We have heard the leader of the government lamenting more than once that due to many disturbances the development works could not either be executed or completed in time. Now this needs to be examined head on if his lamentation serves any purpose or otherwise.

Given the contested nature of the state in Manipur where the present one is being challenged by the insurgent groups, we are not sure if this lamentation is a measure of the success of the insurgency movement in Manipur. For the insurgents, it serves their cause if the present state fails in every sphere.

Can Lament: We have no qualms with the Chief Minister lamenting; he has every right to do so. But a leader cannot lament without a purpose. When a leader speaks in the public he should either be giving a direction to the collective mass or communicating a way of appreciating an issue.

So in the contemporary circumstances of Manipur, his lamentation should at least serve the purpose of swaying the public to his side of the logic and ultimately mobilize them against the insurgents. But I am afraid it serves neither of these purposes. He rather sounds obfuscating on this issue, and the public rather sees him as trying to cover his own personal aggrandisement in the troubled circumstances.

In other words, what I am fundamentally saying is that the speeches and talks of the Chief Minister have failed as communicator of the issues and problems plaguing the State as well as the constraints restricting the administration in so far as they do not sway the public to appropriate response.

This being the case, the issue now arises as to what should be the strategy of the leader for taking his State forward. A serious pondering on this issue is contextually very important unless he has already resigned to the prevailing situation.

A Good Performer: A leader could be a very poor communicator. But this does not preclude him from being a good performer, like Mr. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister in waiting for England. So despite being failed in firing the imagination of the people and mobilise them along the lines he desires, the present leader of the government can still make the people move in tandem with him by his performance.

He can and should try to take the people along by his achievements, and opening windows of opportunities through these. By concentrating on performance, he has no longer to lament for his incapacitation by the disturbing factors.

How to perform: Now the question is how to perform, given the admitted disturbances and the capability of the administration. This is where he needs to apply his mind seriously. Despite the myriad of problems to be addressed and the long distance yet to be covered for catching up with the more developed world, he just cannot expect himself to be performing and achieving in multiple areas.

If he could do it, nothing like that, but it would be too idealistic to try. Further, the public do not expect him to deliver in all fields, and for that matter, no public anywhere expects their leader to be successful in all dimensions.

This is where he needs to be adopting diagnostic approach to the problems facing the State. Like a physician, he can identify one or two core areas which he thinks are the stumbling constraints to development and thus requiring to address to enable the people to express their talents.

He has to identify one or two areas which he thinks can take the struggle for survival by the people towards a phase of interactive competition. He should be concentrating all his energy and the capacity of the administration to those areas. While identifying the issues he has to keep in mind the geographic reality of the State. He can think of identifying one specific constraint each of mountains and valley, and one general constraint valid for both.

The Strategy: Once the constraints have been identified by him as a leader, the next step for him is to mobilise the scientific, technical and academic capabilities of the State. I would like to repeat here what I have been emphasising for quite a few years now. A government policy can never be framed and executed by the bureaucrats alone.

Any successful development intervention anywhere in the world has never been a solo administrative endeavour. Whatever the weaknesses and reservations one may have about the two universities in the State, Manipur University and Central Agricultural University, no development purpose would be served by not involving these two institutions in policy framing and execution strategies. The all-round capability of the State has to be enhanced while at the same time highlighting the stakeholder participation.

In fine, I like the leader of the government to stop lamenting. Instead I like him to identify certain limited areas, which he wants to address as a leader, and mobilise all the forces of the State towards performance.

Everybody wishes good luck to a sincere leader.