By Patricia Mukhim
In this Assembly session Opposition MLAs seem to have burnt the midnight oil and done their homework well. Histrionics are part and parcel of making their presence felt. Hence we had some MLAs speaking in Khasi as a slap dash retort to the Governor’s speech in Hindi. Hindi really is not a foreign language and if the Governor is permitted to speak the language because he doesn’t speak angrez then so be it. No big deal about that! Perhaps one might suggest to those who don’t understand a world of Hindi to start watching Hindi soaps for at least 30 minutes a day. Nothing like these to equip us in the rashtrabhasha. But frankly, if MLAs are able to express their peoples’ – not their personal angst better in the local lingo then they should be free to speak in Khasi, Jaintia, Garo but only after they have circulated their transcripts to a common intelligible language – English.
The Privileged Class – A Charmed Life
The State of Meghalaya (not the MDA-2 Government as we tend to believe) is today paying through its nose, a cabal of failed politicians, comprising some buccaneer businessmen with nebulous motives who are known to babble incoherently when asked even the simplest questions. And the Chief Minister is telling us that these people contribute some divine grassroots wisdom in running the state? Mr Conrad Sangma, did they teach that sort of governance model at the Wharton School of Business? When you took over we all thought Meghalaya would climb the hurdles of economic and developmental laggardness that we were known for. But in the 6th year of your leadership are we any better today? Has Meghalaya not become a straggler in education? And for crying out loud – its people are today the third poorest in the country. Are these political appointees not adding to the economic burden of the state and using up money that could have been better deployed in improving peoples’ economic statuses?
It is painful to see defeated MLAs owing their allegiance to the ruling party/parties enjoying a charmed life while their constituents can barely manage a square meal? Why else would former Congressmen with no chance of ever winning the next elections jump into the NPP truck? What an easy way of enjoying honorarium and perks which include free medical care not just for the person acting as “advisor” to the Chief Minister or heading one of those nearly derailed committees and commissions, but also for their family members. Who cares as to what they contribute to the state. Does anyone care to file an RTI to find out the outcomes of the investment made on each of these scaramouches that excel in cheap rhetoric? These are the types that are a maturing burden on the state.
Questions Left Unasked: Where does the tourist generated garbage go?
The people of Meghalaya who are out of the charmed circle of politics and business and of course the bureaucracy have many questions but don’t know where and how to ask them. Rarely if ever do journalists go out of their way to listen to their tales of woe and give voice to their anxieties. So yes, Meghalaya is now a booming tourist destination. No quibble on that! The quarrel is on the waste generated and how it is disposed off. I have said this in the past and will repeat it ad nauseum. Beyond Greater Shillong there is no waste management system; no landfill; now way of disposing plastic waste other than allowing it to litter every conceivable space including water bodies, drains and the roadside.
For those who regularly use the Shillong -Umiam- Nongpoh road I have a question. Do we notice the fast food packages, plastic bottles, throw-away plates etc that litter both sides of the road especially before reaching the under-repair Umiam bridge. Who is littering the road if not the passengers who are waiting to cross the bridge? All those areas fall outside of the purview of Shillong Municipality and are under the watch of a helpless, rudderless, resource-less Dorbar Shnong. Where do we think this waste will finally land up? At Umiam Lake for sure. One must thank the Meghalaya High Court for responding to what could turn out to be an environmental crisis of distressing proportions by addressing the issue of rampant constructions by the side of water bodies like the Umiam Lake and the many rivers that flow through Shillong city. We would have noticed that these questions never come up in the Assembly. Not now; not in the past! The question of garbage management also does not concern the large number of MLAs coming from East and West Jaintia Hills, East and West Khasi Hills, Garo Hills et al where there is no waste management system in place. What will happen to the waste in the long run? Are villagers all expected to burn their plastic and other wastes? At what cost to the environment? Does anyone care?
The High Court as an oversight body might like to take stock of the plethora of commercial buildings coming up by the side of the Wah Umkhrah; some owned by those in the government. If the buildings are allowed to proliferate then we will see the death of Wah Umkhrah (River Umkhrah).
Taking up cudgels for the contractor class:
It’s interesting that a political party that claims to represent the least empowered among the ‘jaidbynriew’ should instead be taking up cudgels on behalf of the contractor class. This is a speedily growing population. Every second person in every locality is a contractor. If you ask someone what he/she is doing, the immediate answer is, “I am doing my own work” (nga trei kam lajong). It’s good that people are finding work in a hopelessly emerging unemployment scenario but the critical point is that this contractor class needs to be reminded of its responsibilities. Firstly, who is responsible for the badly constructed roads or structures? Is there a penalty for that?
It is common today to see roads that were repaired a month ago being dug up again to fit in the JJM pipes. So much for coordination between the PHED and PWD! And when the work of digging is done the contractors leave all the debris behind. Is it not part of the contractual agreement that contractors have to clean up the debris of sand, bricks, stones etc., after their work is completed? Should they leave the cleaning up to be done by the local residents? Will the VPP which has so kindly advocated the rights of the contractors also remind them of their responsibilities to clean up the mess they leave behind? Why should they clamour for payment of dues when their work is left unfinished? When MLAs take up a cause they should also do their homework on the legitimacy of the demands of those they advocate. Also, should public representatives take up the cause of the business class? Should they not be taking up instead the poor standard of work that these contractors produce? The VPP seems to have muddled up its agenda here!
Where is the data?
The problem with a democracy that relies heavily only on Opposition MLAs to take up every issue that afflicts the commoner is that we all crash-land once the assembly session is over. None of the MLAs have the appetite to continue to pursue the issues they raised in the Assembly. The citizenry in Meghalaya has not learnt to fight their own battles. There is too much dependence on politicians and too much politics in the rural areas particularly. We need civic action groups that are not your normal “seng bhalang,” but committed to finding out statistics and data on real issues and acting on them. We can no longer be misled by NOISE.
Unfortunately Meghalaya is very poor in statistics. Perhaps not putting out data helps to buttress the false claims of the government about having achieved the unattainable. I searched high and low for data concerning visually impaired (blind) people and asked several otherwise well-informed citizens, including those working for the disabled in the state for the total number of visually impaired (blind) people in Meghalaya but could not get the number. The last time a headcount of visually impaired persons in Meghalaya was done was in 2001-02 where the number was 17,065. In 20 years the number must have gone up. But those numbers are elusive. So give us citizens the data so we can fight our battles with or without the MLAs.