A candid observation paraphrasing from a speech given by a young bureaucrat in the State of Nagaland was recently shared on micro-blogging site Twitter by a user.
“Nagas still view govt service/politics as a garden with fruits which one enters in to pluck as many fruits in short time to distribute among ones relatives, clansmen and tribesmen. If an officer can’t do that for them, he is considered useless...” (sic).
The refreshing admittance, however, is lived experience of many who enter the civil services or politics, through various mechanisms in the State. Such ‘liability,’ by default, is considered a part of the job.
It further explains the glamour for government sector employment in the State considered, among others, live-long secured employment and an elevated stature, literally and metaphorically; with robust remuneration, many would argue, with lower responsibility and accountability.
More than anything, the ‘associative benefits’ of successful entry into government sector or politics, as rightly observed, is expected to accrue not only to the concerned individual but ‘trickle-down’ in the closely knitted society.
This, in essence, can be considered a way of life, attested by the fact that any new entry into the public sector is greeted with felicitation galore in local papers as if to affirm that “Neighbor's envy, owner's pride,” to borrow a tagline from a popular advertisement in the 1980s.
Accordingly, when a newly transferred officer is stationed at a sub-division, circle, district HQ or at the state level, there is customary beeline by village councils, organisations or in an individual capacity. These are courtesy call often made with understanding from experience that establishing a rapport matters to ensure quick delivery of public services.
The scenario also explains the continued lack of private sector participation in productive activities; the corollary being the aversion of participation and low employment in the sector. The pendulum is also heavily skewed against the sector both in terms of tangible monetary remuneration and intangible attributes such as status and power in the society. A quick comparison of the total emolument of teachers in private and government schools and colleges would give a fair picture of the stark contrast. The private-sector job, thus, is often considered a temporary sojourn, for most job seekers.
According to the Annual Administrative Report 2019-2020 of the Nagaland’s Department of Labour and Employment, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, employment in the private sector (Act and Non-Act Establishments) as of June 30, 2019, was mere 6096 in Nagaland. There are many others in the unorganised sector.
In contrast, during the same period, a total of 87196 individuals were employed in the organised public sector, including the central establishment in the State.
The true status of government sector employment, however, is discernable from the annual “Explanatory Memorandum to the Budget” prepared by the State’s Finance Department. As per the Memorandum for 2020-21, the number of employees in the State’s Government ‘payroll’ (or Employees in the Current Year), inclusive of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS)/Central Plan Schemes (CPS), was 127889. It included 14220 under CSS/CPS.
The magnetism of government jobs, as a result, perpetuate the often alleged issue of “backdoor” or “irregular appointments” in Nagaland, often placated by issuing periodic “Office Memorandum” prohibiting such practices without avail. Such arbitrary practice, apart from facilitating nepotism, favouritism and abuse of power, is a self-perpetuating ‘vicious cycle,’ denying level playing field and equal opportunity employment.
Employment in private sectors, due to saturation of government jobs, is vaunted as the vent for creating resources and concurrently lightening the financial burden of the state government. Devoid of accountability, responsibility, improved governance improvement and the realisation that access to public services is a right, not bestowed, the vicious cycle of viewing government service or politics ‘a garden with fruit to pluck’ will continue to plague the Naga society.
