By Bhogtoram Mawroh
The article ‘Convergence and Coordination Imperative for Good Governance’ by Patricia Mukhim brought out the fundamental issue that plagues governance in the state: lack of coordination leading to wastage of resources, with the common people suffering in the process. She discussed this by highlighting the state of the roads in the city, which are in a pathetic condition, and lamented that those in charge don’t seem to care because their vehicles “are very well cushioned to deal with the potholes” and they drive so fast that “they don’t see the scars of bad governance under their vehicles.” Commuters, especially those who use two-wheelers, will wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. One of my friends had fallen into one of the potholes that litter the New Colony Road from NEEPCO to Laitumkhrah. He was not seriously injured, but that day may not be far behind. The sorry state of the roads is not just an inconvenience and potentially life-threatening hazard to the public; it also affects other sectors of the state, especially those that are in dire straits and in need of support.
According to the 2022 ‘Basic Road Statistics 2018-2019’ published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, Meghalaya is among the top ten states in India when it comes to the share of surfaced road (i.e., a road with a hard smooth surface of bitumen or tar, or in short, pucca road) to the total length of urban roads. The national average is around 79%, with Mizoram reporting the lowest—only 48% of the urban roads are surfaced road. In Meghalaya, 98.7% of its urban roads are surfaced, coming second only to Tripura with 98.9% in the North East. This would have been a proud achievement for the state, except for the fact that such statistics do not inform the status of such roads which makes repairing of roads in Shillong a perennial affair. Come winter, the sight of road rollers and people cleaning and laying bitumen becomes ubiquitous throughout the city. After the work is done, the roads look pristine and attractive. But no sooner than the work is complete, they almost immediately deteriorate. The road from Golf Links to Shyiap had been repaired just over a month ago. But one can already see parts of the surface coming off, giving an indication of where the potholes are going to appear again soon. So, it is not just the lack of coordination between departments (e.g., PWD and PHED, as argued by Patricia Mukhim), but the shoddy work (deliberate or otherwise) that is causing a huge wastage of the exchequer’s resources. A corollary to this wastage is that it takes away financial resources from important sectors that need urgent attention.
The document ‘Meghalaya Budget Analysis 2023–24’ brought out by PRS Legislative Research (an independent research institute that aims to make the Indian legislative process better informed, more transparent, and more participatory) summarized the 2023–24 state budget as presented by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma. On the last page of the document, there is a table that enumerates the allocation towards some key sectors in terms of Budget Estimates (how much was initially allocated) and Actuals (how much was actually spent). The figure was for 2021–2022, but it is very instructive to understand the priorities of the government as it is the same ruling dispensation at the moment. Thirteen sectors were mentioned. The Budget Estimates were to the tune of 13,042 crore, but the Actuals exceeded those by 154 crore. It is logical to assume that this must have increased the amount allocated to the different sectors, with their Actuals getting boosted. This indeed happened for some of the sectors.
Five key sectors saw an increase in expenditure from their Budget Estimates. The lowest increase was reported under Irrigation and Flooding, which was 12% higher than the Budget Estimates. Energy saw the highest increase, a whopping 476%. It was followed by Urban Development, which saw an increase of more than 100%. The Energy sector has been in a crisis for some time now. Last year, 2023, was a particularly bad year for the citizens of the state, who had to face long hours of load shedding. But such a high rise in Actuals as compared to Budget Estimates meant that there must have been cuts in expenditure in some key sectors. That is exactly what happened.
Eight of the 13 key sectors saw a decline in their Actuals. These were Social Welfare and Nutrition, Rural Development, Welfare of SC, ST, OBC, and Minorities, Water Supply and Sanitation, Agriculture and Allied Activities, Education, Sports, Arts, and Culture, Housing, and Police. Social Welfare and Nutrition saw the highest decline of -35%, and Police saw the lowest decline of -8%. Was it the case that the key sectors that saw a decline in their expenditure were doing quite well, and therefore, according to the government’s estimate, they decided to reallocate the excess funds to the sectors that were in more dire need of support?
The paper ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India Since 2005–06: A Discussion Paper’ published by the NITI Aayog discusses the progress the country has made in reducing poverty rates across various time periods. It does this by using the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which measures people’s deprivation and poverty at an individual level. Globally, it uses ten indicators (the Indian measure uses two additional indicators) covering three areas, namely health, education, and standard of living. The health dimension includes Nutrition, Maternal Health (additional indicator) and Child and Adolescent Mortality indicators; the education dimension includes Years of Schooling and School Attendance indicators; and the standard of living dimension includes six household-specific indicators, namely, housing, household assets, type of Cooking Fuel, access to Sanitation, Drinking water, Electricity and Bank Account (additional indicator). If a person is deprived in a third or more of ten (weighted) (12 in the case of India) indicators, then MPI identifies them as ‘MPI poor’.
