The public critique

Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 7 

Two years into the PDA government’s tenure, The Morung Express sought opinions from individuals as to whether there has been any positive change in terms of service delivery and reining in the usual suspects—corruption and nepotism. 

Meritocracy a mockery
Social activist, Barth Humtsoe maintained that the PDA government is far from realizing the promised ‘Change is coming’ catchphrase. “Backdoor appointment is still rampant. Road conditions are pathetic and I'm not talking about national highways,” said Humtsoe. 

“Meritocracy as promised has become a mockery,” said Kevitho Kera, coordinator, Concerned People of Nagaland and echoed Humtsoe’s view on the controversy surrounding appointments to government posts. He further questioned the government's lack of political will towards setting up a Staff Selection Board. 

Kahuto Chishi Sumi, Akukau (headman), Hevishe village also questioned the government's claim that backdoor employment does not exist in the Department of Higher and Technical Education. 

Welfare schemes 
Humtsoe questioned whether government welfare programmes are actually reaching the targeted people, stating that the reach of welfare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and Pension Scheme are limited, “because the public are not aware.”

Chishi said villagers are being cheated out of their Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme wages, while “school children are being deprived of their mid-day meals, college students are missing their scholarships and disaster victims don’t receive any assistance.” “The poor still have to buy medicine in our government hospitals, including syringes and bandages,” Chishi added.

Basic amenities
Electricity, water and roads are areas successive governments have failed to address comprehensively. Humtsoe said that the public are made to suffer power outages owing to pending bills or crores of unrealized dues, while bridges are lying half constructed. “How is Nagaland supposed to develop without these amenities?” posed Humtsoe.

Chishi recalled the government’s promise of commissioning a project to augment water supply to Kohima town within 45 days in April 2018.  “Has the water arrived?” he asked, while commenting that the recent upgrading of roads in Kohima shows poor workmanship.

Any change?
On a brighter note, Humtsoe noted inroads made in e-governance, while also observing that instances of “proxy teachers” have reduced significantly. He appreciated the state government’s ‘No work No pay policy’ yet added that these changes accounts “for a measly 10% of their promises.”
“The list of non-performance is endless, suffice to say, it’s the same old story of exploitation, corruption and nepotism,” added Chishi.