Back To The Backblocks

By Lunminthang Haokip *

Human development sector: ZCS, LT Phai

Urban Chaos: As one grows older, one finds it increasingly hard to bear the day to day urban problems. Supply of piped water dries up all of a sudden once too often in our capital town and you have to undergo the ordeal of fetching water from other cumbersome sources to meet household requirements. Fed and bathed somehow with the water you wouldn't use otherwise, you drive out of your house for work. The roads are wider than ever. Traffic is better controlled now. But the unchecked growth of vehicles on the streets jeopardizes your chances of reaching the venue of an important appointment in time.

Patience Taxed: Back from a meeting or a pursuit where things were not making a headway as you hoped they would, you come back home with a ruffled frame of mind. Just when you want to hurriedly drive into your garage, park and unwind with a hot sip of a cup of tea, a big water-tank-fitted lorry engaged in neighbourhood supply-mode imposingly blocks the lane to your residence.

You have no choice but cool your heels waiting impatiently inside your car till the lorry moves away. Feeling relieved, you drive closer to your gate only to be inconvenienced by a couple of two-wheelers carelessly parked on both sides of the narrow local lane. Rapid urbanization is taking a heavy toll on one's patience in more ways than one.

Rural Space Beckons: Urban setbacks like traffic congestion are a non-issue in the backblocks of Manipur. It's not because the roads are wide or traffic is well-managed. The scarcity of vehicles renders the roads less-travelled upon. Our towns may struggle to locate space for creation of new infrastructure but spacious stretches of land in the backblocks suffer the lack of infrastructure.

The absence of facilities, however, is compensated by the abundance of fresh air to be inhaled to one's heart's content. Recent devolution of powers to the Zilla Parishads and Autonomous District Councils in our state promise to speedily make amends for the hitherto slow pace of development in the interior villages.

The Magic of BRGF: BRGF stands for Backward Region Grants Fund. It was taken up for the first time by the Ministry of Panchyati Raj in 1997 in India. Selected backward districts of Manipur were also directed to submit five-year Perspective Action Plans covering Infrastructure sector, Productivity sector and Human Development sector. Now as the first five-year phase of PAP under BRGF for Chandel district, for example, is almost coming to a close, we can see tangible impacts of the programme in the district.

Amity Conference Hall, Chandel DHQ, HTC Office building, Moreh, Permanent platform at MUHSS, Chandel, Guest house at L.Thinglhangphai and many other school buildings and community halls had been constructed in the past four years. If the proposed schemes for the next 201 –2017 phase of BRGF get implemented properly, Chandel district may be able to free itself from the stigma of being called a backward district.

The Impact of MGNREGS: Some programmes formulated to uplift the poor did not click but some were lapped up from the word "go". Nothing better could have come at the right time to salvage the economy of the rural poor than National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme which was later named Mahatma Gandhi NREGS in India.

What could have brought a broader smile to the man-with-the-hoe than a scheme that pays him well for improving the infrastructure and productivity sectors of his own surroundings. Guaranteed employment for 100 days in a financial year keeps many home-fires burning. The glimmer of hope awaits to be turned into a veritable ray if the popular populist undertaking remains extended for many more five-years.

Pastoral tranquility

Social Change of Attitude: In the past, a far-sighted Kuki maiden of marriageable age, by and large, avoided matrimonial matches with the eldest boy in a family. Far-sighted girls had to make such a choice so as not to entangle her rosy future with the burdensome family responsibilities the eldest Kuki brother had to shoulder in a joint family.

The smart choosy girls could not be blamed because in the event of they being wedded to the eldest sibling, they became the targets of slander and ridicule even when they were not at fault in family issues. The odd custom is still in practice till today but the concepts are changed.

Value-added Chief-ship: The advent of MGNREGS in the Kuki-inhabited areas of Manipur has become a boon for the village Chiefs who chair the implementation committees in their respective villages. Chief-ship being hereditary, the eldest son will inherit his father sooner or later and the benefits under MGNREGS would fall on his lap.

In every creation of a new village, the eldest son will be the chief and the main functionary. That makes his position more attractive to prospective groom-hunters. Other things being equal, the eldest brother sells better now in the matrimonial market, thanks to employment-guarantee.

The Flip-side of Things: Of course, despite the achievements vis-a-vis the new rural development programmes like BRGF, MGNREGS etc, human nature being what it is, there are many summers of rumour-banter and many winters of discontentment. Some village chiefs manage to get away unharmed with whatever they do but others are not as lucky.

A few of the managers of village affairs mean business. They are hell-bent to make hay while the going is good. The more enterprising among them take pains to put in their own resources over allocated sums in order to create permanent assets for posterity. In the bargain, they face adverse reactions from their own people who care two hoots about public assets. Nevertheless, misplaced attitudes cannot put down the collective zeal to get things done as desired by the guidelines.

Happiness In Success: Light shines best where there is darkness. Good works stand tall in the midst of mediocre attempts. Excellent achievements in implementation of RD schemes enthuse all concerned. We must not only aim success but ultimate happiness too. After all, success may be getting what we want, but happiness lies in wanting what we get.

Lunminthang Haokip

* Lunminthang Haokip, a resident of Old Lambulane, Imphal and posted at Moreh, Manipur is a regular contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at lunminthang(dot)haokip(at)gmail(dot)com or his blog here
This article was webcasted on April 08, 2012.