TODAY -

Playing a game of hide and seek : Juvenile in the age of Wikileaks
- Sangai Express Editorial :: February 06, 2014 -



Giving a cutting edge definition to the term dodging.

But indulging in a game of hide and seek in this age of Wikileaks/Julian Assange and Edward Snowden and of course our very own Right to Information Act, is not only juvenile but also outrageous.

With the Government spokesperson out of station, this was exactly what the other 11 wise persons, who are otherwise known as Cabinet Ministers did, after the Cabinet meeting held on February 4.

It was not for nothing that the Imphal based media houses deputed their reporters to wait for the Cabinet meeting to get over and be briefed by any of the Ministers on what was discussed and what decisions have been adopted during the meeting.

The reporters were not after any classified information that could pose a danger to the security of the country or harm the interest of Manipur, but just be informed about what transpired during the Cabinet meeting so that the information can be passed on to the public for their consumption.

The reporters were however left in an embarrassing situation when the Ministers left for their official quarters or wherever they were headed to without uttering a single word.

It was left to the ingenuity of the reporters to get in touch with their contacts, but here again most of the Ministers were unwilling to divulge what had actually transpired during the Cabinet meeting.

‘I left before the meeting got over’ was the standard line adopted by some and while this may be true, this also raises a doubt over the sincerity and seriousness in which Cabinet meetings are convened.

Cabinet meetings are meetings where the decision makers of the land sit down together to discuss issues which are important to the people and not some private get together and it is only right that the people be informed about what was discussed and the decisions adopted.

If the Government spokesperson is out of station, what is stopping the Council of Ministers from making an arrangement so that one of them can fill in for the day and brief the media persons ?

That no thought was given to this was evident in the manner in which all the Ministers decided to play the game of hide and seek on February 4.

This was not the first time that Cabinet Ministers shied away from briefing the media persons and this will not be the last one either, if the right dose of medication is not prescribed.

There was a time when it became a headache and a day of tension for Editors whenever the Cabinet met for trying to extract information on the proceedings of the Cabinet meeting meant calling up a number of them with most receiving the answer ‘The number you are trying to contact is unreachable‘ or ‘The mobile phone is switched off’.

Given this scenario, the time for some tough, plain talking is in line. As said earlier, Cabinet meetings are not private gathering or social dos.

It is not about a group of people meeting over a couple of drinks and enquiring how the family is doing. Harsh it may sound, but it needs to be reminded that the packaged water or tea or coffee they have during the Cabinet meeting is borne by the tax payers.

That is they are meeting at the expense of the State exchequer. Moreover it is the bounden duty of the Government to brief the media on what transpired during any Cabinet meetings for whatever agenda they put up for discussion during the meeting concerns the interests of the people and not their personal interests.

Says something significant that this fundamental point needs to be raised and drilled into the heads of the people, who are known as Cabinet Ministers.



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