The MDA-2 Government had only one lady minister and she was dropped thereby turning the present cabinet into a cohort of patriarchs. Meghalaya’s claims to matriliny as a natural empowering agent is shattered in this reshuffle of ministers. Ampareen Lyngdoh was perhaps the most active minister insofar as her role as the Health Minister is concerned. She has travelled the length and breadth of Meghalaya to ensure that the poor health indices – particularly of women in their child bearing years, improves; that maternal and infant mortality rates are reduced; that anaemia among women is addressed through a series of interventions and that institutional delivery through schemes such as the Chief Minister’s Safe Motherhood Scheme or CM-SMS were introduced to enable pregnant women to reside closer to their hospitals awaiting their labour date. The fact is that it takes a woman to understand the plight of another woman and the problems that women face in their life cycles of pregnancy, childbirth and child care. Also women being the primary care-givers demands a policy that requires deeper understanding of the gender roles that obstruct women from accessing health care. Also, while health afflicts both genders, it cannot be denied that a woman’s reproductive role places her at greater risk than it does a man. Women’s bodies are the location of more cancers than that of men.
It is bad enough that Meghalaya has only four women legislators, one in the Opposition (TMC) and three from the ruling Party (NPP). Yet there’s not a single woman minister to at least put up a show of gender equity. This is unprecedented. If a minister is removed for poor performance the public would not miss the person but not when that minister has discharged her duties with alacrity. The gentleman appointed to head the Health Department is a Class 12th passed person and would take a long time to inform himself of the functioning of the Department. True the Health Department has a good set of senior officers to helm it but a Minister still has the last word. Tourism too will now be handled by 80-year old Timothy D Shira which makes people wonder if he can keep up with the demands of the Department and whether at this age a person can handle the challenges of a technology enabled world which is what Tourism demands. In fact, Tourism is one of the revenue generating outlets which requires that the minister has hands- on experience on the demands of his job which fluctuates and requires that he thinks on his feet. Shira’s first challenge will be to tackle the poser from the Tourist Taxi Drivers of Meghalaya who are determined not to allow Assam vehicles to enter Meghalaya. That’s a tough one as Assam gears itself to stop Meghalaya taxis from entering the state. This will make it tough for Meghalaya passengers. The Tourism Minister’s priority is to resolve this conundrum. It’s a tough call! Conrad Sangma owes an explanation to the people of Meghalaya why some ministers have been retained with their respective portfolios and why some have lost their jobs despite high performance indicators.
