Moa Jamir
Lethargic functioning in many government offices will soon be a passé, if one goes by the recent assertion made by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) that Nagaland will soon usher in a “new era of Governance” under Chief Minister Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu.
By 7 AM, the Chief Minister, “being a stickler to punctuality,” is raring to attend office and is leading by example by “reaching office at 9:30AM every morning since he took over office on February 23 last,” the CMO claimed recently in a press release adding that Departmental heads were also told - to be punctual in office; to set their office in order; and give the best services to the public. Other initiative includes non appointment in his private residential office and no overtaking in traffic jams. “When the head of the State is in such a mode, perhaps, others will take a cue for him,” the CMO philosophized.
A round of inspection of all the departments at the Secretariat was done and the officers and staff alike were found wanting in attendance and the CM was “disappointed,” the citizens were informed. Perhaps, the formal launching of Biometric Attendance System at Secretariat in February 2016 is still in adjustment process though the State Chief Secretary had then called upon all the officers and employees to ‘live by example’ by following the system ‘scrupulously.’ A total of 1385 employees from 58 different departments were registered by June 2016, according to National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Good governance is essential for tools of progress and development and needs three essential ingredients to make it workable - transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the administration. Unfortunately, in many Government offices, prompt and efficient service has become rarest of commodity in the state. It often leads to cynicism as well as the infamous ‘chai khabole culture’ in Nagaland, often implied, though not necessarily stated.
In many parts of the world as well as India, after its first implementation in United Kingdom in 1991 as a national programme, “Citizens’ Charters” initiative were started as a response to “the quest for solving the problems which a citizen encounters, day in and day out, while dealing with the organisations providing public services.”
As a tool for facilitating the delivery of services to citizens, it represented commitment “towards standard, quality and time frame of service delivery, grievance redress mechanism, transparency and accountability.” In India, a comprehensive website of Citizens’ Charters (www.goicharters.nic.in) has been developed and was launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in May 2002 and a list of 729 Citizen’s Charters formulated by 24 State Governments/Union Territories (as on January 24, 2011) are listed on the website. It includes 7 departments from Nagaland - Nagaland Police; Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms; Department of Food & Civil Supplies; Department of Health and Family Welfare; Department of Rural Development; Public Health Engineering Department; Transport and Communication Department.
Whether information and sensitization about such charters were disseminated to the public is beside the point. If attendance is ensured, another growing concern is whether a systematic lethargy is the byword on which the state exists. If we look at the recent impasse, while the state machinery was in limbo for nearly a fortnight, the absence of any ‘big crisis’ in service delivery in many departments, besides concern for salaries, depicts a worrying state of affairs. Either it is non-existent or negligible.
If he wants to set examples, it is pertinent that the new Chief Minister’s initiative should not only be limited to punctuality, but tilted towards guaranteeing good governance and its related ingredients. The Government of Nagaland gravely needs a new “public service charter” with heightened awareness and participation from its citizens.
Can the new CM cure the acute cynicism with the government? Will he create an unbiased and impartial service delivery mechanism? Will he ensure efficiency along with transparency and accountability? Will we be cured of nepotism, mal-administration and cronyism? Can he solve absenteeism, proxy appointment? Most importantly, will he be able to control his restive flocks?
Perhaps, others will take a cue from him.
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