By Rudi Warjri
The famous British Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw had once said, “ Two percent of the people think , three percent think that they think and ninety five percent would rather die than think” . This more or less applies to the State of Meghalaya today. An avalanche of columns , editorials , articles etc have already appeared about the forthcoming Assembly Elections in Meghalaya. One common strand that came across was pessimism if not cynicism. Other than the role of money and the quality of politicians is also the fragmentation and multiplicity of political parties in a diminutive under- populated State. There is despondency and even schizophrenia among the electorate in deciding whom to vote for This age of information overload where the lakshman rekha between what is fake and not fake becomes narrower, adds to the confusion . What the outcome would be, is anybody’s guess. This article aim is to supplement all the perceptive writings about the Elections. Also a modest attempt at following the proverb, “ better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”.
First and foremost is a sense of proportion and moral. Spending according to earnings and resources. After 45 years where does Meghalaya stand compared to other States in India ? How long can Meghalaya depend on the Centre for resources and keep on crying for Special category status? Roaring in Shillong , begging in Delhi! One glaring example . No compunction about disproportionate spending on the mansion that houses the political Chief Executive. The overcrowded Civil hospital should be shifted there instead . Another joke. One hears and reads now and then about some high sounding creatures called the Employment Generation Council, Economic Development Council, Resource Mobilization Council etc. What have these creatures been doing ? God alone knows! There is no sense of contrition of any kind to just enjoy the perks without any work in an insufficiently funded State? And those who relish the perks include Church leaders who stand on pulpits to preach to their congregations not to be hypocrites !
Shifting gears a little. The significance of 1991. The Soviet Union and Flag bearer of communism had disintegrated. The NATO Vs Warsaw Pact Cold War had come to an end. China the other leading communist regime had taken to State Capitalism. Then Indian Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had wisely seen the writings on the wall . He had picked up a professional as Finance Minister in Manmohan Singh; for good reasons but among other things to dismantle the license raj. Call it Manmohanomics. Henceforth , successive governments in India under Atal Behari Vajpayee and later Manmohan Singh had tried to be more reformist than their predecessors with or without success. Today, India has Narendra Modi and with it Modinomics . And given its unshakable political mandate, the NDA Government is determined to even be more radical and structural in its economic reforms . Controversies and debates can continue. It should be so . Demonetization was nevertheless a classic demonstration of political will for reforms . The others are GST and Adhaar initiated by the earlier Congress Government. Modinomics also contains slogans like Make in India, Digital India , Connect India , etc.
A need to understand that there is no such thing as an eternal free lunch.
Meghalaya must learn to look for its own resources. MGNREGA or any such schemes which began under the Congress regime and are still continuing will not last forever. Why, because we now have schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (financial inclusion). Then the major institutional change from Planning Commission to NITI Ayog. It is one thing to say that there is need for more clarity about NITI Ayog. It is another thing that NITI Ayog is here to stay. Political thinking leaders and opinion makers in Meghalaya need to chalk out a road map and paradigm shift taking Modinomics into account. By all means criticize as much as possible. But at the very least try to understand and accept policies which are irreversible particularly which have their roots in the 1991 liberalization . One of them is the narrative about Capital Investment which PM Modi also tried very hard for in his foreign trips.
A need to recognize the full meaning of Capital.
Other than capital the other two basic factors or means of production or economic activity are land and labour. Both Marxism and Capitalism accepted that fact. Capitalism finally triumphed because China shifted from State Marxism to State Capitalism and also Private Capitalism. In Meghalaya, the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihoods Promotion Programme (IBDLP) with the basic purpose of producing entrepreneurs particularly in already existing economic activities and ecosystem like Agriculture , Livestock , Apiculture , Aquaculture , Horticulture and Sericulture, is laudable. It however cannot take off successfully without Capital. And Capital here does not only mean starting the business. It also includes market access to the rest of the world and connecting to the entire larger ecosystem.
Hernando De Soto in his book, ‘Mystery of Capital’, underlined that one of the main reasons of poverty in developing countries is absence of proper land records and legal ownership to property that are bankable and credit worthy. So it is high time that something drastic is done about land records . It is one thing to be sentimental just for the sake of being sentimental about one’s own land . It is another to understand how to derive value from it. One cannot continue with archaic practices and institutions if they are barriers to development and progress. If there is a need to reform the land holding system, so be it! Enough has been seen on how much of the so called ‘community land’ is being manipulated and exploited by one or two from the community in the name of tradition . Enough has been written about the tyranny of tradition!
There is therefore a need for an Investment Policy that suits Meghalaya.
It is welcoming that practically every candidate is talking about jobs and policies to create jobs for the youth. None of them have, however, talked about how to create those jobs? I noticed this in some of the vernacular newspapers as well. None of them ever mentioned about the word Capital or Investment There can be no jobs without investments. And Meghalaya Government cannot invest because it has no money. The next choice is Private Investment or Public Private Partnership (PPP). So the job of the Government is to create policies to attract Private investment . The mantra can be collaboration . Learn from the templates of achievements of other States like Gujarat or hilly States like Himachal Pradesh. Guwahati will be hosting the Global Investors’ Meet in February taking advantage of the Act East Policy.
Need to recognize the larger concept about Infrastructure.
Much has been written about roads, airports, power and energy and other physical infrastructures . In the drive towards digital age there is a need for internet infrastructure. NASSCOM had identified Meghalaya as a potential IT hub linking towards South Asia and South East Asia under the then Look East Policy and now the Act East Policy . The reason being the easy use of English as a language in Meghalaya and attracting other big IT big players.
The question of human resources in general.
Cross sectoral policies and coordination is called for by linking education to vocation and labour based on the categories of products from educational institutions each year . For those who are Secondary or Primary level passed too, the opportunities are there. There is a shortage of plumbers , electricians , carpenters etc. There is shortage of domestic helpers internally and the demand for them abroad. Possible remittance than can take place to their families, particularly, to families of the hundreds and thousands of single mothers in Meghalaya.
Need to build on existing assets and heritage
Attempts to promote promote sustainable tourism that can threaten the very existence of, for example, the famed Living Root bridges need to be reviewed. The Scotland of the East advertisement should be meaningful enough to attract Scots from Scotland . The Shillong Golf Course is called the Gleneagles of the East after a golf course in Scotland. Any golf playing Scottish would however have a heart attack to see the way the Shillong Golf Course is being treated now. Why not do to the Shillong Golf Course like what the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society (DHRS) is doing which is also now a UNESCO heritage? Descendants of the builders of the DHRS are now very active with the Society . And for God’s sake! Stop making castles in the air and bizarre statements like building Times Square in Polo Market (Wah Umkhrah).
If nothing of the foregoings can be done because of the next likely khichri Government formation then be prepared for Government without any Governance . Worse possible scenario is to be ruled by proxy by the plethora of neo-extortionist pressure groups of all kinds. In which case, regardless of any religion, those who pray, should pray for a 1897 type natural calamity. Hopefully, the grief can lead to a reawakening of sorts.
(The writer is a retired diplomat and can be reached at [email protected]. If any can volunteer to translate this article to Khasi and Garo for the vernacular papers , please do so. )