Govt's formula of the magic wand : Mobile sale of goods
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 01 2011 -

The Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, (CAF&PD) Manipur is going to conduct open mobile sale for some essential commodities at subsidized rate at different places of Imphal area on September 29 2011 :: Pix - Bullu Raj

Mobile sale. Potato at the cost of Rs 15 per kg. And lentils at Government approved rates. This sounds fantastic. A benevolent Government in place or a regime desperately seeking some good report card from the people ?

Whatever the case, it may be said with a certain degree of confidence that the present dispensation would not want the 'A kilogramme of potato for Rs 15' to be turned into its epitaph.

Unsaid but highly audible in this act is the phrase "At least the Government is doing something" to reverberate throughout the nooks and cranny of Imphal.

Either the public must be taken for fools, which unfortunately many would qualify for this, or else the Government is living in a world of fantasy where all the characters may have been lifted straight from a Lee Falk comic strip.

So while the section of the public, who managed to lay their hands on the Rs 15 per Kilogramme potato, were digging into their plate of Eromba with Alu or Kengoi and Alu Kangshoi without feeling any pang of guilt for having bought the tuberous vegetable at a ludicrously inflated rate, three trucks were reduced to cinders at Kangpokpi the next day.

The general refrain amongst those who come under the threatened species of political leaders, must have been, "Why did they go on that route when they know very well that the blockade is on ?" Emperor Nero would have been put to shame !

Extraordinary situation demands extraordinary measures and the rare gesture of the Government in opening mobile outlets so that the public may have access to commodities at Government approved rates certainly fits the extraordinary situation which has gripped Manipur for 60 days or so now.

Right time for the public to salute the Government for demonstrating sensitivity to the plight of the people ? Rs 93 lakhs was the amount that was reportedly kept aside from the funds of the Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution Department to procure the goods that were made available to the public on September 28.

Moreover Government employees had to double up as shopkeepers on the said day and everything went off fine, though mumblings of discontent that the mobile sale did not go on sale even at 11 in the morning have come in from some locations.

The SPF Government has certainly authored an authoritative script on how a ruling dispensation can make its way into the hearts or stomach of a people by organising a mobile sale of some essential items. Turning suffering into some roadside jamboree !

Other than making the home keepers smile after days of smirking with pain and humiliation, the SPF Government has also scripted a near perfect formula of how to convey the message that it has abdicated its duty of monitoring the prices of goods sold in the open market, in the most acceptable manner !

If this is not a slice of governance then what would be ? Manipur should not be surprised if the Council of Ministers is invited to deliver a talk at any of the Indian Institute of Management of Indian Institute of Technology on how to package its failure in such a way that it appears to steal the hearts of the people.

Politics of Mobile Sale, may well be a theory over which the present dispensation may and should claim Intellectual Property Rights. The sooner this is done the better it would be for there are elements who have no shame in stealing and plagiarising ideas and concepts in this country !

And so it was that the decision to open the mobile sale was taken after the All Manipur Students' Union had launched a drive to check hoarding of goods as well as selling essential items at inflated rates in the open market. "Lock them up, how dare they do the job we love so much" must have been the reasoning for rounding up the student volunteers !

That the Government wisely decided to follow the footsteps of the student organisation was well in keeping with its tradition of following leads and never taking up the leads.

Due credit should be given to the SPF Government for mastering the art of consoling bruised sentiments and hungry stomachs. After all, "colleges and schools are open. School vans have not ceased service."

If this is not the perfect formula for consoling the people then what would be ? Due credit too should be given to this Government for dealing with the long queues seen every night outside the petrol pumps.

The formula ? Release the men in khakis with the loudest, roughest voice to tell the public lining up in the evening to vamoose ! Let the highway blockades continue.

Let the blockade supporters burn trucks. Here in Imphal mobile sale of goods will take care of things !