SHILLONG, Jan 20: Carved out of Assam on January 21, 1972, Meghalaya is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.
On the eve of the 50th Meghalaya Day, The Shillong Times spoke to a cross-section of citizens for their views on the state’s journey so far.
Senior politician Ampareen Lyngdoh said she is proud of the state touching its 50th milestone.
“We have third, fourth and fifth-generation learners today compared to 1972 when most citizens were illiterate. Today we take two hours to reach Guwahati compared to 4-5 hours earlier. Health centres have reached the last mile unlike in 1972,” she said.
“We have taken great leaps but we still have much to achieve. It is my hope to see a self-reliant Meghalaya that will step up on modernisation yet protect our indigenous characteristics,” Lyngdoh said.
Former minister and student activist, Paul Lyngdoh said Meghalaya’s has been a mixed bag of accomplishments and abject failures, bouquets and brickbats.
“There is cause for celebration in the same way that each of us celebrates, however quietly, our birthdays – not because each year is an absolute marker of records and achievements but because it allows us to introspect and go on an inward journey of reflection, musing and goal-setting for the future,” he said.
Former home minister, RG Lyngdoh said there has been a lot of infrastructural progress since Meghalaya became a state.
Roads, healthcare, education, urban housing, sports, administrative and tourism infrastructure have improved over the years.
“Unfortunately, the soft skills required to manage these infrastructures is yet to be properly utilised. As a result, many of these infrastructures have gone to waste. The professionally trained personnel already recruited by the government to manage these infrastructures should be made part of the policy-making and implementing team. At the moment, it appears that they are used only to push files for the bureaucrats,” he said.
He said any government institution such as the MBDA, Meghalaya Age Limited, Meghalaya Institute of Governance, MeECL, MIDC, MHHDC, etc., has to act as a catalyst for growth. But there is a lack of transparency in these institutions and the result is mismanagement, especially in financial matters.
“What is worrisome is that these institutions have accessed huge loans from international agencies. The question is: are these loans being repaid or is the government’s debt burden rising exponentially? Is the present feel-good factor at the cost of our future?” Lyngdoh asked.
He said the state needs a bureaucracy that understands it needs to serve the people rather than the government and their role is to advise their political masters, who are, in turn, answerable in the Assembly on policies that are the best for the development of the people of the state.
“We need an Opposition in the Assembly that understands that productive opposition is not a spectator sport. They need to use the funds given by the government to employ competent youth and build up a team of researchers, policy advisors and speechwriters to assist them in their work, rather than merely recruiting family and political supporters. In this way, they can constructively oppose, and also provide issue-based support to the government,” Lyngdoh said.
He felt each minister and chairman should also build up a team of professionals to assist them in framing policies for the development of the sectors under them.
Stating that the public too needs to be wise during elections, he said they need to elect effective leaders who will respect them by bringing development to the constituency rather than only the individuals who supported them during elections.
“In short, all the stakeholders need to take ownership of our state to ensure the next 50 years bring in more development, more prosperity and more happiness to our citizens,” he said.
CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing, vocal against wrongdoings, found no reason to celebrate the 50 years of statehood as Meghalaya “is going into the hands of mafia” from the realm of governance.
“Healthcare is business now, government hospitals are not well-equipped and jobs in the state, especially in the Health department, are given to political party units and those in power and procedures are bypassed. The government system has gone haywire,” she said.
Stating that violence against women and children is on the rise and trafficking has been improvised, she said that Illegal mining of coal and other minerals is rampant and destroying the environment. There are no public hearings and people are ignored, she added.
“I would like to again inform the people of the state that the entire volume of Gazette of 1972 and 1996 are missing from the Meghalaya Government Press and no FIR has been filed by the officials,” she said.
Environmentalist Naba Bhattacharjee, while congratulating the people and recalling the struggle and sacrifice of all those associated with the hill state movement, said Meghalaya has taken tangible strides but the development is nowhere near the desired and expected goals compared to what younger states have achieved.
“We have done well in road communication and to some extent in agriculture-horticulture, fisheries, tourism, etc. During the last decade, there has been a visible momentum in the education and health sectors but a lot remains to be achieved,” he said.
Lamenting that the forest cover has been reduced and environment-related issues are serious, he said the state is rich in natural resources like minerals but royalty except the non-coal sector is almost nil since the 2014 ban.
“The USP of our state lies in nature and rich biodiversity, which needs judicious harnessing in a positive manner, maintaining balance with the environment. We cannot blindly copy the mainland states as what is feasible there is not mostly applicable here. There has to be a roadmap with specific timelines for each sector including gap identification and analysis,” he added.