Cracking the whip : Jarnail in his element
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 15 2018 -
Cracking the whip.
This is perfectly in line with the earlier description given to him by The Sangai Express more than 10 years back, just as he was about to demit office as the Chief Secretary of Manipur as a ‘No Nonsense Officer’ in an editorial.
This was back in July 2008.
Ten years down the line and Jarnail Singh is back, this time as the Administrator of Manipur University and from the day he assumed office, efforts to put the varsity back on track can be seen and heard audibly, with all now having to keep with the time-come to office on time and go back after office hours.
This is saying something a lot, for it is not without reason why MST stands for Manipur Standard Time, a term used to underline the point that nothing is on time here, especially when it comes to the Government.
Now it is more than obvious that Jarnail Singh has moved beyond keeping tab on the punctuality and regularity of the employees of Manipur University and has cracked the whip against contractors who came out with shabby works to pocket more money while constructing buildings at the varsity.
Let the cost be borne by the contractor/s concerned for the shoddy works, in which the roof of some buildings of the university were found leaking, is his call.
This is the way to go about it.
Compromising on the quality of works to earn more and this is what has been the bane of Manipur for decades and let this be a lesson to all concerned.
One just cannot finish a work shabbily and go laughing all the way to the bank.
And if the contractor concerned is not ready to part with the money needed for the repair work, black list him/her.
The leaking roof is nothing but just another reflection of what has horribly gone wrong at MU.
This is what is extremely worrying.
Is this an indication that certain sections of MU have been turned into a den of contractor-MU authority nexus ?
This is what is unacceptable and the Administrator should see what should be done to put an end to such an unholy nexus.
A university is a place of learning and it should not be reduced to a place of contractors, whose sole aim is to land the next contract work and fatten their bank balance.
And all knows of the ugly ramifications of anything that has to do with contract works.
No point in spelling out the details here, but the very fact that the Administrator has cracked the whip and is set on recovering the needed money from the contractor/s concerned for the repair work should underline how deep this nexus runs.
The leaking roof is nothing but a reflection of such a nexus taking roots in a place of learning and nothing can be more unfortunate than this.
Let Jarnail Singh do what needs to be done and crack down on the ugly under belly of the varsity.
He is here to do a job and let him do it.
And it is an encouraging sign to see that the Administrator seems to have put his sight on things which matter.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.