Posers over the budget of Sangai Festival : More than hosting a festival
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 19, 2014 -

Time to put one’s best foot forward. A maxim which the State Government can ill afford to ignore.

This is all that more pertinent with the Sangai Festival just a few days away.

Time for the Government to understand the total sum of the term, putting one’s best forward vis-a-vis the Sangai Festival.

On the face, the State Government appears to be putting in all its mite to make the festival a grand success and why not ?

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than demonstrating that India is ready to move from Look East to Act East, the Sangai Festival is perhaps the right time to demonstrate that the State Government is ready to make it more than just a festival but also an opportunity to showcase the potential of Manipur to the outside world.

Right time to capitalise on the recent visit of the Prime Minister to Myanmar as well as the initiatives taken up to reach out to the Association of South East Asian Nations.

This is where the State Government will need to show that it is ready and keen to look beyond just the formalities of hosting the Sangai Festival.

The natural question that follows is, how well prepared is the State Government to organise the Sangai Festival ?

To be sure the repairing work of Sanjenthong will not see the light of day on November 21, the date the Sangai Festival is set to kick off, but this should not be any reason for the Government to throw up its hands and wait for things to happen.

On the other hand this should be all the more reason why the State Government should leave no stone unturned to ensure that it is ready to make the festival a success.

On the face the State Government has indeed managed to send out the message that all efforts are being put in to make the festival a success. However scratch the surface a little and warts will surface.

There is a reason why threats of boycotting the festival have been issued from different quarters in the last couple of days.

Already the student wing of the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System has asserted that if their demand to implement the Inner Line Permit System is not heeded then they would be constrained to boycott the festival.

Likewise a number of organisations have threatened that they would boycott the festival if the Imphal-Yairipok road and some key inter-village roads which lead to important sites like Kaina, Santhei Natural Park and Panem Garden are not repaired ahead of the festival.

Pressure tactics, one may say but this should be more than enough indication that these are voices of protest too.

On top of this, comes the report that contractors hired by the Government to beautify Imphal ahead of the Sangai Festival are unlikely to be paid for the work done as the coffer of the Government is empty.

The last point is interesting. What is stopping the Government from spelling out the budget for hosting the Sangai Festival ?

A point which has not been spelt out before. If at all there is a reason why the budget has not been spelt out, then what is stopping the Government from pointing that out ?

Or is there something else ? Flummoxing to even think that a festival like the Sangai Festival is being organised without going public about the budget and the expenditure.