By H H Mohrmen
There is no fanfare in the completion of one year of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government. So the question that follows is whether it is because there is really nothing to cheer about? On the other hand it looks like the government too has forgotten that it has crossed the one year milestone and the simple celebration and release of the booklet was a last minute afterthought. The other question is whether one year is too long a time for the National People’s Party-led government.
The MDA was a coming together of political parties that are opposed to the Congress and it also looks like the only reason that they formed the coalition is to keep the Congress at bay. The influence of the big party in the national capital helped the NPP and the regional parties in the state to form the government even if they have nothing in common and NPP and Congress coalition would been a more viable alternative.
During the earlier part of the coalition government, the leaders of the parties had announced that they would come up with a common agenda or a common minimum program to provide the government with a sense of direction. But three hundred and sixty five days have lapsed and the government and its coalition partners are yet to come up with any kind document or roadmap to indicate where they want to take the state to. It is not only that the government does not have a common agenda, but it also looks like the Chief Minister is not in control of his flock.
Every cabinet minister in the MDA government is like a king of his own kingdom functioning at his own whims and fancies. This is obvious from the order for shifting the Head Quarter of PWD (Roads), North Jowai Division from Jowai to Shangpung vide notification No. PW/Admn/39/2015/46 dated 20th, December 2018. The reason is because currently the minister in-charge of the Department is from Shangpung and wanted to shift the Headquarter to Shangpung in spite of the fact that there is already a sub-division in Shangpung.
The ministers in the MDA government are becoming constituency ministers who do not see beyond their constituencies or beyond the prospect of winning the next election. The minister did not even consult his colleagues in the district and it is obvious that he did not consult his colleagues in the cabinet either; otherwise why would they later protest against the order.
The plan to shift the division from the Jowai district headquarter, to Shangpung is not only impractical but it is also an absurd idea as there is already a sub-division to cater to the needs of the people in the area. Besides, the division also caters to the villages in Thadlaskeiñ block which is far from Shangpung. Jowai is centrally located and it is conducive for serving both the Nartiang and the Shangpung sub-division, and fortunately due to public pressure the PWD department had to withdraw its order and the Division continues to operate from its Jowai office.
The Education Department which is headed by a very active cabinet minister, has promised so much, but delivered very less. The much talked about Education Policy is becoming a lifeless document because in reality nothing has changed on the ground and schools continue to function as usual. The decision to make sure that schools should not make students of a younger age group carry school bags beyond a certain limit is becoming an empty rhetoric, because the schools have not acted upon the order. One wonders if any of the schools even have any means to weigh the school bags and similarly the order which prohibits schools from giving homework to students of a specific age is not being implemented by any school.
The Education minister also announced that the government would control exorbitant school fees charged by private schools in the state, but three months have elapsed since the new school season has begun but nothing has happened on this front too. Schools continue to charge as much school fees as they like. The minister did not realise that this issue is like a holy-cow which he should distance himself from because expensive schools are not only fashionable but they are powerful too. The minister instead burnt his fingers and has to now keep mum because all private schools are either run by influential churches or by people in high places in the state.
The decision to control schools from charging inflated prices on text books and exercise books supplied to the parents of the students was also not acted upon. The question is why would schools engage in the business of selling of school text books, exercise books, uniforms and even stationeries? Is it the business of the school to educate a child or to do business?
The government has failed in its effort to control commercialisation of education and schools continue to do whatever they like. Parents have no other option but to comply with the school’s order for fear of losing a seat in the so called best school. In Meghalaya too, like in the other states of the country, the quality of the schools is judged from the amount of fees charged; the higher the fees the better the school is. The rate of school fees is the indicator we use to determine the quality of education in the school.
The minister is not even able to ensure that the interest of the children in the villages in his own constituency are being served. The LP School in Moosakhia village is one of the many one teacher schools because no teacher was appointed after the former teacher retired last year. The same teacher has to look after five classes and also visit the District School Education Officer’s office and even attend to the election duties.
The MDA government is right now buoyant on its recent achievements to take control of the two Autonomous District Councils that went to the polls recently. The coalition partners indeed have every reason to gloat about being able to gain control of the two important ADCs, but does the coalition partner have anything to offer than merely gaining control of the two ADCs?
The NPP may look like a happy family but in reality that is far from true. The recent election to the Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District Council has brought that to the fore. Madonbai Rymbai the former Chief Executive Member of JHADC who contested from the Khliehtyrchi-Sohmynting constituency on NPP ticket came out openly and accused NPP leader Sniawbhalang Dhar of supporting the independent candidate instead of supporting the party candidate. This is an open secret and all the party workers in the district know about it, yet no one, not even the party State president dared to raise this pertinent issue raised by the party candidate.
Similar is the case of the Wahïajer-Mukhla constituency, where the party ticket was given to Paia Dhar from Wahïajer – the right-hand-man of Sniawbhalang Dhar. The local MLA of Mukhla had to obey the dictates of the Raid Mukhla which has resolved to put Ailad Bhoi the independent candidate against the official party candidate. That the official party candidate lost the election to the independent candidate in this particular constituency should be a matter of surprise to no one who follows politics in Jaiñtia hills. The truth is that the two major villages in the constituencies of Wahïajer and Mukhla were strongholds of both the NPP MLAs in the last LA election, so how come a party MDC candidate lost the election from this constituency?
These two cases tell us so much about the discipline or to be specific the lack discipline in the NPP. The party leadership will have to take some of its MLAs to task if the discipline of the party is to be maintained. The NPP has an ambition to contest from all the MP constituencies in the North Eastern Region, but if the party has not even achieves much in the only state where it is in the government, and the party is also in disarray, then it is biting more than it can chew. Perhaps the reason is also because the NPP is not even sure if its government will last beyond May 2019.
Something to chew on until then!