Manipur is an interesting land. Howsoever one tries to look the other way, interesting things happen the other way as well. We have been witnessing the bluff of the Government consistently over the years.

But what really interests us is the private service providers as well possessing the characteristics of bluff and cheating. In this intervention, I plan to relate the implications of some recent announcements of the Government and the behaviour of a service provider, Airtel.

Government Bluff: We have been trying very hard in recent years on how not to be very critical of the State administration. But all our efforts are always negated by the announcements of the Government from time to time.

Before I comment on the recent announcements, let me emphasise certain vital principles of any policy. For the success of any policy, it is fundamental that the policy should be credible. Besides the administration should have credibility. With this background, it is absolutely enjoyable to look at the recent policy announcements.

One recent news item flashes the decision of the State Government to focus on tourism as one of the areas for investment in the forthcoming Bangkok and New York meets. Well, the Delimitation Commission of India might be right on dot when it calls the elected representatives of the State, both in Parliament and the State Assembly, “ridiculous” in their letter of 5 August 2007.

The moment the State Government mentions tourism as one of the focus areas, one need not go any further for it fully establishes how it views the citizens of the State as fools. Further it thinks it can portray any damn thing to the world and get away with that.

I wonder how an administration which restricts entry of outsiders and stations army in Tourist Homes imagines it can bluff the entire population by announcing tourism as one of the focus areas. If anyone wishes to think of tourism, first learn from that small (both in geography and population) country called Andorra.

The other Government announcement which establishes the reactionary nature of our administration is the so-called ordinance relating to affiliation of schools. We now really need to ask as to why our administration does not continue with its policies in a consistent and pro-active manner instead of just reacting to others’ steps.

Airtel Cheats: Well Airtel is considered to be a prestigious mobile service provider and with above average quality at that. My experience with it since my return from the United States in May this year, however, is very different.

In Manipur it now provides, on paper, two types of services – pre-paid and post-paid. For the sake of convenience, I went for a post-paid connection. The problems started with that.

In order to avoid confusion, let me list them out one by one. First, I found that there is no difference between the two types of connections. The moment the first deposit nearly gets exhausted, one would start getting calls during busy office hours “...from Airtel Shillong that your credit limit is going to be crossed”.

Well, God knows from where the issue of credit limit comes in a post-paid connection. Secondly, again during peak office hours, one would get “...from Airtel Shillong” that the deadline for payment of bills is 27 of the month.

Fine, whether you are busy or not, you become a victim of Airtel’s reminders because the subscribers are lazy, irresponsible and useless vagabonds in their view. Thirdly, in the post-paid connection you would also ‘enjoy’ the ‘benefit’ of Airtel’s favour for they would inform you that “this is from Airtel Shillong. Your credit limit has been extended to Rs....”.

This is an absolutely interesting another aspect of Airtel’s post-paid connection. Now comes the fourth. This one is even more wonderful. Airtel would stop all outgoing call facilities well before the due date for clearing the bills, 21 September 2007 to be exact in my case when the due date is 27 September 2007.

If one ever tries to enquire 121 and the person taking care of customers there, one would come across ‘brilliant teachers trying to rationalise their action’. One has to become a student of teachers in the Airtel Customer Care if one goes for their post-paid connection.

Besides all these, the networking and coordination of their various offices would impress even the Nobel Prize winners. A charming and absolutely sober lady in the Imphal Airtel office at Minuthong, Lenina Th., was trying for full four hours to get my connection restored.

But the organisational quality of Airtel is such that the persons at the other end went back home even without calling her back and without fully restoring my connection.

Morale: The morale of the story is that Manipur is an interesting place now where the Government bluffs her citizens, and the private service providers cheat the public. Well, all think they can get away with that.

One would never find a lovelier place anywhere. Long live Manipur.