Adipose clogging the State Assembly
More the merrier mantra
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 02, 2012 -

The more the merrier seems to be the catch phrase of the State Assembly Secretariat.

More, of course, does not necessarily mean competency.

The Assembly Secretariat surely does not believe in the dictum of being lean. Roughly 500 employees in a House of 60 and it is obvious that the Assembly Secretariat has pandered to the fancy and whims of the few powerful and influential persons once again underlining how public institutions have been used to pamper the ego of the political class and the Babudom flouting all official procedures and norms.

Hundred and eighty employees appointed on contract basis against non-existent posts is not only ludicrous but is also an affront on the sensibilities of the public.

It is anybody's guess when the status of the employees will go from contract to regular or when the Assembly Secretariat and by extension the State and her people will be held to ransom once these employees start to demand that their posts be regularised.

Top this off with the report that the appointments were effected without the mandatory advertisement and the fiasco comes full circle, trashing the instructions of the Supreme Court of India and the State Finance Department which has stipulated that its approval should be sought by all Government Departments when any contract appointments are to be made.

A damning statement on how casually the political class considers the strain and expenses on the State exchequer.

To get a real feel of the absurdity of the situation a comparison with some of the other bigger States may be line.

Uttar Pradesh Assembly Secretariat with 404 MLAs in its House has 500 employees, Andhra Pradesh with 294 members has 450 employees while West Bengal with 295 MLAs has 700 employees.

Clearly Manipur scores high on the MLA to employee ratio in the Assembly and there is nothing to gloat over this.

Juxtapose these figures with the Plan size of Manipur vis-a-vis the other States and it cannot get more ridiculous than this.

To Manipur's Plan size of Rs 3500 crore for the fiscal 2012-2013, Maharastra received Rs 45000 crore, West Bengal Rs 25,910 crore while other North East States like Assam received much more than the State. The contrast cannot be more damning than this.

Add to this the fact that Manipur has to go to Delhi with the proverbial begging bowl for every practical purpose and the picture cannot get more pathetic than this.

A classic case of an unthinking, insensitive political leadership compounding the situation of a resource poor State, as Delhi puts it.

The script of a tragedy that is Manipur cannot be more lucid than this.