Whereas there are strict rules in the bureaucracy about what constitutes conflict of interest, the political class get away with impunity from this ethical dilemma. However, in Meghalaya bureaucrats and police officials too don’t care much about steering clear of the conflict of interest zone. In Meghalaya it is common to hear of police officers and bureaucrats also owning coal mines and doing business without batting an eyelid. All politicians also do business and take up contract work either in their own name or do a benami business. That the Minister for Transport and his uncle the PWD Minister should also be shareholders of a construction company that is undertaking most of the roads and building construction work in the state should have constituted a direct conflict of interest but no one seems to care – not the Chief Minister, nor the public. It’s almost as if it is expected that ministers should hold an office of profit in the private sector. As a result the quality of the roads and buildings leave much to be desired. Think of the engineers working under the ministers. How can they tell their own minister that a particular road or bridge that’s been built is of sub-standard quality? That happens because engineers cannot certify a road or building to be not in compliance with the rules because the moment they do that they will be transferred out of their comfort zones. Hence it’s a quid pro quo all the way.
The current PHED minister too is a contractor and we can imagine how the Jal Jeevan Mission is being implemented. We also wonder if there is a state level expert committee looking at the quality of work of the PWD and PHED. Without any evaluation and monitoring agency to go into the quality of the works how can the bills be cleared? The road in Ampati Garo Hills was recently shown to be of very inferior quality with the gravel not bound by bitumen, because too little of the latter was used, again for the contractor to make profit. Firstly, contractors doing such work should be black-listed. Second, they should be questioned why they do such shoddy work.
Undoubtedly, Meghalaya has yet to produce a political party that will bar its members from engaging in business once they are elected. But more than that it is the electorate which should shun these businessmen-politicians because they are the reason why the State is lagging behind and why most of our roads need yearly repair.
