Patricia Mukhim
Let’s face some truths. Governance is hardly visible beyond Shillong but even this city is a monstrous concrete jungle because no law prevails over how to build and what to build where. There is no specified space over which one can build or cannot build. You can violate all the rules if you pay money. This has been the history of the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Those beyond city limits of course have a free run of the land. A person can build a house on 1000 sq ft of land without any care if there is space for a septic tank because all the faecal matter is released into drains and the two important rivers that flow through the city- the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi. That’s how much we all care for Shillong.
In recent times the roads in the city look like they have been bombarded by people from outer space. The worst roads are perhaps those in Umpling through which vehicles pass to go to one of the leading health care centres of the region – NEIGRIHMS. A young public spirited citizen – Kitri Warjri was so disappointed at the roads in Umpling-Lapalang area that have almost all been eaten up, that he decided he was going to fill the potholes with sand and stones. It’s a strong statement to the powers that be especially the MLA/s of the area/s. The question to be asked is why do the roads need to be repaired every year? Why are contractors doing such a shoddy job never black-listed? Don’t the Dorbar Shnong have responsibility to check the quality of the roads built? That said, I asked a leading light in the Government what quantum of funds are allocated for road building and how much is for repairing. He refused to give any answer. And that precisely is the problem here. If the Government is not hiding anything why does it shy away from answering questions directed at it? After all you in the government are using public money and the public have the right to know how that money is being spent. The problem with Meghalaya is that every minister believes he owns all the money his department is being allocated. Now the alternative to not getting straight answers is to do an RTI. But I have tried doing RTI a few times and the answers are so obfuscated that one would have to employ another technician to decipher the meaning.
That being said, the purpose of this article is to draw the attention of the Government to the rural roads and how the absence of roads has reduced the capacity of villagers to earn a decent livelihood from farming because their products don’t reach the markets. Secondly, the purpose of rural tourism which aims at bringing tourists not to some select destinations but to every village if possible, is being defeated by the absence of a road. Meghalaya will be completing 50 years very soon and it’s time to take stock of our achievements or the lack of it in key sectors of the economy.
Roads are the backbone of the economy. The big budget for restarting the economy, should to my mind, not be lost in sectors that will only kick-start certain sectors with influential personalities driving it. Are the voices of the poor and impoverished being captured by those sitting in the high tables and discussing Meghalaya’s economic regeneration? You actually don’t only need members who speak English. You need to get the rustic village folks to speak up and have the humility to hear them out in humility. Otherwise the Government is responsible for creating an incestuous group with a mutual back-scratching agenda.
It was heartening to hear the Agriculture Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh warning his own bureaucrats and police not to disturb the vehicles carrying agricultural produce from the villages to the markets beyond Shillong. If every minister were to stand with the people and connect to them, Meghalaya would be a different place. The bureaucrats in the Secretariat will never understand what ails the people. The disconnect is too huge. A rare visit to the village once in a blue moon in an almost patronising manner is not how governance is meant to be delivered. The Food and Civil Supplies Department has its retinue of bureaucrats. Why, do they not check the quality of rice that is being distributed in the villages? How does the Department expect people to accept rice that’s half rotten? Should such rice not be returned to the Food Corporation of India (FCI)? One only hopes that money is not being made in this Department too in the midst of Covid. That would be too disgusting to even contemplate.
For one thing, in Meghalaya, politicians once elected lose touch with the people. Or they connect only with those that vote for them. In villages, supporters of a political party or a politician are easily identifiable because they haven’t learnt diplomacy. In village after village that I have visited, the story is the same. The MLA has his chosen disciples who he/she entrusts the work of distributing rations during these Covid times and other largesse at other times and above all to distribute money during election times. While the MLA may be well-intentioned, his disciples are the ones that look at people in the villages through the prism of their political loyalties alone. So those who will get help will be voters of the Party to which the MLA belongs. Many sitting MLAs have lost elections because their disciples have antagonised people by discriminating against those voting for another political party. These political loyalists forget that after an MLA has won an election he is the MLA of every constituent whether or not they voted for him. And what antagonises people most is that these party loyalists called “leaders” in the villages are also the ones awarded contract work for road construction and repairs. They invariably do a bad job because only about 60% or less of the money allotted is actually used for road making. This is the reason why roads in the villages and the suburbs of Shillong are all eaten up. The reason is because very poor quality materials are used.
This reminds me of the Social Audit Cell created during Dr Mukul Sangma’s time. Why is it that we have all forgotten about it, including some of the most vocal NGOs and personalities? Isn’t this meant to help us audit every road, every water supply system, every electrical flaw because of which the power snaps every now and again, every single day and worse during windstorms? Can the Chief Secretary please answer what has happened to the Social Audit Cell and who is heading it? An Institution that has been created for public welfare cannot just be forgotten and buried alive. If the Institution is alive it would be able to audit the Meghalaya Public Service Commission and clean all the dirty secrets buried in that Commission and set it right once and for all. It’s sickening how a Commission meant to get the most meritorious into government employment ends up getting undeserving brats who can pay their way through or have strong political connections. It actually stinks!
The more one sees Meghalaya’s governance from close quarters the more one feels a sense of dystopia. Nothing’s going right for those in the periphery – not the health system, not the education system, not the livelihoods. Those sitting in the Secretariat and drawing huge salaries need to feel ashamed of enjoying those perks when the delivery system has not improved an inch.
Ezra Pound once said, “Columnists are village explainers.” We need more columnists to shake the conscience of those holding the public purse.