Nepotism seeps through the governance system of Meghalaya from job appointments to national and international jaunts. Nepotism is a blatant display of favouritism towards certain individuals for reasons ranging from exchange of money or favours, social ties, or family and kinship ties. It gives birth to cronyism that destroys institutions at their core. In Meghalaya a person only has to have the right connections to be able to climb the ladder of opportunity not through the front door. It has to be the backdoor, always. The infamous white ink scam in the Education Department over which the CBI is sitting on and the Courts have not given their final ruling yet is a case in point. In this case primary school teachers who did not qualify were appointed in place of those that earned their appointment through sheer hard work. But merit was given a go by. Influence trumped merit and this is just one case that came to light because the teachers approached the courts. Not everyone, however, has the wherewithal to knock on the doors of the temples of justice because legal fees are prohibitive. So, people take it and lump it but also nurse deep grievances against the entire system.
Unfortunately due to want of public action these acts of nepotism are repeated ad nauseum and leave more scars. People feel helpless and it dawns on them that ‘justice’ at least in Meghalaya is a far cry. The recent call for nomination of two names of filmmakers by the Union Ministry of Information & Public Relations has turned into a needless controversy when the names of two deserving film makers from Meghalaya who have also earned a name for themselves nationally and internationally and whose names were recommended by the State I&PR Department were unceremoniously dropped. It would appear that certain forces are at work to derail the process of governance and departmental autonomy, for in this case, someone from the Tourism Department appears to have pulled the strings to ensure that their cronies are represented at Cannes.
This power play at the top levels of the bureaucracy has been evident for some years now in the Meghalaya Government and it does not augur well for the state. The State Chief Secretary who has the overall authority in ensuring the smooth functioning of the bureaucratic hierarchy has to step in and assert his authority to ensure that no bureaucratic oversteps his/her limits.
Each time opportunities open up for deserving people to travel abroad to expand their horizons, it is found that their chances are scuttled by someone in the government. This cannot and should not be allowed to happen. Justice and fairness must prevail. The elected too must assert their authority in the right direction. Enough of nepotism and injustice! Let merit win the day!