A State is much more than political governance
- The absence of economic governance in Manipur -

Amar Yumnam *

As of today nothing seems to be right with this land called Manipur. In this column I had emphasised more than once the necessity of reinventing the state and establishing a workable one at that. But quite unfortunately for all of us the very manifestation of the state through its most legitimate agency - the democratically established government and its paraphernalia - seems to be worsening by the day, not by the months or years.

Recent Roars: During the last few days we have been fed with the information of the Centre having expressed displeasure with the progress of work done with special assistance, and the consequent burst of verbose by the head of the people here on the functionaries of the government.

We have also had the information and the reality of fertilisers not being made available to the farmers. Now the fuel stations are dry. These are information hinging on the presence or otherwise of economic governance in this land.

In the meantime we have also had one general strike protesting against Indian attitude and administration followed the next day by another general strike joining an Indian-wide one. This happened in a land inhabited by people purportedly very conscious and proud of identity.

While the state is devoid of economic governance, the public just wear an identity of opportunism devoid of any principles. Well, as of today we would dwell more on the economic governance aspect.

State Responsibilities: The state has a fundamental role of political governance. But it cannot stop at that point for there is a larger role it has to play. For the very political governance to be sustainable and the society to move forward in an atmosphere characterised by, as the Economics Nobel laureate James Buchanan would emphasise, "the reason of rules", the economic governance is of much more pre-eminence.

For the economy of the land to be made functional and functioning, it is of paramount importance that the state ensures an atmosphere of "good order and workable arrangements" to paraphrase Williamson, a leading institutional economist.

The state should ensure the presence of infrastructure of information, rules, and regulations to make the functioning of interactions among various economic agents feasible as well as happen continuously. The very success or otherwise of a society and her economy depends on the performance of the state in this front of economic governance.

Earlier it was possible to remain relaxed with the notion that the state would deliver efficiently on this score, but the times are long gone. The times are long gone more so in the case of Manipur. The whole world, including the intractable Africa, is now undergoing massive economic transformations. This however has not been the case yet with Manipur. This reality necessitates the state to give primary focus on economic governance.

We know for sure that the state is not good either on the political governance front. A state implies much more than a symbolic presence of an elected government. The government as the most powerful and legitimate agent of the state should ensure a salient presence of political governance. But the effectiveness, success and sustenance of political governance can be ensured only by a feasible and functioning economic governance.

But lo the case of Manipur!! We have a government which cannot make fertilisers available to the farmers.

We as citizens are not interested in the explanations and excuses for this, but we know for sure that this is an unmistakable instance of failure of economic governance. This is particularly so given the nature of the economy of the land and the emerging pattern of land use in this province.

At this moment in history, the economic imperatives of supporting the agricultural sector cannot be overemphasised in order to reduce the burden on the economy of food imports and make the sector survive in the emerging scenario.

Development is what the land needs today more than anything else. The grudge for long has been the lack of funds disabling performance on the development areas. Now the information is that despite the presence of funds, the state is not able to execute the developmental functions. As a citizen, we do not like to hear the explanations and the excuses. But we do know for sure that this again is another stark example of failure of economic governance.

Whatever the level of development of Manipur, the role of the fuel stations in the daily functioning of the land can no longer be underrated. But the fuel stations are running dry for the last four days in the land of jewels.

As a citizen, we do not like to hear the explanations and the excuses of the state in this case as well. But we do know for sure that this too is an example of absence of economic governance.

The Upshot: The upshot of my argument is that the state as it is in Manipur has failed utterly to deliver on the front of economic governance. But any state without economic governance is a land of the funny, for the funny, and by the funny.

However, there is no instance in development history of such a land surviving, what to talk of thriving.