By HH Mohrmen
It has only been few months since the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance Government was installed in the state but the hype is slowly dying down. The new Government is fast losing its sheen and it has nobody to blame but itself for losing its popularity in a matter of less than a year only.
Critics of this Government already question its ability to deliver when the average educational qualifications of the ministers is so inadequate. How can this Government bring change when of the entire cabinet, some of the ministers are not even Matriculates, and another merely passed SSLC and yet other passed only Class XII. One can argue that well, the other cabinet ministers are Graduates and Masters Degree holders but the challenge is in the performance of those who are less educated.
This doubt was confirmed by the video which went viral in the internet in which the cabinet minister in his reply to the debate in the House made himself a subject of ridicule. The ‘he is not a scientist I am not a scientist’ drama in the Assembly not only belittled the August House but it tells us more about the kind of ministers who head the different departments in the current MDA government.
MDA is therefore no different from the MUA II; it in fact is just old wine in old bottle because the same MLAs who had defected from the Congress and joined the NPP, the BJP and the UDP who are today cabinet ministers. The saying goes that a leopard never changes its stripes, therefore how can we expect this Government to perform when we know that people cannot change just like that? Hence it is not prudent to expect this Government to bring change because at least four of the cabinet ministers were, until last year, leaders of the Congress party.
The MDA complained about the financial difficulties that the Government is facing but it is now obvious that there are financial constraints only for schemes and projects meant for the people, but there is enough money for the government to buy expensive cars for the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues. The Government is claiming that all the financial resources are running dry but the same Government can afford to induct more than 70 political appointees at the expense of the public exchequer. It was reported that Agatha Sangma was recently accommodated in the Government and appointed as Chairman of a Committee which is yet to be constituted.
The latest appointee was the former Congress leader and Chief Minister, DD Lapang. Now if he is really an astute leader for which the incumbent CM needs his advice to run the Government, then why is the State is in such a mess? In the last two decades DD Lapang has been part of the Government and at times the Chief Minister of the State himself, but, the government he was part of has failed us in almost every front. If he has not been able to bring change when he was at the helm of power how can we expect him to do so when his status is only that of an advisor to the Government?
The question is why has the National People’s Party (NPP) accommodated him when the Congress has relieved him of all his duties and responsibilities in the party considering his age. At least the two major national parties – the Congress and the BJP are clear in their stand on the issue of retirement of the members of their respective parties. They have taken human frailty into consideration and have accepted the universal truth that no one can go on forever hence they have allowed members of their parties who had crossed a certain age to retire. By accommodating Lapang, the NPP’s only hope is to gain some brownie points against its arch rival the Congress. Again the question here is whether a lemon can change its taste and taste better just because it is now in new surroundings.
In the West Jaintia there was spree of transfers of government employees and transfer orders were served to a peon, a chowkidar or even a person that is due to retire in few months. A government employee who is related to the defeated candidate or who was suspected to have supported the opposing candidate was served with transfer orders. The Chief Minister is right that transfer of government employees is natural; but it should not be on the basis of political considerations either. Hence if the transfer of government employees becomes a political issue it is the MDA which fired the first salvo.
The other question to the CM is why was a particular official served two, three transfer orders in the span of a few weeks? There are many cases where in the first order the official was transferred to one place and subsequently in the next order the same official was transferred to another location. Why is this necessary? Or what is the need to transfer chowkidars and peons for that matter?
It is obvious that the order was selective in nature and was done so please the whims and fancies of someone who is in power but more seriously, it was very clear that the transfers were vindictive in nature and were only aimed at punishing those who thr MLAs/ministers think did not toe their line. The Chief Minister clarified that the transfer is normal but how can it be normal when the officer was transferred the very day he refused to favour a Minister’s relative? Can we expect governance to improve when officers are verbally abused just because they refused to do the bidding of a Minister? This is a very serious issue and the Chief Minister should not simply brush it under the carpet if he really wants to nip this kind of attitude in the bud.
It is also true that job and contract work is being allotted only to the supporters of the MLAs and particularly those in power, but those who are close to the minister abuse their powers and positions of their relatives and even refuse to respect the officials who are charged with supervising the work. If the Chief Minister chooses to ignore this issue then history will hold the MDA Government led by the current Chief Minister responsible for the beginning of a system where relatives of politicians will take control of the government departments in the state by bullying the officers in charge.
Ironically while travelling with the Forest Officer to join the Minister of Environment & Forests for the celebration of the Wildlife week at Amlarem, I was shocked to see that fresh coal was stocked almost everywhere in the Shkentalang area. Obviously the Minister and the Government are turning a blind eye to the illegal activity that is going in the area. The question is why? If mining and stockpiling of coal in this area is not controlled then Wah Umngot will also be affected by acid mine drainage and villages like Shnongpdeng, Darang and Dawki which are now major tourist destinations, will lose their charm to attract tourists. And sadly the aquatic lives which are part of wildlife that we try to protect will disappear like those on the Myntdu,, Kupli and Lukha.
Conrad may have projected himself to the outside world as the CM who is concerned for the environment but the Government he leads is doing the opposite because coal and limestone mining are going on unabated in the two districts in spite of the ban. The million dollar question then is why is the MDA government not stopping this illegal activity?
In fact it is now obvious that the only difference between the MUA II and the MDA is that in the MUA II at least in Dr Mukul Sangma we had a strong Chief Minister who is known to take non-performing ministers to task and even relieve them of their charge. But in the current coalition arrangement does Conrad have that leeway or the courage to do the same? Considering the performance of the incumbent government it is safe to say that MDA is not even old wine in the same bottle but it is the same wine in the same bottle, and the difference is only in the label.