Moa Jamir
For the last few days, most Nagas are riveted with a certain ‘middlemen’ – a retired police officer retained as a consultant in Nagaland Home Department. The State Police Chief justified his employment for his “good contacts in the Union Home Ministry” and for being “conversant with the works” – a euphemism to convey that he is someone whom the state cannot live without.
Obviously, his influence is infectious, even making one reporter to allegedly describe him apparently involuntarily as ‘Sir’ while reporting on the issue. A usually reticent Naga Hoho also asked the State Government to set up Special Investigation Team, terming the incident as a ‘tip of the iceberg’.
Beyond the collective outrage, however, there is a growing but distressing realization - such ‘middlemen’ exists in every spheres of our life with the system itself as the spawning ground.
A common lexicon will describe the term as “a person who buys goods from producers and sells them to retailers or consumers and a person who arranges business or political deals” between other people – an intermediary, a go-between.
In India, those ‘protagonists’ has captured popular imagination especially in numerous controversial defence deals over the years. Omnipresent, yet shadowy, they are considered “useful for helping sellers cut through red tape.” From five-star hotels to a shoddy market to a ramshackle government office, we encounter them.
A study by Shapiro et al (2016), on local politicians in India abusing their power to benefit members of their own network found out that in rural road construction programme (PMGSY), a politician coming to power resulted in 63% increase in the share of road projects allocated to contractors who share a common surname.
Things have gone to such that last May, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi sang new tune called `Middlemen Mukt Bharat’ (Middlemen free India). But getting freedom from such entities is better said than done. Having a ringside view on how the system works, they lurk in the power corridor and are known for getting “things done” for a price. Anyone with the working knowledge of the government machinery will affirm the same.
One of the significant characteristics of middlemen is their connection and networking – either with powerful politicians or senior officers in the services. Many retired officers themselves become one. Consequently, red tapism, petty corruption, bribery and facilitation payments have become ‘normal’ practice, which citizens encounter daily while dealing with the public administration or for other services.
In the power corridors, from peons to the topmost officers to the politicians, it’s a well entrenched and well-oiled hierarchy. In almost all sectors, they serve as the “go-betweens” for public service deliveries and the citizens for a fee - often supposed to be free on paper. One who cannot afford their service is hugely disadvantaged – either their works gets delayed or not done at all.
Why do the powerful savor their company? The ‘powers that be’ point towards the middlemen so that they undertake their activities with impunity. Why do the powerful savor their company? As the middleman are, by the virtue of their job - loyal, discreet and always the fall guy, they serve as a conduit, scapegoat for the powerful as well as a ‘back channel’ medium when things get out of hand.
Transparency, citizen awareness, technological solutions are some measures given to do away with middlemen. In Nagaland, such mechanisms are mostly missing. Visit any departmental website or any government office, if one disagree with the argument or if one is yet to encounter a ‘middlemen’.
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