More than an ornamental head : Pro-active Governor
- Sangai Express Editorial :: February 03, 2014 -

Governor VK Duggal visit Lamka Town on 31st Jan 2014 :: Pix - N Johnson Lhungdim

Barely a little over a month in office and Governor VK Duggal seems intent on making Raj Bhawan more than an ornamental office.

This was amply demonstrated during his maiden visit to Churachandpur on January 31 as well as the instructions issued to the Border Roads Organisation to pull up their socks and get things moving on NH-37.

‘I deliver and do not indulge in empty words’, was the message that he sought to convey when he stated in Churachandpur that those who have worked with him know that the issues raised before him would be thoroughly examined and discussed.

Interesting. A former bureaucrat, a former Union Home Secretary, to be more precise, VK Duggal would surely not be lacking in experience and if his words are to be considered with the seriousness it deserves then Manipur may well witness a proactive Governor.

Whether this would go down well with the political establishment or not is something which still lies in the realm of speculations, but it would not be wrong to say that the office of the Governor enjoys more trust and confidence from amongst the people and this is where a proactive Governor becomes all that more interesting and significant.

How successful will the Governor be in living up to his promises or assurances remains to be seen, but he has already rung out the message that he is not here to merely complete the formality of five years in office.

In other words, VK Duggal more than made it clear that he does not believe in just being a Governor, if his interaction with the elected members of the Autonomous District Council of Churachandpur is anything to go by.

To be sure Mr Duggal would not be the first Governor to identify himself with the people, as Manipur has already had the experience of ON Srivastava, who made a difference to Raj Bhawan, with the stadium at Mapal Kangjeibung and the Nupi Lan complex standing testimonies.

Then there was Governor Dr SS Sidhu, who departed from the precedents of ‘misguided youth’ and instead preferred to use the term ‘dissatisfied brethren’ while referring to the armed outfits.

This prompted a positive response from the proscribed UNLF, which came out with the proposal of a Plebiscite under UN supervision.

That Delhi and Imphal chose to ignore the proposal of the UNLF is another thing, but here is an example of how the office of the Governor can make a difference.

The road journey taken by Dr Sidhu along the Imphal-Jiri line during the first marthonesque economic blockade in 2005 is something which no political leader of the day has tried to emulate.

A Constitutional head, with no real power in the real sense of the term. This is what the office of the Governor is.

But ultimately what matters more is how the incumbent occupying the Constitutional post try to understand the issues besieging the people and accordingly give his briefs to the Centre.

It was nothing much more than a symbolic gesture but it did say something very significant when the former Governor of West Bengal, Gopal Krishna Gandhi decided that power supply to Raj Bhawan should be stopped for one hour every evening to emphatise with the power cuts that the people of West Bengal had to cope with some years back.

There have been Governors who were also in the news for different reasons and this is where the name of Romesh Bhandari crops up when he occupied Raj Bhawan in Uttar Pradesh many moons back.

All examples of how the office of the Governor can be run and managed.

In VK Duggal, Manipur seems to have received a man who wants to make a difference from Raj Bhawan and it would certainly be interesting to see how he proceeds from his promises and assurances made at Churachandpur in the coming years.

A friend of the people.

A statement pregnant with significance and meaning and while it is hard to read into the future, it would certainly be interesting to see how VK Duggal interprets the meaning of friendship with the people.

Whatever the outcome, from what has happened in the last few days, Manipur can expect an active Raj Bhawan.

However an active Raj Bhawan may not necessarily mean everything would be positive but it would certainly be better than a laid back one, which remains cut off from what is actually happening in the State.