Governance in Meghalaya is given short shrift. The High Court has had to step in on areas that should have been the remit of the Executive. From trees that pose a threat to passers-by in the city to zebra crossings at busy traffic junctions, to garbage collection, the Court has literally pushed the Government to perform. Traffic jams are the latest challenge. Reaching one point to another within the city taxes the patience of commuters and it is inevitable that their blood pressure would rise on account of the tension of reaching their destinations within the designated time. The road condition in Shillong and its suburbs has deteriorated beyond recognition. Should people approach the court of law to address this problem too? Clearly there is governance failure on all fronts and this is acutely felt by citizens. One of the reasons for the traffic jam which beggars all description is the non-cooperation of the elite schools of the city to use school buses for ferrying their students. Meghalaya is the only state where private vehicles by the thousands converge on the already crowded roads in the morning and afternoon to drop and pick up students. Attempts to make the schools use school buses have met with a stiff resistance from the principals. Deputy Commissioners past and present have appealed to the better judgment of school principals but failed miserably. The Government meanwhile, seems incapable of coming down heavily on these few schools. At some point the court will have to step in here too on behalf of a desperate citizenry.
On a daily basis the Meghalaya Electricity Corporation Limited (MeECL) decides to go on power shut down mode in large parts of the state without prior notice. The Corporation is accountable to no one. No amount of public complaints has pushed the MeECL to perform. This is one Corporation that needs to be told, “Perform or Perish.” But the Government has failed to use the stick here too. Can the Mukul Sangma government then claim to have delivered governance? On what basis is the Chief Minister seeking votes from citizens for 2018?