We all know that Nagaland, like the rest of the Northeast Region, has tremendous scope for economic development. More than 50 years of State hood, the numerous mandates given during elections and the reality on the ground however do not give us the confidence to project Nagaland as a developed State. Many times we hear our politicians complaining about meager funds being given by the Centre i.e. the Government of India or that we lack in internal resource mobilization. In fact the truth is that we get enough or even more to actually build our State—schools, roads, hospitals etc. But it is embarrassing to actually learn that we still lack even the basic infrastructure. From time to time the local media has been highlighting everything that is wrong in Nagaland. Some villages still do not have roads of their own. We often see or hear about the pitiable condition of government run hospital or school thereby reflecting the poor state of our health and education sector. We can list out many more cases which clearly shows disconnect between the State and the ordinary people especially in places beyond Kohima and Dimapur.
Agreed it will not be fair to compare ourselves to say a Punjab, Gujarat or a Kerela. However we should be able to test where we stand in relation to the other seven-sister NE States. Clearly Nagaland is a senior when it comes to the years of Statehood we have enjoyed. Younger States like Sikkim, Meghalaya or even Mizoram are all moving ahead of Nagaland on almost all fronts. Many prospective investors are showing greater interest for States like Sikkim and Meghalaya besides Assam. People want reliable infrastructure (like regular power supply) better connectivity (quality roads), assurance of security and peace. At best Nagaland seems to be a popular destination for tourists especially during first week of December thanks to the annual Hornbill Festival. Beyond that as far as its other economic potential goes, Nagaland may look good from far but it is far from good, especially for those who are looking at bringing in investment.
The point is that the level of development in Nagaland clearly does not measure itself to the money pouring in for the same and it is this statistic that needs to be changed. The question is can another election help? For five years (of a elected government’s tenure), it is the powerful people who rule over us and take decisions on our behalf whether good or bad, for public welfare or individual interest, for service or for greed etc. It is in this context that we need to get firm assurance from our elected representatives about fulfilling the so called people’s mandate, especially the development needs.
As already mentioned we tend to argue that our State is an exception—being small with resource constraints and therefore politicians say that we cannot ensure proper development. But this is a lie and a very convenient way of making excuses. And so instead of taking the responsibility for the failure, they put the blame on the familiar myth of our State resource mobilization or the lack of it. Election is the only time when people can decide whom to elect (although in Nagaland we still cannot guarantee if every citizen will be entitled to his or her vote). For once it is the politician who will perhaps be willing to listen to public grievance and need. So why not take this opportunity to make people’s voice be heard.
