Z. Lohe
Former Speaker
The role of opposition is as important as the responsibility of the ruling party in the arena of public service. A Ministry without Opposition party is like a widower or a ministry without a capable Opposition party is like a wife who attained menopause and therefore cannot procreate. A ministry may have full of capable and efficient ministers headed by equally dynamic leader as Chief Minister. Yet when the opposition fails to play its positive role that ministry has every tendency to become complacent and even tend to indulge more in corruption. When I talk about positive role I mean constructive criticism. Such criticism from opposition should always be there both inside and outside the House on the performance of the government. While rating the performance of the DAN ministry it is pertinent to give the following personal observations.
Water Supply at Kohima: Kohima, the Capital is the seat of power where all the VIPs of the State live. We are now in the 42nd year of Statehood. Still we are yet to provide minimum requirement of water to Kohima town citizens. Imagine how much amount of money is spent every lean season by helpless dwellers on purchase of water. Imagine the plight of a poor citizen during March/April whether he pays his children school fees or to buy water. Does one believe that everybody is getting water because VIPs and bureaucrats don’t suffer from scarcity of water? Why can’t the government translate the plan of augmenting Kohima Water supply into a reality rather than paper achievement? For the same the Centre sanctioned money during middle1990s but it became a damp squib. Is DAN contemplating to follow suit? If at all the government is sincere I am sure there will be donors to give water.
Corruption: The honesty of the Nagas and our Christian ethics has diluted. Our skin has grown thick and today none including the Church is sensitive to corruption in our society. Therefore, Nagaland stands at 6th most corrupt State in the country according to paper report. At the present rate we will catch up with Bihar which is the worst administered State. There have been open nexus between politicians and goons and there are over 1000 non-bailable warrants of arrest pending execution. Similarly, we hardly punish any erring public servant. As corruption increases disciplinary actions should be there proportionately but the result is otherwise.
Price Rise: Price rise of essential commodities is a matter of concern. There is no price control in our land. It is left to the traders and business community to quote any rate for any item at will at the expense of the common man. The other day a man bought a pair of shoes for Rs.350 after bargaining from Rs.950 at Kohima. To cite few examples, a bag of cement costs Rs.175 at Guwahati, Rs.240 at Pfutsero and Rs.275 at Phek. A truck load of Deopani sand costs not less than Rs.20,000 at Phek inclusive of all charges. It is also learnt that Egg is hoarded in Kohima and naturally rate of the same is manipulated. This is how Kohima has become the 4th most expensive town in the country. How much then the other remote areas are reeling under price rise.
People should be allowed to survive and at this rate common people will find it more and more difficult to survive unless the price rise is contained immediately. Any sensible government will not allow any body to unduly tax its citizens directly or indirectly. The government worth its name everywhere gives priority to see that the cost of living is cheap and manageable. The people in power are expected to see that rampant inflation is checked and the whole rates of essential commodities are scrutinized without delay. In this regard, everybody is expected to cooperate with the State government, if at all it takes initiatives, to bring down the prices instead of being responsible for price rise. Unless we think for the poorer and downtrodden section how could anybody or group claim to represent our people.
Economy: Whatever said and done, economy of the State is most important. There may be hundred and one means available for economic development and its progress. But so long there is no security in our land nobody including rich locals may like to invest their wealth in our place. Nagas alone cannot improve our economy unless the rich individuals and rich companies from outside come and make investment in our land. Yet who will come now? Even an ordinary tourist visiting Nagaland make repeated inquiries in advance whether it is safe to spend a night in Nagaland. When are we going to give safety to friendly outsiders? When are we going to ensure that Nagaland is the safest place for tourists and investors? To me when we make our land congenial and investment friendly only then the genuine and sustainable economic development will come to our beloved land.
Peace: Peace is the prerequisite of the wellbeing of the people. Without peace there can be no progress in the field of any development. Therefore, peace is the oxygen for developments. When there is genuine peace in our land the progress of development is at our doorstep. And there is no substitute to development for removal of poverty and backwardness. Yet when there is drought of peace, development becomes illusionary. In 1964 we had one cease-fire and there was real peace though briefly. Today in Nagaland we are supposed to have overflow of peace since there had been cease-fires. But it is found now that plenty of cease-fire is counterproductive. Till 1975 the Naga people were afraid of Indian army, and now we are afraid of Naga armies. The public feel more secure in presence of Indian army and paramilitary forces.
For the peace drought in Nagaland we cannot 100% blame the DAN government because each individual Naga has a role to play irrespective of status and profession. Nevertheless, DAN tries to bring peace single handedly minus the Congress. In other words, Congress was excluded in Consultative Committee for Peace (CCP) when it was constituted not long after the formation of the ministry. Indeed Congress should have been included in that committee because Congress in Nagaland is not against peace or unity and therefore such committee should be non-partisan. Therefore, the impression created was on how a partisan committee like CCP can broker to bring unity between the warring underground groups. A technically defective and stranded vehicle cannot tow a similar vehicle. To initiate for such unity through reconciliation the over-ground should firstly show unity by sacrificing egos and prestige issue. This action of DAN is proof of their lack of magnanimity and their parochial mindset.
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