Azo Vezokho Nyekha: What is more serious than that Naga Hospital Authority (NHA) is selling expired drug to patient? Is it not questionable how the whole affair had been managed by the state govt. The issue only popped out, when this alert individual after consuming the drug felt sick and vomiting and thereafter lodged complaint and the person selling the expiry drug was arrested on charges of negligence and dereliction of duty may be. Do you know how there are thousands of illiterate poor individual availing the service of NHA, which functions under the Department of HFW, Nagaland. So the public like me are drawn to certain query such as, is there proper co-ordination between staffs and managing authority in NHA? Are there proper and internationally recognised medicines available or source of available medicines properly examined and thoroughly analyzed? Whom should the Department of HFW hold accountable for selling expired medicines? Is it not surprising that the highest and only medical authority in the state was caught selling expired medicine? Was there any rules and regulations in place for managing authority in NHA issued by HFW? Are the Doctors/staffs appointed in various hospitals of Nagaland being appointed through proper recruitment policy as laid down or either done by extraneous influences? Are they being appointed based on honorarium or as regular govt. servant? On honorarium (fixed), they may practice privately, if on regular govt. servant (scale pay) basis, they are not bound to practice privately. Many genuine doctors, not fake doctors, are being found unemployed in our state too.
It is observed that many rules and procedures are being flouted in many Government Departments in Nagaland for decades and as a consequence, public and poor people and less fortunate professionals (not so well to do families) are being made to suffer in silence. Now, it is also very much prevalent that there are many Doctors/physicians wrongly diagnosing even simple sickness and prescribing wrong medicines, which is equal to selling expired medicines.
Naga Nationalism: The Youth Dilemma
Tali M Sashyie Jamir: The Naga people are very fond of saying 'since time immemorial' in almost everything that they talk about- especially when it comes to their socio-cultural and political aspects viz. their history and their identity as well as their 'land'. The 'discrepancy' of the use of such a 'vague phrase' shows when they face the situation of proving themselves and asserting their point of view. Putting it the other way, they fail to point to a certain point of time in history, for instance, why, when, from where and how they reached and settled themselves in their present land. Because of such failures, they are in a dilemma about even their own origin; unable to locate the base of their history. In such a circumstance, the need of the hour is to stop using such a phrase as vague and meaningless as 'since time immemorial' and instead try to dig deeper and at least find a 'rudimentary base' of origin: that being found, they can steady their feet upon that base and start their journey of their unique identity and nationality and hence, begin their Nationalism. That must be the foremost duty of every Naga who loves his nation.
Fortunate enough, unlike their historical origin, the origin of Naga Nationalism can, perhaps, most accurately be traced back to the First World War and the formation of Naga Club by some like minded people who had first hand experience and hence the knowledge of imperialism, domination as well as 'slave-like-treatment' being meted out to the colonial people by the colonists; and, who (might) have foreseen the future of the Naga people under a foreign domination. These people's aspiration to maintain the identity of the Naga people was expressed through various means such as the Nine Points Agreement, memorandum to the Simon Commission (1927), etc. Their vision was farsighted, they dreamed of a united and integrated Naga populace vis-à-vis Naga-lands. However, this noble goal could not be achieved due to the indifferent developments both in the internal and external socio-political spheres. India unilaterally 'disposed off' the Nine Point Agreement; some internal leaders accepted the Sixteen Point Agreement and even signed the Shillong Accord. All these developments were never healthy for the Naga nationalists. This is where the base of Naga Factionalism can be found, and the consequent multi- governments. Now, the problems that most confront the present generation Naga youths are the problems of who is the right owner of Naga nationalism? Who has the authority (legitimate power) to lead? And, whom the Naga populace should lean on to and support? Which Political Group (rather Factional Group) can wholeheartedly, without any biasness, without any ism and with no hunger for power, devote themselves entirely to the National Aspirations? Who has the right to collect revenue and taxes (To whom should the people pay taxes)? To the popularly elected State Government of Nagaland or to one of the factions (these factions are by no means 'popularly elected' nor do they have prior assent of the people)? (Because, Naga people do not have that much economic capacity to feed all the 'political factions').
Having said that, one common question that arises is that, whether the 'torch bearers' of Naga nationalism had started something that is beyond their (Nagas') reach or that they overrated the scope of 'Naga unity' and their mentality of having one nation one identity (given the fact that there are at least sixteen major Naga tribes and many more minor and subtribes; with not only sociopolitical and cultural variations among the tribes but even within one tribe). The Naga youths, who are in a dilemma, and who are asking this question to their old leaders, should, instead, ask the question to themselves and find the answer, as well, by themselves. The youths should take this question as a challenge and seize the opportunity to lead the Naga Nationalism and the people to Ideal Nagaland that they dream of. Just a caution: while you lead, and while trying to change the system, do not let yourself, instead, be changed by the system!
