TsüknungPenzü
The Government’s plan for shifting of Dimapur Deputy Commissioner’s Office from the present location to a new one should be cancelled in the interest of the people of the Dimapur district and Nagas as a whole. Cancellation should be once for all, and not temporary. It is learnt that the new site is located about 13 miles from proper Dimapur town. To reach the new site one has to travel to 8th miles toward Kohima, From 8th mile a bye-lane branch out to the left that goes about 3 miles further to reach the new site. The new office location is located in a sparsely populated area.
The Dimapur Bar Association had also expressed their displeasure at the plan for the said shifting, and seriously objecting to shift from the present location to the new one. Their objection was published in the Nagaland Post on 11th September, 2012 issue. Any concerned citizen should express freely his or her unwillingness to the said shifting plan.
I am enumerating herewith some strongly based reasons objecting to the Dimapur DC’s Office shifting plan in the interest of public as follows:-
(1) DC’s office is the service centre of all public members of the entire district. Because, daily needs of every citizen of the district are cared for by various officers and administrative functionaries headed by DC and his colleagues. The DC’s Office must be located in the centre of the town or in one of the most easily accessible location convenient to the public members.
(2) All DC’s office in the other States too are in such central place. DC’s Office in Jorhat, Guwahati, Dibrugarh etc. are found located in respective town’s central place.
(3) Somebody may give their arguments that with the rapid growth of the Dimapur town(or city), development and expansion of the new DC’s Office location may become a central place in future. By that future time the present central area too will grow by development increasing its population, infrastructures and institutions. Big cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, etc. has five or more DCs in a city at present. So, as and when Dimapur city grows in size of area, population and development, number of DCs will be increased, but not shifting a single DC from place to place from time to time. It is better not to shift the present DC’s Office on wishful thinking to become city centre in future.
(4) Nagaland is a welfare State as all other States of India. Location of DC’s Office in a convenient place for public, as at present in Dimapur, is one of the main welfare work of the government. When it is shifted to a far-away place causing inconvenience, hardship and more costly to the common people, then the principle of welfare State become automatically destroyed appearing it as an autocratic rule.
(5) The list of daily visitors to DC’s office for different works are endless, some of which are enumerated below for public information in support of this article:-
(i) Students: for scholarships and attestation of their certificates and affidavits.
(ii Peaople needing Notary Public service affidavit making, litigants needing judicial and magisterial service normally attached with DC’s Office.
(iii) Innerline Permit seekers for foreign and Indian tourist who are encouraged both by Central and state governments through their agency of Tourism Department, to travel to Nagaland.
(iv) Labourers of manual works who come from outside the State of Nagaland, because of the shortage of local Naga labourers in certain kinds of works. ILP is both for fresh ones and for renewal ones.
(6) DC is the Chairman of the Village Development Board in all rural villages of Nagaland. Frequent contact with DC or his subordinate officers by the Secretary of VDB is needed for the successful implementation of VDB schemes. If the DC’s office is shifted to the new place, then VDB Secretary’s journey will for town trip, auto rickshaw and taxi hire, etc. will come to several lakhs of rupees in a fiscal year.
(7) Similarly, visit of village elders, GBs, Village Council members to DC will become much costlier if and when shifted to the new DC’s office site.
(8) Drawing and disbursement of MP’s and MLA’s Local Area Development Fund(LADF) is handled by DC’s office. So, common people who implement various work schemes with fund from LADF will have to pay more for their journey to and from between their respective local area and DC’s office in Dimapur.
(9) Under the local Self Government system, village is the lowest unit of district administration under the arm of the State Government. DC and his office is the intermediary unit or agency between the villagers and the high level of govt. functionary. Accordingly DC’s office should be located in a place most convenient to the public or common people of the district. DC’s Office in Dimapur should not be like a health resort or resting bungalow for Govt. officers away from people but a service centre for the common people.
(10) DC’s Office is like parents of a family. Functions of both father and mother of a family is done by the DC’s office. When parents are far away, how can they give satisfactory care for their children? No.
The Concerned authorities in the Nagaland State Government should consider the burden of the common people, and negative consequences to the administration; and cancel the programme of shifting DC’s Office at Dimapur from the present one to the new location.
The writer of this article Mr. TsüknungPenzü, Ex-Minister, Nagaland, who was earlier, associated with DCs of several districts of his posting places, when he was in active government service as District Public Relations Officer, before he entered politics.
.JPG)
