Patricia Mukhim
The BJP slogan for Meghalaya, “Rally for Change” is somewhat more sophisticated than the clichéd, “Congress mukht Meghalaya,” that we expected. I begin this article with the premise that those of us who have seen more elections than we can count, need to make the charge that Change, especially Political Change, is a difficult proposition because a government is not made up of politicians only. In fact it carries the gargantuan weight of bureaucrats whose aversion for change is legendary. How can 60 MLAs change the way of doing things when 45,000 odd people working for them are just so risk-averse and change- resistant?
It would be wrong to blame politicians alone for bad governance. They are not at the cutting edge of the governance ladder. The Block Development Officer (BDO) is, and people have to line up at his/her office for getting what is due to them. Why should villagers waste their time at the BDO’s office when it is the BDO who should be in the field to make sure that schemes are implemented in letter and spirit? This because people have been made to feel subservient to the government. The empowerment of the citizen has not happened yet. Real change in government takes bold leadership and political parties willing to work towards the common good. Politicians need to understand the levers of bureaucracy and how to make them work. If all of these things come together, there is a good chance that real change can happen. Otherwise as some wit rightly commented it is time to pray to St. Jude (the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes).
Change in government is most difficult to achieve because of the organizational inertia that besets all governments. The middle rung bureaucrats spend nearly 35 years of their lives doing things the same way. And Meghalaya still does not have its own rules for running many of the departments. All the rules are cut and pasted from the Assam government because that is so much easier than crafting out our own set of rules that are nuanced to our culture and politics. The absence of an expansive view limits their vision. Institutional lethargy sets in and people work not because they want to, but just so they get their salaries. Do we wonder than why Meghalaya or any other state is languishing in the doldrums? And we expect a new set of politicians who have simply changed their uniforms to change the system? Surely this is as naïve as we can get!
The transitory nature of political leadership (five years) makes it difficult for politicians to effect any change. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to turn things upside down or downside up but did he succeed? On the contrary he had to indulge in some knee jerk jugaar just to jolt the lethargic system that is resistant to change. So we had the Demonetisation shake up followed by the GST which triggered a major quake amongst those who were used to cooking their books of accounts. It is unsure if India will indeed manage to bring more people in the tax bracket but one thing is clear. Mr Modi looks exhausted and carries a stern, unsmiling demeanour of a person who has hit too many roadblocks and a leader who has to win elections in every state that is going to the polls. Mr Modi must now realize how tough a challenge it is to rule a country as lethargic and change-averse as India is!
The fact that politics is a five-year journey can often push politicians to take shortcuts and do things that are politically expedient. They resist the idea of a long term vision because it does not serve their purpose. In short, politicians respond to the here and now. An electorate wants a road now! They want water supply now! They want electricity in their villages now! So politicians respond by laying pipes but don’t really follow up whether water flows in those pipes. That is the work of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED). But why would the PHED care? The engineers in the PHED only do work that brings them the kickbacks. They are not there to do charity. The electricity lines too are connected but power does not flow or it does intermittently. The MeECL cares two hoots whether or not the villages are lighted as long as Shillong city and the industries are served.
Having an expiry date stamped on their foreheads pushes politicians to start what they can’t finish. Dr Mukul Sangma for one, has laid several foundation stones and with good intentions but will those result in votes not just for him for other Congress candidates as well so that he gets a second term to complete those projects? Alas! No one can guarantee a win for anyone. An election is an election and even the best political pundits can get his calculations go awry.
As can be expected of politicians their focus is on politics than on good government. And why are we surprised? Our problem is that we expect government in a democracy to work like clockwork. But sixty people cannot change Meghalaya if the rest of the three million people just sit back and watch the fun. If there is corruption today it is because we have allowed it to happen despite the RTI giving us citizens the leverage to unearth the rot in the system and take action against the defrauders. Hence I am grateful to those who have taken up PILs from time to time and have made the system answerable. That the Umsning stretch on the GS Road was repaired on record time because the High Court ordered it, is a fit example to replicate in all other areas where the system fails. This is not judicial overreach; this is citizens getting their due from an insouciant government! Recently, Sajay Laloo filed another case with the National Green Tribunal to clean up our rivers. Many have tried their mite to draw the attention of the government to the imperative of cleaning up the Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi but they remained intransigent problems. Now that the NGT has given direction to the government we hope to see action on the ground.
The point then is not to expect miracles to happen post February 2018. No matter which government comes in the challenges will be the same. What the next government can do is change the way things are done. Whoever is chief minister should pull up those bureaucrats who are prone to “Business as Usual” attitudes. They are the kill-joy in the system but considering that the state cannot get rid of them it just has to banish them to some nondescript department where they can do no harm even if they don’t do good.
Those in government do not suffer from lack of good ideas. There are many smart people with great ideas about improving service delivery. We have examples of young Deputy Commissioners who have tried to bring transparency in governance. Such DCs should be commended instead of being transferred for being pro-people. As I have said in my columns earlier, when a good officer becomes a political scapegoat, the public must rise to his/her defence. The person cannot be left to fight his/her own battles. In fact a good government should not punish a public servant who performs his/her duties well. Punishing a dutiful bureaucrat is a sure signal to the others that it is better to conform to the old system rather than come up with better ideas of serving the public
A government is judged by the manner it executes its schemes. Where it fails is in the monitoring and evaluation process. Perhaps this is one reason why Dr Mukul Sangma launched the Social Audit Act. This Act as Dr Sangma admits makes all of us citizens equally liable for non-implementation or poor implementation of any project because now we are duty bound to oversee every project and to have a public hearing in case we detect any anomalies in execution.
The moral of the story is that politicians cannot bring change unless the electorate want change. And that change has to be clearly defined so that politicians know what is expected of them. In the run-up to the elections 2018 let us, the people, not just listen to political monologues but let us ask searching questions from all the candidates. That’s the best way to judge them. Can we, for instance, punish those who were dumb and asleep during the Assembly sessions in the last 5 years?
And last but not least, are we going to re-elect the corrupt that have misused their MLA schemes, abused their office of minister? These are questions that call for a spirited public debate.