Imkong Walling
Nagaland has not much to boast of as far as the parameters of growth and development are concerned. Infrastructure is one area where the state takes a beating, which has further dealt a festering wound to all round growth.
Barring a relative improvement in roads in the district headquarters over the past two-three years, the deficiency is all pervasive, be it in healthcare, education, roads, power, water, communications, transport, sports et cetera.
Then there is the question of transparency which automatically has telling impact on governance and implementation of development programmes.
The deficiencies are all too evident and worrying, yet, one thing that is even more perturbing is the élan with which culpability is passed— people in positions of influence blaming it on the masses and the masses retorting in equal measure.
This unapologetic game plays out during elections when the electorate, citing distrust, uses it as an opportunity to extract whatever possible from the electoral contenders. It is evident in the energy sector, where consumers demand stable supply of electricity. On the other, a service provider, buried in debt, wants the consumers to be better payers. It is evident in the development and asset generation sector— a sector where the government and policy-makers make it a patronising affair, while development loans are largely regarded as free dole-outs by beneficiaries without pondering on the essence of financial services.
More recently, it came to fore again. This time, it was in relation to the sports sector.
Speaking at the inaugural of the Dr T Ao Inter-district Football Championship, the Advisor for Youth Resources & Sports was quoted in the news lamenting a perceived lack of dedication among sportspersons in Nagaland despite possessing talent and a tendency to entirely depend on the government for aid and exposure.
On the other side, the pulse within the sports community has been one of dissatisfaction. An incomplete ‘Multi Disciplinary Sports Complex’ in Dimapur even after 15 years and Rs 58cr in expenses, besides the below par standard of the few available Sports Hostels and sports infrastructure, except in Kohima, is perhaps grounds enough for the general air of disappointment among aspiring sportspersons.
Likewise public discontent is palpable in almost all spheres of governance. Meanwhile, patronising rhetoric and unapologetic posturing of policy-makers are dealing more harm than good, especially to a government drawing its powers from the people. As would any wise parents, it is perhaps wiser to own responsibility, at the same time, transitioning to a more apologetic public relations than the apologist tone that only draws more public vitriol.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
