By H H Mohrmen
Thanks to a strong opposition, the first Budget Session under the MDA government saw a very lively debate in the House and perhaps for the first time in the history of the State, the deliberations in the House have evoked the interest of the common people too. People of different age and gender diligently followed the proceedings in the Assembly and started discussing the issues raised in the House at the appropriate location and time.
It is for the first time in the history of Meghalaya that one hears people discussing what is going in the August House at teashops or the homes of the bereaved families. We will have to wait and see before arriving at a conclusion as to whether it is the charm of the new CM or because of the unrelenting opposition (that keeps the Government on its toes) which has drawn the interest of the crowd about the Assembly proceedings. But any which way we look at it, it is good for democracy in Meghalaya.
This writer was taken aback while travelling recently on a public transport when a housewife started discussing the topics debated in the Assembly which were of interest to her. The public picked up the subjects debated in the House either from the newspapers or from what they saw reported on Doordarshan and other visual media which gives a regular update on the Assembly proceedings. Therefore the media too plays a vital role in making people aware of the discussions in the House which ultimately leads to the discussions at different places.
Though not as avid as the common people this writer also follows the deliberations in the House and had noticed something missing this time. If I am not mistaken the House had missed out on a very important event this time when it failed to make an obituary reference for Indro Pariat former MLA and also minister in charge Excise etc Government of Meghalaya who died at his residence in Wahiajer on the voting day of the last election.
Notwithstanding the positive developments in the House, there are also critics who blamed the Congress for raising too many questions and some concluded that vociferous criticism by the Party against the newly instituted MDA government was a reflection of the failure of the previous Congress-led MUA Government. That is fine. People also have the right to ask the Congress (on its face), as to how can the Party be so brazen to even expect a Government which is not even a month old to be responsible for the wrongs in the State.
It was also a good question to ask as to how the Congress party has the audacity to even raise so many questions when it was the Congress which was at the helm of power in the last five years and therefore should be responsible for the all the mess in the State. Of course these are all important questions, but the fact is that the Congress is now the major opposition group in the House and if the members do not raise questions, then who will?
The Congress is caught in a Catch-22 situation. They are in a sticky wicket where they are damned if they don’t ask questions and damned also because they asked question. Rather the important question that should be asked is; what is the role of the opposition if it is not to raise questions of public interest in the House? And the second question is what kind of session will we have if we have an acquiescent opposition? Isn’t it true that the Assembly sessions would be dull and lacklustre if the Opposition do not raise question? Therefore we should congratulate the Congress party for living up to its constitutional responsibility of being a strong Opposition.
A strong Opposition will not only keep the government on its toes, but it will be to the advantage of the people of Meghalaya. It is also a sign of a healthy democracy that we have a strong Opposition in the house. One cannot blame the last MUA government for sailing through every sessions in the last State Assembly with very little or no opposition at all. The fault is not with the ruling but with the Opposition in the last Assembly which did not live up to our expectations and did not put up a strong Opposition to the then MUA government under the leadership of Dr Mukul Sangma.
Now the table has turned and Dr Sangma is the Leader of the Opposition and even from the very beginning of the current session, it is obvious now that the Treasury Bench cannot take the Opposition for granted. Not only Dr Sangma who is a politician of a stature who also knows the Government like the back of his hand but many of the Congress MLAs too are good orators and are also well versed with the parliamentary protocols which will be a test for the Government of the day.
If the bright morning promised a better day, then the first few days of the Budget Session of Meghalaya is a sign of good days to come for Meghalaya. If the morning promises the day then one can safely conclude that this Assembly is going to be an interesting one and hopefully it will bring progress and development to the state.
The first budget of the MDA government was praised by many for having its priority right by allocating the second highest budget allocation to Education, but on a closer examination one would also realise that a large part of the budget allocation will go towards paying for the teachers’ salary. Of course providing a good salary for teachers is a good incentive for those responsible for educating the future citizens of the state because this can also be seen as an investment for the future.
The pertinent question is whether the government will be able to close the disparity gap in monthly remuneration paid to the teachers who fall under different categories such as full-fledged government schools teachers, those under deficit system, government aided, SSA and of course teachers in private schools. It is ironic that although they perform the same job but there is a vast pay disparity between the government teachers and teachers in private run schools. The other question is also what change this government can bring with the meagre resource that it has at its disposal. The decision that from next year on all schools will have to follow the CBSE course in Classes XI and XII is a step in the right direction, but it is just the beginning. Hopefully the new Education Policy will not only improve the education scenario in the state but will also come up with mechanisms to monitor and control private institutions which are mushrooming in the state.
Although the Congress might not like it, but the result of the 2018 election is good for the State as a whole. Of course like everybody else the twenty odd Congress MLAs too want to be in the treasury bench and not in the Opposition, but as fate would have it they have to accept the outcome and look at the brighter side. The Party will at least have to be content with the side it is now, but who knows what is in store for the party post the 2019 general election?
Come what may, the Congress sitting in the opposition is good for the state because for a change we now have a very strong Opposition in the House to monitor and also act as a check and balance mechanism to the activities of the MDA Government.