Hailing Mr Ngajokpa’s lucid exhortations :: Essence of the dignity of labour
- Sangai Express Editorial :: January 11, 2014 -

The call of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr Francis Ngajokpa to the tribal people to work hard so that they progress in life, is pregnant with meaning.

Comes somewhere close to the gem of the observation made by the Father of the Nation, 'No Type of Work Lowers a Man's Dignity as No Work At All' many, many decades back.

Take Mr Ngajokpa's observation on a larger canvass and it should apply to not only the tribal people but to the people of Manipur as a whole. Dignity of labour.

This is a term which figures nowhere in the lives of most of the people of Manipur and this is one primary reason for the large scale influx of outsiders into the State, constraining a group of concerned people to come together and demand the implementation of the Inner Line Permit System.

The demand for ILP is however not central to the commentary here though it may complement each other to a certain extent.

Work, this was the call of Mr Ngajokpa and see this within the context of the tribal people and the observation of the Minister could well mean telling the hillmen and hillwomen not to be complacent under the privileges provided by being included in the Scheduled Tribe List which ensures job reservation.

The quota system was introduced to provide an even playing ground for all sections of the people, so that the socially, economically and politically backward people may have the opportunity to catch up with the others who are placed in a more advantaged position.

It was under this vision that the reservation system was first introduced in the the country for a period of ten years.

The elasticity of the reservation policy can be seen from the manner in which the ten year ceiling has been given the quiet burial and instead more have been brought under certain categories for not only job reservation but also at the time of admission to higher institutions, including highly specialised courses such as medical and engineering schools.

Remember the Mandal Commission and the huge uproar that spread across the country, with Delhi University lying paralysed for nearly four months at the fag end of the 80s or early 90s.

A petty shopkeeper, this was the term that Arun Shourie, much before he joined the BJP, had used to describe the late Mandal, to a huge group of students at Delhi University during those stormy days.

Mr Ngajokpa's call to the tribal people should be seen in its correct perspective. It was not a judgemental statement nor was it a whiplash on the work culture of the tribal people.

Rather it was a wake up call to the young tribal people, especially the students not to take comfort under the reservation system and remain lax but to work harder so that they can catch up with the others, who are deemed to be better off or more advanced.

How effectively this will go down with the young tribal people remains to be seen, but the essence of his statement should not be wasted or be swept away.

His call was obviously targeted at the tribal people, but it is also equally applicable to the whole people of Manipur, where dignity of labour is an alien concept.

The fall out of this trend is there for all to see and digest. Live and eat one must, along with the other needs to lead a decent life and in the absence of a work culture, the only way to achieve this is to resort to anti-social activities, where money or wealth can be earned sans any constructive work or endeavour.

The gun culture, where anyone willing to stretch one's neck out a little bit can amass a fortune in no time by floating a group or an outfit and then start extracting their pound of flesh from the public, through coercion, which generally comes in the form of extortions is one example that comes to mind.

The profundity of Mr Ngajokpa's exhortation lies not only in its substance but also in its brevity, sans any gibberish which makes it easy for the common people to understand.