By Patricia Mukhim
Language has power. It can wound or heal depending on the choice of vocabulary. We might feel that power gives us the right to spout out anything we wish to. But there is such a thing as context, place, culture, nuance that politicians need to bear in mind when they speak and especially when they address their followers and party workers. Considering that we in India are hugely influenced by the US it is not surprising that many have adopted the coarse political lexicon of Donald Trump and believe that such language is kosher but it is not. Not especially in Meghalaya where societies are small and there’s hardly any distance between political leaders and their constituents. They run into each other at funeral homes, weddings, naming ceremonies and what have you and they don’t like to burn their bridges behind them. Many would like to keep that little leeway which allows at least a minimum social interface.
It is therefore not unforeseen that the members of the National Peoples’ Party (NPP) would take any affront to their leader and the State Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma with the seriousness it deserves. Mr Abhishek Banerjee the second in command in the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), came to Shillong; he saw what it is all about but I doubt that he conquered hearts. His puerile reference to Conrad Sangma, who is still the chief minister of the State, as some kind of a knave has not gone down well, not just with the NPP but also with the common man/woman. In Meghalaya, swearing and using cuss words against politicians happens in private conversations, not from a public platform. Call it hypocrisy or whatever but name-calling is not yet part of the political culture in Meghalaya. So much for Abhishek Banerjee and his posturing!
However, this is not to acquit the MDA Government. Not at all. This Government needs more than just a rap on the knuckles. True that Conrad Sangma and the MDA have inherited problems from the past. Take the case of the striking teachers. Past governments have never dared to rationalise the pay scales of teachers and to club them under just two categories – the Deficit and non-Deficit teachers. Previous governments have skirted this issue for fear of offending their constituents and teachers form a formidable vote bank. There has never been a serious look and a cabinet brainstorm on the Education system itself and whether it is delivering results, and if not, why not? Why are our students even today so scared of competition? Why are even graduates not employable? Is the education being provided good enough for the challenges of the 21st century?
Our students suffer from deep-seated insecurities just because they are inarticulate and cannot express themselves and their points of view in a public platform. And we are talking of students from the rural outback. I have, however had the good fortune to meet with several students studying in the Rama Krishna Mission schools in Sohra, Shella and bSohbar and they have invariably come up the ranks and done well for themselves. Clearly there are lessons to be learnt from these schools which have consistently served the population with dedication. This dedication from the teachers is very rare these days. Some of our leading politicians and bureaucrats were students of the RK Mission schools. These schools believe in the democratization of dignity. Its not just the affluent that can go to the best schools and speak English fluently that deserve dignity. On the contrary those coming from struggling families yet working hard to perform well must develop self- worth.
It is time for the Government to conduct a qualitative and quantitative study on the education sector in Meghalaya. Unless this happens we will have to be listening to Education Minister, Mr Rymbui stating that parents want to send their children to private schools and there are lesser and lesser takers for government aided schools. There has to be something wrong with the government aided schools for parents to shift their kids to schools where they have to pay more. So, what is wrong with government aided schools? Do we know? We won’t know because the Government has not engaged an independent agency to do a study. And that study will be truly independent if school students and their parents are interviewed too. The survey requires a well thought out action plans. There was a time when Inspectors of Schools conducted surprise checks. Now those are things of the past. Teacher absenteeism and teachers outsourcing their jobs to someone else while they take up more lucrative professions, are also part of the problem.
The Government is the biggest not-for -profit sector. Or so says the management guru Peter Drucker. Some key points for those heading this sector is (a) Assess what must be strengthened or abandoned. This means not everything that was started at one time must carry on. Disruptions are what bring improvements (b) Leadership is accountable – There are times to face the fact that the organization as a whole is not performing – that there are weak results everywhere and little prospect of improving. It may be time to merge or liquidate and invest energies somewhere else. In some performance areas, where it is unclear whether to strengthen or abandon, government will need a systematic analysis as part of its plan.
Both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors need to measure their outcomes. Does the Government ever measure outcomes? Not in most sectors. Certainly not in the education sector.
Those who have attended any kind of leadership training will remember the lesson on SMART goals – Specific – Measurable- Achievable- Realistic and Tangible. It would have been a good idea for the MDA Government headed by a management graduate to set these goals out at the very start of the government. These goals however can be operational only if the government has set clear priorities for itself. Five years is not a long time to implement long term goals and objectives but a government committed to delivering on its promise will prioritise its goals and action plans. In Meghalaya, education, health, agriculture & horticulture, roads and bridges, water supply, power generation & distribution and waste management are immediate priorities. Unfortunately, none of these critical areas has a policy framework. This also means that Government cannot look for outcomes since the objectives have not been clearly set out. On the contrary some ministers have set their own priorities – to promote their own businesses. Sadly, the technicians in the government, including doctors and bureaucrats are part of this sinister plan to turn a not-for-profit social sector (government) into a private, for -profit company. As the team leader, Conrad Sangma knows this but has no stamina to stop the gold rush.
The NPP as a national party needs money and lots of it for the 2023 elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura besides other states. Where will this money come from if not from Meghalaya? Who are the top funders? We know who they are. Naturally they have been given a free rein in illegal mining and transportation of coal besides control on other businesses. Other Parties which are part of the coalition namely – UDP, PDF, HSPDP, BJP,NCP also need money. The UDP has built a substantial corpus but the other parties (other than the BJP) have no revenue model. So guess who’s gonna take the trophy!