Based on the data provided in the paper, over the 9-year period, 2013–14 to 2022–23, there has been a decline of about 18 percentage points, which is equivalent to approximately 24.82 crore escaping multidimensional poverty. However, some states in the country are still lagging far behind. While the average headcount ratio (%) of multidimensionally poor people in India is 11.28%, 25.46% of the people in Meghalaya have been categorized as multidimensionally poor. This is the second-highest in the country after Bihar, which edges Meghalaya by just over 1 percentage point. Let’s take a look at some of the individual indicators to see how Meghalaya fares.
The National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-5) found that two of the three indicators under Sanitation and seven out of the eight indicators under Maternal and Child Health have figures lower than the national average. Under Child Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status of Children, two indicators out of five again have figures worse than the national average. This includes the finding that 46% of the Children under 5 years old in the state are stunted. Similarly, when it comes to anemia among Children and Adults around half or more of them are anemic. The Performance Grade Index (2020–21), released by the Union Ministry of Education ranked Meghalaya as being the second-lowest among the states and Union Territories. Then finally, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, the 2022–2023 per capita Net State Domestic Product of the state was Rs. 98,572, which was the lowest among all the states for which data was available, i.e., the state is financially the poorest in the country.
However, despite the very poor performance in health (linked to Social Welfare and Nutrition) and education (linked to Education, Sports, Arts, and Culture) the Actuals were lower than the initial Budget Estimates. The cut in expenditure of these two sectors amounted to more than 500 crore, which was almost 40% of the total reduction in expenditure of the aforementioned eight key sectors. At the same time, among the sectors that saw an increase in expenditure, Transport (which includes roads and bridges) alone saw an increase of almost 200 crore. How much of this was meant for expansion or the building of new roads, and how much was meant for the repair of existing roads, is not mentioned. But looking at the perennial repairs happening in the city, it is not difficult to assume that the proportion of the latter must be substantial. In the rural areas, it must be worse. Recently, I cycled to Tyrsad, and it felt like I was on a single-track trail, bumping and swerving to avoid the protruding rocks and potholes filled with water throughout the entire stretch from Mawphlang to Weiloi. Two things emerge from this comparison.
Firstly, an argument cannot be made that the sectors that experienced a cut were doing quite well, which allowed the excess funds to be transferred elsewhere. Government statistics themselves prove this not to be the case. Secondly, the sectors that needed an increase in expenditure include those that appear to have a recurring expenditure that is borne out of a lack of coordination (as pointed out by Patricia Mukhim) and shoddy work execution (various newspaper reports and personal observations). This leads to the wastage of precious financial resources, which are already quite limited because of the size of the state’s GDP. What makes this even more worrisome is the growing public debt of the state.
According to the dissertation ‘A Study of Trend and Magnitude of Public Debt in Meghalaya: (2010–2022)’ by Rimiki Phadong, submitted to the School of Economics, Commerce, and Management at Martin Luther Christian University, Meghalaya’s average debt-to-GSDP ratio since 2010 has been above 35%. However, over the last few years, this has grown by more than 40%, standing at 54.59% in 2020–2021. This debt will have to be serviced, and in fact, it is presently being done at the moment. The same document brought out by PRS Legislative Research showed that the Debt Repayment during 2021–2022 was 187% higher than the Budget Estimates. As informed personally by George Lyngdoh (former MLA of Umroi), it is this repayment of loans that, to a large extent, has prevented the government from creating more jobs in the public sector. This also, according to him, reduces the efficiency of the administration as the available employees are overburdened with additional tasks due to less manpower. In the future, as public debt rises, job creation will become even more difficult. In such a scenario, the wastage of whatever financial resources the state generates or borrows is tantamount to a case of criminal negligence.
The potholes that are ubiquitous and a recurring feature of the roads in Shillong are not just a symptom of the failure of governance. It hints at a much larger mess that threatens not just the present but the future prospects of the citizens of the state. More than identity politics (i.e., Jaidbynriew politics), it is the issues of governance that must agitate the public to demand accountability from its government. Maybe that time has not arrived in our state. But it cannot be denied that change is urgently required; the sooner the better.
(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organization or institution)