According to the newspaper reports, two problems are confronting the people and Government in Manipur right now.

First is the problem of absolute uncertainty of power of the electricity variant, and the other is about the location of the National Institute of Technology.

What is really disturbing is the salient lack of application of mind by the government in both.

The Context: Well, governance is never an easy task. While sincerity of the people in power and transparency in administration are paramount, it should also reflect a picture of continuous self-reappraisal. While being fully committal, governance means never being too sure you are right.

Hence the capability for flexibility is also an indicator of strength rather than wea-kness. What is necessary is to be self-critical while at the same time carrying the people along through compassionate administration. The latter has become particularly necessary in the context of emerging culture of forceful imposition of diktats by both state and non-state agents in recent years.

It is in these contexts that I would like to discuss the two problems.

Power Problem: The problem of excessive shortage of power during spring and summer months has been a recurrent feature in Manipur for quite a few years. But to our utter dismay, in no year has the government displayed any application of mind in this regard.

Charity begins at home, so it goes. Government being the largest employer in the State and demander of power during day time, we have to start addressing the issue right from there. I would like to make two suggestions in this regard.

During these months of excessive power shortage, we should reduce the working week from the current six days to five days. This, coupled with other economy measures, would tremendously reduce the demand for power from the government sector.

Secondly, in Manipur people generally come to office after eating early meal. This implies, we can cut short the lunch hour, and bring forward the office closing hours. These two temporary measures are called for as it is important that the government consumption of electricity is reduced while at the same time we ensure power available to the various tiny units dependent on power in the State.

As a medium to long term measure, we need to think out of the box. Regional co-operation is now the in-thing globally. India also has decided to go along in this direction, the only hindrance so far being the government of India's distrust of the region.

This has even cost the Indian government a gas project, which has gone to China. Well, thinking in terms of the regional co-operation, Manipur should pursue a policy of linking up to the power grid of Myanmar instead of solely depending on the national power grid.

While India plans to buy power from the forthcoming hydel project in Bhutan, linking up some of the provinces in the region to the power grid of Myanmar should be a viable option.

NIT: The second problem seizing the mind of the people is the proposed location of the National Institute of Technology. Here the unthinking and uncompassionate nature of the government comes out glaringly.

First, any investment like the National Institute of Technology is a permanent investment with lots of positive spillover effects. It is exactly because of these effects that I had earlier suggested that the institute should be located in one of the mountain districts of Manipur and utilize it as a catalyst for long term transformation of that district.

Secondly, the decision for the proposed location is not politically right. Far too long, the State administration has enjoyed the comfort of intervening for development mainly in the valley in general, and Imphal in particular. It has yet to show that it has a mind for the mountains as well.

Thirdly, being a small State, no location in Manipur is far-off. In fact, having an architecturally amazing institute in one of the mountain districts would serve many purposes for demand based development of other infrastructures.

Besides these three general weaknesses, there are other weaknesses specific to the proposed location. With no expansion of employment opportunities in the State with government service sector remaining as the largest employer, the significance of a plot of paddy-field has enhanced tremendously in recent years. This goes along with the age-old ethos of the State to have at least the security of food.

It is in these circumstances that the present location has been chosen. What we have forgotten is that the people of the area had already paid a huge price in terms of lose of agricultural land for the Manipur University.

So the value of any plot of agricultural land to the people around Manipur University is different from that of other places. If we are to force the people to sacrifice agricultural land now it would amount to squeezing the people of the area twice over.

Here if the government is determined that the institute should not be far from Imphal and should be on the highway where the constituency of the leader of the government situates, then I have one suggestion.

The Waithou Chinggol would be wonderful. We can have the entire Chinggol devoted to it and the architects should be able to design one of the finest campuses of an institute comparable to the best ones around the world.

In fine, a thinking and compassionate government is what Manipur needs today, and not a government which imagines to itself that it knows the whole.