Diagonising the 2 years of the 10th Assembly : Failing to turn mandate to governance
- Sangai Express Editorial :: January 03, 2014 -

A new year it is.

Nearly two years old, the Congress Government is.

In office for the third consecutive term and while Chief Minister O Ibobi has already scripted some sort of a history, first by becoming the first Chief Minister of the State to complete a full term in office he has already set the record of being the longest serving Chief Minister beating the grand old man of Manipur’s politics, the veteran and redoubtable Rishang Keishing.

Much have already been said about the first two terms, which were tumultuous to say the least.

The brutalised and bullet riddled body of Th Manorama in July 2004 gave a new fillip to the demand to revoke the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the State, the kidnap and murder of Lungnila Elizabeth benumbed and shocked the sensibilities of people cutting across communal and ethnic divides, so too did the brutal killing of Hrinii Hubert and Muheni Martin in Senapati.

It was during Mr Ibobi’s first term in office as the Chief Minister that Manipur witnessed its first marathonesque economic blockade, lasting 52 days in 2005.

The second term followed more or less the same pattern, with the July 23 BT Road incident and Tehelka coming out with a sequential series of photographs, which showed N Sanjit being accosted, shoved inside a pharmacy and later brought as a dead man, killed in a proclaimed shoot out, while the lifeless body of Th Rabina lay on BT Road with her infant child crying besides her dead mother.

The months of street protest did not budge the Government nor did it give a defining change to the understanding of policing.

The more than 100 days of highway blockade consecutively imposed, first by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee and the counter blockade by the United Naga Council, rounded up the second term in office of the Chief Minister.

In between there were many instances, instances which left the people high and dry and outraged their sensibilities.

Now in office for the third consecutive term and nearly two years old and with the dawn of a new year, has Manipur really moved forward or in other words, have there been any instances to show that there is governance in place ?

The parameters to measure governance may be difficult for there are different yard sticks or bench marks.

If building roads and inaugurating new projects are anything to go by, then Chief Minister O Ibobi has to his credit the Manipur High Court, the new Assembly building, the auditorium of the Manipur Film Development Corporation, the Inter-State Bus Terminus, the City Convention Centre and the BT Flyover.

Besides these, there are others such as opening Operation Theatre rooms in the district hospitals.

But have any of these really meant anything to the people at the grass root level ?

Have the lot of the people improved ?

With the coming of a New Year, 2014, it is perhaps appropriate to study what strides or what the Government has done in the nearly past two years that it has been office in the 10th Assembly.

In Mr Gaikhangam, the Deputy Chief Minister who also holds the Home portfolio, we have a man who has been consistently sending out the message that he is here to try and make a change, especially in the manner in which police personnel function.

True to his words and assurances, allegations of fake encounters have seen a sharp drop in recent times, but there are still a lot to be done.

The police continue to wear the badge of arrogance with a sense of pride. It is this badge of arrogance that should be ripped off their Khakis.

Corruption continues, with the price tag of a Government job seeing a quantum jump.

The age of contractors and suppliers, it has become, with no professional contractors in sight. Fly by night operators ruling the roost.

Stability, Manipur has certainly seen this in the last 12 years or so, but the down side of this stability is not missed to the keen observer.

The result is the emergence of an entrenched coterie, with the culture of favouritism becoming the order of the day. Institutional collapse is there for everyone to see.

No wonder then that in the last 12 years, Manipur has not seen a Minister being dropped for non-performance.

On the other hand, it has been more a case of cosying up to the power centres to be part of the elite group of the 12 member Council of Ministers.

VIPdom continues to be the order of the day.

In sum, the Congress has not been able to translate the massive mandate it received at the hustings to governance.

This is the drawback.