Corruption in the House
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 13, 2013 -

In a welcome change, the ongoing 5th session of the 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly has acknowledged the vice of corruption that has eaten into the very core of Manipuri society right from the top to the bottom, and thus, leaving nothing in between.

During the deliberation on passing of the Governor’s address in the House on June 11, Opposition MLA Dr I Ibohalbi ridiculed the fact that even though Manipur has received the award for good governance during the 3rd e-North East Award Summit 2012 held at Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, in November 2012, there is no sign of any good governance in the State.

The honourable MLA noted that with corruption deep rooted in every department, not a single file could be expected to pass from one hand to another or from one table to the other until the palms of the dealing clerk or official concerned have been greased, and coming late in the office but returning home early has become a trend in every Government office.

In response, Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, who is the leader of the House, too expressed concern over rising cases of corruption in the State and made a fervent appeal to all the MLAs, Ministers, NGOs and the general public for suggestions and feedbacks on forming of a new mechanism to control corruption in the State.

This, we feel, is an honest admittance on a burning issue engulfing the State today.

However, to hear the elected members talking about the menace of corruption and the need to curb it sound rather funny, because corruption essentially stems from the abuse of the entrusted power by those in power for their private gain.

So, in the State where the elected members have been shying away from declaring their own assets and liabilities, it is unimaginable what the suggestions and feedbacks from the NGOs and general public, forget about from the MLAs and the Ministers themselves, would do to solve the problem of corruption.

Or was it another trick to fool the people and divert their attention from the issue?

Call us skeptic or doubting Thomas, but we still remember all those noises created around the formation of a Cabinet Sub-Committee to record the assets and liabilities of the ruling MLAs and Ministers and MLAs a couple of years back.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee was reported to have been constituted following a directive from the Union Home Minister for evaluating the assets and liabilities of the elected representatives and the incumbent Chief Minister himself had issued an order in this connection.

But what has happened to that? If any of the honourable members in the House could provide a satisfactory answer to this, then let them talk about corruption and public would be ready to listen.

Otherwise, it would be a great dishonor to the august House.