Governments are legitimately elected with the mandate to govern. Those who form the government are expected to use state resources for the larger public good and to be accountable for all money spent. Governance is defined as the exercise of political authority and the use of institutional resources to manage problems and the affairs of society. Governance is the stewardship of the formal and informal political rules of the game. Governance refers to those measures that involve setting the rules for the exercise of power and settling conflict by using those same rules.
In a democracy, governance flows from the Constitution which clearly lays out the norms for ensuring public order and an efficient and equitable service delivery mechanism. Also, in a democracy these development goals are arrived at through a participatory process and public consultations and not through arbitrary legislations. Governance also includes the daily interaction between state and society. Governments can make policies that are aimed at ensuring the larger public good only after due consultation. Hence it would be correct to say that every rule of governance flows from the public mandate. Anyone that violates such rules, actually violates the mandate of the people, more so when political parties are also voted on the basis of their manifesto which are a set of promises for good governance in the many areas of human development.
Democratic governance demands that there be public consultation when there is public disorder as is happening today in Meghalaya. The public has to have a say in what they feel about the violence meted out on non-tribal labourers and its consequences for the state and its development. Public indifference, nay silence in the face of pressure groups enforcing their own laws in society will lead to chaos and stall whatever little progress the state is making through development goals that the government is trying to implement. When disruptions engulf the state, service delivery to the last point is also disrupted. There is a shortage of skilled labourers in Meghalaya and above all the absence of a work culture which optimises output. As long as there is a gap between supply and demand, outsiders will fill the gap. It is important for pressure groups to demand instead a number of skill-based institutions in carpentry, brick-laying, painting and a host of other skills that are required in the construction industry. Construction workers earn decent wages but also must produce outcomes on a daily basis. The pressure groups should be addressing this issue instead of adopting violence as a modus operandi.
Governance in Meghalaya has always been suppliant to disruptive forces. Barring some chief ministers the rest have bent over backwards to appease the pressure groups. This is what has emboldened them over the years. In these challenging times can the government allow such disruptions? Till date the ‘national’ media has not picked up on these instances of violence on non-tribal labourers. Once this becomes a national issue, the Government of Meghalaya will be held accountable for not flexing its muscles and ensuring that the rule of law prevails.
