As Nagaland enters a new year it is only fitting that the government machinery-both the administration and police will be led by a new Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) respectively. Given that a major part of our activity and also well being is centered on the government, it is only right that this vital instrument, of our progress and development, is in good sound health in order for it to continue performing its task with vigor and confidence. It also means that the State bureaucracy and the police force must come out of the shadow of its political masters and deliver goods and services to the people without fear and favour. While there is nothing wrong in supporting a particular political party as a private person, because to vote is a political right that cannot be denied to a legal citizen, but when it comes to one’s professional conduct, one should leave behind his or her politics and remain above any sort of affiliation and entanglement. However somehow in Nagaland we are unable to keep our politics and professional life separate. Take for instance even at the village level we have GBs and Council Chairpersons who hold active membership in a political party and play an active role in current politics. In such cases certain rules must be devised to disallow such practice. A person can always resign from his/her professional duty and take part in active politics.
Off course when it comes to government employees or the bureaucracy, there is not necessarily an open display of one’s loyalty to this or that party but nevertheless behind the scenes many of our officials patronize those in power. It is also no wonder that a majority of those entering the political fray to contest elections happen to be former top ranking officers serving in the government. There are also many who time their retirement from service to contest elections. And in a way there has been no serious functioning of the government and many of the senior officials are playing the political game to the hilt. As a result government programmes are fine tuned to suit one’s future political constituency. Our Naga officers are good at this. As already mentioned before in this column, in order to curtail misuse of official position for future political gains the suggestion of the Election Commission asking the government to bring in a “cooling off period” clause between leaving the government job and joining a political party by these officials, should be implemented.
Many of the ills in our society such as corruption can be addressed if we can also break this deep nexus between the politician and the bureaucrat. Politicians in Nagaland have too much of discretionary power, which is encouraging corruption, illegality and possibly creating division within the bureaucracy itself where hardworking and honest officers end up dejected and unmotivated to perform. And if you look at it there is no real governance taking place. Many of our government work remain on paper. We seem to have developed good skills to design convincing Budget proposals and get our plan outlay from Delhi to spend on the corrupt without getting much work done on the ground. The question is whether the new Chief Secretary and the DGP can bring about some correction in the way the government has been functioning all these years under the indiscretion of its political masters. It is an opportunity to bring in a system that can promote transparency, efficiency and accountability. Perhaps a code of ethics needs to be developed for the bureaucracy to function in a more professional manner. It may take time but this can improve our overall system in the long run.
