Today, Nagaland state has roads that do not look or feel like roads; it struggles with great pain to even provide 12 hours of electricity a day in Dimapur - other smaller towns are even less fortunate; and since it lacks a comprehensive water harvesting and storage policy it cannot provide a consistent flow of water-supply to its citizens, even though there are sufficient natural water sources. Nagaland state has primary health care centers which for most part are neither efficient nor effective, and in some places not even functioning; and considering that the primary health care centers are the first health delivery service accessible to the villagers, it means majority of the people are denied quality health care.
Nagas consider themselves to be a self-sufficient agrigarian society and yet when neighboring states impose an economic blockade, we do not even have reserves of essential commodities that will last beyond two days. Where does this leave the people? The problem is further compounded when politicians and policy makers are all harping on development and progress, when the people are yet to be informed till this day on an economic framework that will guide governmental policy and actions from where it is today to where it hopes to reach tomorrow. What about quality primary and higher education? It is almost non-existent. What the state calls education is literacy; not quality education which is required for the development of a society. The state of functioning in Nagaland can be described as merely surviving; it has failed to function in a way that would alleviate the quality and life of the people.
The list of issues is unending. And they are not just a set of issues; they involve fundamental questions that are directly responsible for the well-being of every individual and every community in Nagaland. Yet, in critical moments such as this when the election period comes, none of these issues are raised or discussed in the public arena. Somehow elections tend to focus on political candidates and political parties, and everything else becomes secondary. It is no wonder, that the absence of a vision, a policy, a strategy becomes acutely felt, no matter which government has come to power. The history of the Nagaland state is clearly indicative of this, and yes, till date no politician or any political party has been held accountable to the people for their (mis)deeds.
Elections in Nagaland are reduced to a state of constitutional exercise, which lacks content and substance. In essence this demonstrates that elections in Nagaland is centrally about who has power. So long as the public and the politicians do not critically and honestly engage on issues that are essential to the collective well-being of the people, the overwhelming conditions of survival in Nagaland state will further degenerate, causing further suffering to the people in which an elite lot will only further gain from an already confusing and suffocating situation. It is ironic that neither the media or educational institutions, public interest groups nor the intelligentsia has taken any initiative what so ever to bring to public expressions the issues which are needed to hold politicians and political parties accountable to the people.
All the sloganeering and promises remain empty and hollow. Unless the public talk about the roots of corruption and its consequences on all aspects and on all levels of government institutions and unless the politicians demonstrate the political will to confront corruption once for all; Nagas must be ready to understand that no amount of promises, no number of manifestos; and no matter which political color can bring about true change. Yes, at the end of the day Nagas must accept that corruption is a diseases that is fast destroying the people; and the sooner we begin to talk about it, the greater the sense of urgency to address it. This election is the most opportune time for Nagas to publicly talk about corruption and it is important that the public hold their representatives accountable in ensuring that they contribute towards ending corruption completely.
