patricia Mukhim
So the MUA-2 cabinet has been tweaked. We cannot call it a reshuffle because the changes are cosmetic. Two ministers dropped and two taken is hardly an earth-shaking event. True that the ministers who retained their portfolios lost some of their major departments! For instance, Ampareen Lyngdoh lost Urban Affairs to her colleague Ronnie Lyngdoh but she is compensated with PWD (Buildings). Ms Roshan Warjri has got Health and one half of education in place of Home. Dr RC Laloo has lost Education to his two colleagues – Deborak Marak (who now has School Education and Literacy) and Roshan Warjri (Higher and Technical Education). Deborah Marak meanwhile has lost Social Welfare to Clement Marak. Prestone Tynsong has forfeited Environment and Forests to Clement Marak and Community and Rural Development to Sniawbhalang Dhar. Dhar in turn has lost PWD (Roads) to Martin Danggo and PWD (Buildings) to Ampareen.
While this last change is welcome, considering the atrocious quality of roads we have now, we would be naïve to expect any better from the present incumbent who is holding PWD (Roads). The term ‘from the frying pan to the fire’ cannot have been more appropriate. But can you blame Mukul Sangma here? He is dealing the same pack of cards he inherited in 2013. He is simply shaking up a jar which has the same ingredients. He cannot come up with a miracle drink. The closest metaphor one can think of is that of a croupier (card dealer) in a casino except that the pack of cards has more than the requisite number of jokers.
It appears that the Power Department will remain with the Chief Minister who also holds Finance, Commerce and Industries, Agriculture, Tourism, Mining and Geology, Personnel and AR Department. These are all heavy duty departments requiring considerable time and effort and several thinking caps. Considering that the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihoods Programme (IBDLP) is the Chief Minister’s brainchild and this Programme calls for a convergence of departments like Agriculture, Horticulture Water Resources, Environment and Forests, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Community and Rural Department etc., would it not have been more prudent and yielded better results if these Departments were under the CM and that he plans and directs the convergence model? Convergence in a state where departments are treated as fiefdoms, not just by politicians but much more by the bureaucracy, is a no-go domain. Without convergence the IBDLP continues to struggle to deliver.
The IBDLP has in fact been able to train a number of entrepreneurs in remote corners of the state. These entrepreneurs have registered themselves with the IBDLP. But they now need start up funds. One is yet to hear of any financing model that could meet the capital investment of these entrepreneurs, who it is assumed have been sufficiently trained in practical book-keeping and accountancy and also to conduct market surveys to decide the products that the market needs. It is usually the case with tribals that if a neighbour’s business is doing well then a similar establishment will be set up a few yards away. As a result both units will turn sick because they would be stealing each other’s clients. In a village the number of clients who would patronise an establishment are nearly always the same.
The IBDLP has also succeeded in developing a set of stakeholders in environment and wild life conservation. This needs to be given greater thrust and special attention in order to become sustainable. Many programmes collapse following a change of leadership because those leading the programmes have failed to build second and third rung leaders. We hope that the IBDLP into which a lot of resources both human and financial have been pumped into will emerge into a vista of empowerment for village communities. We also hope that the IBDLP provides training to people to articulate the kind of development and livelihoods that are most sustainable to them and not one that is pushed by government. If the Programme fails to empower communities to speak up against landlessness and poverty; if the Programme does not empower them to use the RTI and to have regular Jan Sunwais (village hearings) then it would not have succeeded in its mission.
In Meghalaya, Education is the Sword of Damocles that no minister actually wants to see hanging over his/her head. I am sure Dr RC Laloo is relieved to have this department off his chest and his head as well. Now he does not have to deal with agitating school or college teachers. And nor does he have to expend extra energy to knock the doors of the central government to tap into the various schemes available. That’s precisely the challenge. A minister in the state must have enough clout in Delhi to be able to demonstrate effectively what his department needs in order to function effectively. Driving teachers to the streets to agitate is never an option. It only suggests a failure to engage with them meaningfully.
We are hard pressed to see any Minister who treats his/her department as they would their own businesses. Most ministers spend quality time constructing dream homes or residential apartments in Shillong or Guwahati or Delhi or build resorts with long term business plans. No wonder their departments are floundering. If at all they have any interest in their department it is only to milk money; that’s all.
We now have exactly 19 months to go before the next elections. It is obvious that every sitting MLA will want to return and to do that they will move heaven and earth. Those in the government are at an advantage as they have access to public funds. Those in the opposition will use their MLA funds at the eleventh hour to buy votes directly or indirectly. Hence our hope of getting better and more committed representatives is only a pipe dream.
What we actually need to do is to start a peoples’ movement beginning now. As was written in this paper’s editorial a few days ago we need to develop a performance report card of each minister and a separate one for each MLA from the opposition. The Department of Political Science NEHU can be roped in for this exercise. They owe it to the state of Meghalaya. This should be an interesting exercise even as we engage young people to go around collecting data. A mass awareness programme on the inadequacies of the present set of representatives needs to take off. Civil society should be prepared to undertake this task which will of course cost a lot of time and resources. This civil society should also keep itself busy during the entire election campaign period and hold simultaneous meetings at different constituencies.
Democracy is a lot of hard work and sweat and tears. If we complain of MLAs whose incompetence, corruption, lack of diligence, self-serving attitude stand out, then as citizens we need to be doing something rather than just sitting and moaning or gossiping about which minister has made how much.
We should spend more time in the constituencies that will be putting up retired bureaucrats who have barely hung up their boots but want to rush in to the electoral melee. These would be the most dangerous ones for they know how the system works to their advantage. The Election Commission has done a disservice to this nation by not stipulating a cooling off period for such bureaucrats. The question to ask is where do bureaucrats have the resources to fight elections if they have not made their little nests while in service? That as a society we tolerate such impunities is a sad commentary on our collective internal dissonance which hinders positive collective action.
The caption of this article is ‘After the cabinet reshuffle, what? It is a million dollar question because there must be a reason why the reshuffle happened. The Chief Minister has said that this is a regular exercise in any government; that it is not meant to discredit or demote anyone but to provide opportunities for new leadership to emerge. We hope he means what he says because we will be judging the performance of each minister henceforth.