By HH Mohrmen
The MDA government is in the last leg of its race before it reaches the finishing line which is the next election to the state assembly. And not surprisingly the government under the leadership of chief minister Conrad Sangma and deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong is racing against time to inaugurate projects, half-finished projects, and lay foundation stones for projects which are still in the pipeline. In the process, the last few months of the MDA government’s tenure are like a never-ending festival throughout the state. If there is no inauguration and launching programs organized somewhere in the state, there would be some sort of festivals and gigs organized by the government elsewhere. Since the last few months, the state is in some way or the other in a perpetual state of joy and festivity.
Foundation stone
laying ceremony
One very certain thing is that the public has lost count of the number of foundation stones that the chief minister, the deputy chief minister, and the ministers have laid in the last few weeks. At some point in time, it seems like the chief minister and the deputy chief minister are competing as to who can lay the maximum number of foundation stones in one day. It was reported that a few weeks back the deputy chief minister laid seven numbers of foundation stones for equal numbers of projects at Jowai. The local news portal reported that it was a record of sorts that in the history of the state, it was the first time when the foundation stones of as many as seven projects were laid in one day by the same person. Not to be outmaneuvered by his deputy, in a few days it was reported that the chief minister, elsewhere in the state, has laid more foundation stones for more projects than the deputy chief minister. Now the chief minister holds the record for the maximum number of foundation stones laid in one day by a single person. By the end of this term, how many citizens will even remember the number of foundation stones that were laid by whom and where?
Number of districts
and blocks
Another news item that bewildered the public is the number of districts and community and rural development blocks that this government has created in the last few months. I for one have lost count of how many districts and blocks the government created immediately before its term ends. For instance, the government has created a new Narpuh block in the east Jañtia hills, in addition to the Khliehriat, and the Saipung C&RD block. It may be mentioned that the creation of the Wapung block was also announced by the last government. The district website showed that there are only two C&RD blocks in the district with Khliehriat C&RD block having 104 villages and Saipung C&RD block having 89 villages. If the Narpuh C&RD block with its headquarter in Lumchnong is to become a reality, it has to include villages from either Saipung or Khliehriat blocks. The question is how convenient is it going to be for the villages from these blocks to travel to Lumchnong if they are going to be included in the list of villages under the Narpuh block.
The chief minister may not know that Saipung C&RD block is currently operating from Latyrke and not from Saipung which is the official headquarter of the block. Latyrke is also very near to Khliehriat and it does not make sense to still call the block Saipung C&RD block when it does not operate from the place it is supposed to. The Saipung C&RD block was created for the sole purpose of reaching out to the far-flung and neglected areas of the state, but the plan turned futile and the entire infrastructure created was left unused. Today Saipung area which is the home of the Biate/Beate and the Hmar people remains the most neglected area in the state.
Another C&RD block was also created in the West Jañtia Hills district. The new Namdong C&RD block was inaugurated in the presence of the local MLA. West Jañtia hills district, which has an area 1693 sq KM, has a total number of 293 villages. And as per 2011 provisional census, the district has 34,401 households. West Jañtia District has three C&RD blocks Amlarem which is also a civil subdivision has 92 villages, Laskeñ 83 villages, and Thadlaskeñ with 116 villages. The challenge for the government is that the villages that are to be included in the Namdong village.
The most important question now is if the government has enough resources to run the new C&RD blocks or districts and whether there are enough villages as required to create the respective C&RD blocks and districts?
Inaugurating new government offices of Health care units
The government in the last leg of its race is also seen hurriedly inaugurating new offices and upgrading health care facilities in the different parts of the state. PHCs were upgraded to CHCs and some PHCs to Sub Divisional Hospitals and CHCs were upgraded to the civil hospital. But in this mad rush of foundation stone laying and inauguration ceremony, it is very clear that the different upgraded facilities do not have the required infrastructure and manpower to operate even in the current status and not to mention their upgraded category.
Festivals and gigs
Running the last mile of its tenure, the government is also seen to be busy organizing festivals and gigs. The festivals and gigs were as usual organized only in Shillong and Tura and the other towns in the state were not on the radar of the government. The festivals were organized in haste because if the government is planning a literary festival, it should be well planned like other famous lit fests. If these festivals are also planned to attract tourists they should be planned in such a way that they at least coincide with the tourist seasons in the state like spring and autumn. Gigs organized by the government this year also included famous bands from abroad. Unfortunately, some of the festivals and gigs that the government organized this year had to be abruptly stopped due to the unfortunate incidents at Mukroh. How effective are these festivals and gigs in attracting tourists to the state is a question that begs the answer.
No common minimum program
In the entire five years term, the state was literarily in the free reign of the chief minister. It seems like the coalition government was single-handedly run by the NPP and the other coalition partners had no say. The mistake the junior coalition partners the UDP, the PDF, the HSPD and BJP made was that they did not insist on coming up with a common minimum program that would otherwise guide the function of the coalition government. Because of the absence of any kind of common agenda or agreement between the coalition partners to steer the direction in which the government would take the state forward, the NPP has a free hand in the way the government functions. The blame is not on the NPP but on the coalition partners for not insisting on some kind of a common minimum program before they lent their support to the NPP-led MDA government.
And now most partners are sulking and blaming the NPP for all the wrongdoings in the Government but with no impact. This clearly shows how much ahead of the others the NPP is in terms of its ability to showcase its achievements. 2023 March is the moment to wait and watch and see who the people of Meghalaya will give the mandate to rule the state for the next five years to.