Hello, dear Chief Minister

T Ngaihte *

Nongthombam Biren, Chief Minister of Manipur at Raj Bhavan on 15th March 2017 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

On 24 November 2017, there was a book release function at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi. The book in question, ‘The Last Battle of Saraighat: The story of the BJP’s rise in the North-east’ was written by Rajat Sethi and Shubhrastha who were actively involved in the BJP campaigns in the Northeast. Manipur CM Biren Singh was there. I was there too.

A panel discussion followed the book release, moderated by the journalist Shekhar Gupta. Some questions were also taken from the audience. A mention was made of the collapse of higher education in Manipur. One teacher from a Delhi University college expressed deep concern over the huge number of Manipuri students he has, who complained of the lack of good education opportunities in their state.

The CM assured him that his government is doing everything to put right the many things that went wrong during the past many years. Rajat Sethi, who is the CM’s political advisor, stressed their aim to give a clean government and said that the previous government was racked by indecisiveness, amongst other ills, and had trouble deciding on even basic matters like whether to build or pave this road or not.

I had wanted to raise an issue or two too. But there was ultimately no time. Hence, I am expressing my thoughts here, now. I hope the CM and his advisor will take the time to read through it.

Decades of rule under the Congress party had engendered cynicism all around. People lose hope. Nothing will ever improve, they say. It was this hopeless feeling that the BJP had tapped with the promise to jettison the business-as-usual model of governance and usher in a new era of hope. It was on the back of the wave of anti-incumbency that the BJP, despite its meager cadre strength, managed to wrest power from the Congress party this time, as the authors of the book honestly admit.

Indeed, the new government immediately broke two deadlocks: the UNC blockade of the lifeline highways to the state and the issue relating to the honourable burial of the ‘tribal martyrs’ in Lamka, Churachandpur. In pursuit of the slogan, ‘Go to the Hills’, the CM had gone on visits to the hill district headquarters, eliciting enthusiastic mass receptions. In response to a pointed question from the moderator, the CM claimed that this is a sign that community relations are all good now. I don’t think it is that simple, but it is true that people are ready to hope for better times under the new dispensation.

I have often heard that the education sector is the most corrupted sector in the state. It is said that the education department do not even know how many teachers they have working under them. In Churachandpur district, there were whispers about some people who were given employment without their knowledge, whose salaries were quietly taken every month by those who arranged their appointment and they came to know of their employment only after some UGs sent them demand letters!!

It seems also that quite a few people who were in the rolls of the education department are living and working in Delhi and elsewhere, holding double jobs. It will certainly take some effort to cleanse this kind of rot. I just hope the CM and his team are up to it.

As for higher education, there have been attempts to fill the huge vacancies. The MPSC had recently declared final results of the multi-level examination conducted for Assistant Professors in government colleges. It is telling that the advertisements for the latest results were issued way back in November 2014.

In between, there were litigations, most of them allegedly by aspirants who applied but could not clear the examination. The MPSC had, in fact, to alter the category-wise number of vacancies in response to rulings on the petitions by the Manipur High Court. Despite this, some appeals are still pending, even as the final results have already been declared.

This poses a particular dilemma for those working outside the state. Many educated youths went out of the state in search of higher education and better opportunities since there were none in the state. But they have always nursed a determination to come back to Manipur and work there. Quite of few of those selected by MPSC in the latest assistant professor examination already had jobs in other states.

Some of them are getting salaries much higher than what they will get in Manipur. Nevertheless, they are eager to come. But, they are not ready to pay bribes and be co-opted within the existing business-as-usual model of existence. The endless litigations make things very uncertain.

Many of them are encouraged by the fact that there were no bribes demanded or given for the recent assistant professor results. This is a good start. This should continue. The government should assert its authority and made sure that the recruitment processes are not hampered by frivolous litigations and undue bureaucratic delays.

When people have to pay Lakhs of rupees for a routine job, corruption naturally follows as they try to recoup the money they have given for their jobs. Start right by cleaning up recruitments, and discipline will not be a problem later on. A structure, both financial and procedural, that incentivizes talents to migrate back to the home state is needed.

Dear chief minister, it is perhaps a good thing for your government that the expectations of the people are very low right now. They don’t ask for big banner headline projects or special packages. They are rather tired of such announcements and promises which never come to fruition.

They just want their physical security assured, roads and electricity to be improved, the government offices to run well, recruitments to be based on merit, the law in terms of job reservations and other things upheld and colleges be dependable for good education. These are the same things that had been promised to them elections after elections. People do not expect special treatment, just what the state owe them as citizens.

Many of these improvements may not even require extra expenditure. For example, IT, especially digitization of records, etc. may help in outing absentee and double employees. Deliver on these, lead by example and make clear to everyone that you will not tolerate corruption and wrongdoing. People will be with you.