Date with Deputy CM : Was it prudent ?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 02 2018 -

Technically right but was it prudent ?

This is the question that arises. The Vision Document was a document of the BJP and it was in this Document that the BJP had assured to implement the 7th Pay if they are elected to power in the Assembly election held in 2017.

The NPP to which Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar belongs had nothing to do with the Vision Document that one is talking about here.

This much is true. It also stands that the present Government is a coalition Government led by the BJP and not a BJP Government.

Here again the Deputy Chief Minister was right.

But was it prudent to say that the 7th Pay promise was made by the BJP and not by the present coalition partners of the Government ?

That this did not go down well at all with the employees who met the Deputy Chief Minister on May 31 to discuss the 7th Pay and the ongoing cease work strike can be easily discerned from the fuming employees when they came out from the office chamber of the Deputy Chief Minister.

Is plain, direct talk preferred or a diplomatic approach ?

This is a question which the present Government should decide. What however should be answered is whether the Deputy Chief Minister was speaking as a representative of the NPP or the coalition Government which is led by the BJP.

One certainly understands the financial position of the State Government and this is a point which has been mentioned here in all the earlier commentaries on the 7th Pay and the demand of the employees, but there is something called looking back at the pre-poll promises and handling the issue with sensitivity.

Did the Deputy Chief Minister manage to strike this balance is the question that follows.

The important question is, how long will the protest continue like this ?

Will the employees continue to stay away from their official duties so long as the Government cannot afford to give in to their demand ?

Can the Government afford to let the employees go on strike for days without any tangible solution in sight ?

Can the employees also afford to stay away from work for days ?

These are questions which should worry all in Manipur.

The employees and the Government need to come to the realisation that what is at stake here is Manipur.

So for the sake of the place and the people, an understanding should be worked out.

Why not explore that possibility jointly instead of confronting each other ?

If what the Deputy Chief Minister had to tell the employees during the meeting is any indication then so far the State Government has not sought any special package from New Delhi.

Nor has it formally approached the Centre to bail the State out.

What is stopping the State Government from approaching the Centre ?

Are there any constraints that is keeping the State Government from approaching New Delhi ?

If there are then it should be spelt out to the employees who are on strike.

Employees too should question themselves whether they deserve the 7th Pay ?