Governance, a satire of itself

Imlisanen Jamir

“Well Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn't very much in it one way or the other. As far as one can see, at this stage.”

This perplexing statement was uttered by Permanent Secretary, Sir John Humphrey to a straight yes or no question by his Minister in the acclaimed British comedy show ‘Yes Minister’ which ran in the early 1980s.

As governments continue to defy any sense of self-awareness with their functioning, this political satire from three decades ago endures in its ability to be relevant in exposing the pantomime that is politics and bureaucracy.

On April 16, the headline of this newspaper read ‘RIIN consultation ‘decides’ on more consultations.’ This was the result of a consultative meeting on the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), an issue which already has had consultations and was to be consulted on based on a report by a committee which already held consultations with ‘stakeholders.’ The result, to no surprise, was the formation of another committee to conduct more consultations.  The writers of ‘Yes Minister’ couldn’t have written a script better.

No report on this meeting and its conclusion, either from the ground or from the official government mouthpiece, managed to provide any clarity. Leaving aside the significance of an issue like RIIN, this particular story is only one example of how ridiculous sometimes governance is.  

Of course governance is complicated; it is a drawn out, meandering system of policy making which we have set up for ourselves. But while conceding that reality, surely there are means to ensure that, at least on some issues, decisiveness is shown. Until that happens, government will always be looked upon as a satire of itself.     

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