By HH Mohrmen
António Guterres, the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations said, “Corruption is criminal, immoral, and the ultimate betrayal of public trust.” Every politician or government that indulges in corruption betrays the public who has put their trust in them. And of course, corruption can be in many ways or forms. Corruption is not new in Meghalaya and has happened in the past but the scale of corruption in the last six or seven years has grown at an alarming rate and corruption is being executed blatantly.
NPP-led MDA in its
earlier incarnation
The illegal transportation of coal despite the ban has put the previous government in a bad light and the court intervention has added more weight to the allegation against it. In its earlier incarnation, the NPP-led MDA government was blamed for patronizing a certain section of the population which enjoys undue advantage from the illegal activities. Later the public even gave the group of people that benefited from the illegal transportation and they were known as the infamous “high-level” group. The illegal transportation of coal in the state in the last five years could only have happened with support from the authorities.
The collapse of the dome of the Assembly building and the sub-standard construction of the Interstate Bus Terminal are two other incidents that only justify the allegations of corruption against the government. The NPP has not even come up with a public statement on the allegations that the contractor who constructed the Assembly building and the party’s permanent office is the same and therefore this constitutes conflict of interest.
Political Appointments
This Government is making political appointments left right and centre and every post comes with a cost. These appointments were made just to accommodate party leaders who have lost the elections and recently there were defeated MLAs from other parties who had defected to NPP in expectation of the benefits. Sadly, even supporters who had rendered service to the party were provided with political posts, even though they neither had the qualifications nor the experience to take on those responsibilities. The question that the public needs to ask is, whether these appointments are necessary and how much have these political appointees contributed to the welfare of the public and the development of the state?
The public expected the new party which has just appeared in the political landscape of the state to do something to curb this very dangerous trend. Sadly, even VPP which claimed to take the bull by its horns and clean corruption and malpractice in the state is still keeping mum on the issue till date.
Temporary appointments at government’s offices
Temporary appointment in the different departments in the state is another illegal activity that is going on in broad daylight in the state now. The respective department heads purposely do not inform the District Selection Committees or the Meghalaya Public Service Commission as the case may be of the vacancies. In a clear case of officer-politician nexus, the posts were instead filled with supporters of the MLA of the respective areas only. The modus operandi is that the officer makes these appointments on the recommendations of the MLA and this has happened even though there was an earlier order which prohibited appointment to any government post except by the DSCs and MPSC. Insofar as illegal appointments are concerned no other government can beat the NPP-led MDA in this.
Road and Infrastructure
The condition of the roads and other government infrastructure leaves much to be desired. The poor and shoddy work can be seen in the condition of the Jowai bypass road. It may be mentioned that the road was repaired last year before the elections but with the onset of summer, and monsoons, the roads have caved in. The question is why roads in the state have to be repaired every year and, after every monsoon season. The road from Jowai to Shillong especially the section from Mukhla to Mawryngkneng was also repaired last year but it is now in a dilapidated condition. What kind of repair is being done, that the roads do not even last for a year?
Who do we blame for the bad roads that we have? Do we blame the contractor or the engineers? In private, the engineer will always confide that they have no other option but to follow the order of the politicians. If the engineer and the other ground staff do not toe the line then they are threatened with transfer to distant places.
The Businessman/woman politicians
The main cause of the substandard construction of the different projects in the state is the contractor-politicians nexus. The nexus has benefitted the politicians and the contractors but at the cost of the public exchequer with the public at the receiving end of development. Engineers or sectional staff who are supposed to monitor the quality of work can do nothing because the nexus renders them useless.
The imminent threat to the state is not just the politician-businessmen nexus but in the case of Meghalaya the fact that politicians themselves are businessmen or women and they don’t see that to be a problem. Businessman/woman politicians have no qualms in identifying themselves as businessmen or women. Almost all the MLAs are also contractors or they are engaged in construction and government supplier work through the benami mode. Benami contractors means that they do not use their names per se for any contract work because that would be a conflict of interest, but they use the names of their near and dear ones to execute government contract works in their constituencies. The question is how they don’t see this as a conflict of interest.
Hence politicians becoming businessmen is the sole reason that roads in the rural areas are in a dilapidated condition. Roads which were repaired last year are in a mess the very next year.
Police and road
side collection
The blatant corruption that is being committed by law enforcement agencies is another illegal activity that is happening in the state, and surely with the support of the government. Both Shillong and Jowai Bypass come alive and the roads are thriving with illegal activities as soon as the sun goes down. These highways have now become dens of open extortion in broad daylight while the government is turning its Nelson’s eye to what is happening. The police and the transport department are engaging in the activities of collecting money from the trucks almost daily and yet the higher-ups say nothing at all. Unfortunately, every passerby on the road sees what is happening and even the children traveling on these roads witness this blatant misuse of power. The police should be ashamed of their actions, but it looks like they no longer consider it illegal. In the state of Meghalaya even weigh bridges of the transport department are being run by private parties and the collection of money from the truck without weighing them is becoming a rule now.
Height of nepotism
The Shillong Times report questioned the decision of the state government to appoint three members to assist in the process of hiring for government jobs in North Garo Hills. The decision is questionable because it is a case of nepotism as two of the appointed members are sons of sitting MLAs while the third appointee is a close aide of another sitting legislator. Pangsik G Momin, son of Resubelpara MLA Timothy D Shira has been named as vice chairman while Algore D Shira, son of Mendipathar MLA Marthon J Sangma, and Henry Momin, said to be a close aide of Kharkutta MLA Rupert W Momin, have been named as members of the district selection committee that is headed by Deputy Commissioner, Mitali Chandra as chairman and Additional DC, Jude Rangkhu R Marak as member secretary.
The audacity of the MLA to justify the decision to appoint his son as a member of the DSC of North Garo Hills, ostensibly to ensure that no corruption can take place in the recruitment process is a case of an MLA abusing his power and the height of corruption.
The MDA government under the leadership of the NPP has moved the bar much higher by normalizing corruption. Corruption is not only being tolerated but it looks like it is being encouraged by this government. Nepotism also happened in the case when the government rented a portion of the Meghalaya House, Kolkata and the government does not see it as a clash of interests because the brother of the Deputy Chief Minister is involved in the case.
Fooling people
“You can fool some people sometimes but you can’t fool all the people all the time” says the adage credited to Abraham Lincoln and made famous by Robert Nesta Marley or Bob Marley. How long and how many more times will the NPP-led MDA government lie to the public which has put its trust in the MLAs?