By Albert Thyrniang
This time this author voted at Rangblang Sohsyniang of Mawkyrwat constituency in South West Khasi Hills. Earlier my vote was in the ‘posh’ Laitumkhrah locality in Shillong city. On earlier occasions my civil duty were just flying visits as one had to rush back to the call of duty soon after voting. Even the basic biodata of the candidates were not studied let alone spending time in any sort of engagement in the neighbourhood. 2023 was sort of different. I reached my ancestral home three days prior to the polling date spending time ‘spying’ on the locality and the village. The affidavits of the candidates too were scrutinised. Among the seven candidates only three are graduates. Two are class Eight passed; one has passed class 10 while the other has cleared class 12. Three are crorepatis, the richestamong them is the UDP’s Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar with Rs 9 crore making him one of the riches politicians in one of the poorest constituencies in the state.
Rangblang Sohsyniang or simply Rangblang is a village of over 300 households. Most of them survive on meagre farming. Only the grand St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School and the Church adjacent to it stand out. Concrete houses are seen in some locations. The majority live in the humblest of homes. Electorally there are 567 male and 537 female voters taking the electorate to 1104. Readers may be shocked to know that this fairly large village has not a drop of water supply. None of the families has any piped water connection from the PHE. There are two dilapidated water tanks built atop ‘U Lum Iing Mane Rim’ (hills on which the first church of the village stood about 40 years ago) for the village but the containers contain no water. The pipes into and out of it are broken. Pipes to the different localities of the village were just laid buried. Not once did water flow through them. Now they are either rusted or broken to pieces. People either carry water from natural sources or those who can afford have installed their own pumps to ease the trouble of carrying the essential commodity on their heads or shoulders.
On polling day I also visited two other stations in the area. The common complaint is ‘ngim don um. Ngi hap leit tong um sha jngai’ (we have no water. We have to fetch water from a distance). Some villagers revealed that no effort was made to bring water supply to their homes. Others showed the exact replica of the Rangblang model. One wonders why the state government has not implemented the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) that provides Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household.
The other grievances are bad and poor road connection, unreliable electricity supply, unavailability of educational institutions right from the primary level and poor toilet facilities. One serious criticism is on the health front. There is only one hospital in Mawkyrwat in the entire district. Allegations abound that the centre was hurriedly opened. All the other essential equipment for a functional hospital are still absent. For most ailments patients have to traverse to Shillong on rough and dusty roads. Most voters were unhesitant to say that their representative has not done well at all in the last five years. The above ‘findings’ are moderately documented in YouTube, the “The Albert Voices.”
A video on the dilapidated water tanks and broken pipes was not welcomed by most watchers. There are those who resent that a ‘person like me’ should get involved in politics. Some even hint that my category of citizens should have no part in playing the ‘dirty’ game. A response is perhaps beneficial.
The work of the Church and politics (government) is almost a carbon copy. The Government’s work is for the upliftment of the people – social and economic. This is exactly the work of the Church too. That is the reason why the Church runs education institutions, hospitals, other health facilities, social work centres and others. We can say that the primary work of the Church is spiritual and religious development but politics is not alien to this human dimension. Governments have to give religious freedom to all citizens as per the constitution and international conventions. Therefore, when a government or a legislator neglects their works of social and economic upliftment; when the people do get drinking water, good roads, hospitals, health care, schools, colleges; when youths are unemployed, when schemes do not benefit the people, when they are implemented purely with an eye to election, the Church and its leaders have to speak up against such a government and a public representative. When human rights (religious freedom) are infringed upon, then all religious leaders should condemn governments, political parties and candidates who indulge in such violation. If a government and political party have an ideology that does not promote religious freedom, the church’s think tank should openly reject such an entity. Have the Church and hundreds of religious leaders done so in the last election?
According to feedback the use of money on February 27 and the days leading to the ‘D-Day’ has reached an all-time high. Even seasoned politician, Bindo Lanong is shocked that 75 per cent of voters demand money before casting their votes. The 25 per cent are helpless. In my polling station there are allegations that a candidate of a political party poured Rs. one crore. The respected MLA did do anything in the last five years but the flow of cash could get him through. The cash for vote is a shameless act but who cares! We pride in calling ourselves ‘Ka Jaitbynriew kaba tip briew tip Blei’ (a God fearing race) but we see nothing wrong in receiving cash from a candidate on election mode. Our second proudest identity is that we are Christians. We consider ourselves better than adherents of other religions but we welcome ill-gotten money that comes to churches and residences of priests, pastors, ‘ki Rangbah Balang’, ‘ki Thymmen Basan’ and others. One of the Church’s duties is to teach ethics and morality to its followers. Has the Church done enough in the last one month? It is presumed, the Church teaches that accepting money for vote is wrong. But why such an impact of money in every constituency? Christian candidates don’t give a damn to the instructions of the Church. They distributed cash liberally. The faithful too cheer over it. They make merry in rallies and election venues over cash and freebies. They pocket an amount on voting day. They don’t hesitate to commit this wrong action. If the church does not influence its members at such a time, then what is its relevance? There is no merit in being a leader in good times.
There is a reason for the loss of this authority. Specifically speaking, every candidate tried to please the church leaders in this election. They gifted significant amounts to every church. MLAs sanctioned schemes at the fag end of their term for churches. The public know this. Therefore, leaders have no more credibility to warn the electorate to refrain from accepting favours from candidates before election.
The intermediate road from Nongstoin to Wahkaji that runs through Rangblang is in progress. My grudge against pressure groups, particularly the KSU, is that this particular road which was to be a two-lane road, was stalled for no valid reason 7 years ago. Why should the Rangblang-Wahkaji area be denied a two lane road just because there is uranium in the vicinity? Uranium can be ferried on a single lane road too. Injustice and discrimination have been done for eternity.
A word about the much published ‘chicken and piglet’ scheme as part of the Focus programme! Whether it is a loan or a government scheme, the intention of the project was merely to attract voters. I know for a fact that most of the animals died because the government did not provide feed. Feed is expensive. A beneficiary told me that a sack of feed that last for two weeks costs Rs. 2,600 and therefore Rs. 5,200 a month. As she could not afford the feed her birds all perished. The scheme is to help the poor but from where will they get Rs. 5200 every month? A government that does not foresee this simple logic is worthless.
Our hopes are endless. 2023 too is not expected to change the fortunes of Rangblang or of the whole state.