Meghalaya has been known as a Festival State with festivals ranging from music to lifestyle events and fashion shows to youth leadership pow-wows. All these Festivals cost the exchequer and the Government of Meghalaya is not in a position to play around with funds, especially when its most critical section of the population – the teachers are not being paid on time for want of funds. Festivals have brought to Meghalaya the culture of vendors who sell their ideas to someone from the Government, preferably the Chief Minister. These vendors make a living out of event management and if they are young local entrepreneurs we should have no complaints. Sadly, most often these ideas and vendors come from outside the State and are in no way beneficial to our youth as they are all held in Shillong. The only beneficiaries are the Shillong-based elite. No one really plans a programme for the rural youth of Meghalaya.
Within the Government system there must be checks and balances. Every programme that Government spends money on has to have measurable outcomes. The last MUA Government held a slew of Festivals but their impact is not known. Those in Government don’t often have the imagination or the creativity to think out of the box. They stick to clichéd ideas and familiar vendors and spend on the same events year after year. Officials don’t seem to care how public funds are deployed.
The last Government passed the Social Audit Act which empowers people to keep track of Government spending and audit the efficacy of the schemes implemented. Somehow the Social Audit mechanism seems to have lost traction. There is no office currently that the public can access in order to take advantage of the Act. The Lokayukta too has not yet been notified despite the Governor’s directives. The institution of Lokayukta is meant to check corruption and keep Government on track. Naturally there will not be much enthusiasm in having a Lokayukta, especially, if it is headed by a person of integrity. The Right to Information without the Lokayukta is a lame-duck exercise. At best the RTI activists can give their findings to the media and those will be published but what happens after that? There are too few whistle blowers to put pressure on the Government. Hence the MDA Government has the onus of making the Social Audit Act implemented in letter and spirit and also set up the office of the Lokayukta urgently.