Dr Chibenthung Yanthan
Dimapur
Society: What do you do?
Teacher: I am an Assistant Professor
Society: Government or Private?
Teacher: Private
Society: Which college/university?
Teacher: X/Y/Z
Society: Lastly, what is your salary?
In a state like Nagaland where one’s social status is determined by the source of employment, the above conversation between society and teacher(s) are quite mundane. It trickles down to every individual who are not even remotely within the periphery of the sacrosanct circle (GOVERNMENT). Because such questions continue to be raised, it becomes an apparent society-manufactured yardstick of ‘who is successful and who is not’. Ideally, the first and third question should have been the only questions asked. I recall an interaction with the students in the class where one evidently pummeled by the magnitude of the society’s expectation said, ‘In one of the village meeting, my opinions were discredited in favour of a government peon simply because I was a student and the other a government employee’ which reminded me of a relative’s advice ‘If you crack exams through competition, even if it’s the post of a sweeper, you should take it’. This reference is not to discredit the value of service every government servant provides but to imply how one’s opinion can also be categorized based on the sector one works in. The problem here is with the societal validation which promotes a conditioned mind that distinguishes between the superior being and inferior being. This pattern tries to create a homogenous society-manufactured success story while marginalizing the life experiences of private employees. So every individual that fails(ed) to be a part of the government sector is forced to believe that they are the inferior citizens of the state. Because outside the government sector, the society would like to argue that there is no financial stability and a comfortable life. Every individual is made to believe it as a universal truth and that’s the only selling narrative which is horribly wrong.
The clichéd warning of many Naga parents is ‘study well and become an Engineer, Doctor, crack NPSC or UPSC and other government services otherwise don’t waste our money and become a farmer’. Should we continue to canonize the government sector; no government of the day will be able to satisfy the incessant demand of the society. This is one of the genesis of backdoor appointments and unethical rampancy of nepotism. The society and the government work hand in glove to sustain the vicious cycle of unholy matrimony between government job-nepotism-backdoor appointment-corruption. Personally, the current fiasco over the regularization of 147 Assistant Professors and Librarian posts by the government weighs heavily in favour of this cycle. To be called an Assistant Professor of a government college rather than a private college/university Assistant Professor seems more glorifying. The most definite borderline between the two is the salary and the societal status or otherwise the societal validation. In fact, teachers from the private sector are made accountable to every penny that they earn with fixed rules and regulations. It may not be wrong to add this that the private employees give more working hours and are scrutinized by the concerned management more than the government does towards its employees. On this note, a student who graduated from one of the reputed government colleges in Nagaland once commented, ‘Throughout the entire semester, I saw my subject teacher come for class only a couple of times’. Such is the reality of our education system- created by those who see work as a burden and deliberately choose to walk away from their responsibilities. However, this is not to generalize and take away the acknowledgments due from those who have honestly given their best and continue their unrelenting struggle to refine the problematic system.
Values are meant to be the most essential requisite for anyone irrespective of their commitments to the public and private sector. However, we ironically value the amount of Gandhi stamped notes earned rather than pursue the values of ethical integrity and honesty. Instead, these values are compromised since they have no monetary return in the society. So tomorrow if you come across an employed person, please refrain from asking which sector they work in and how much they earn but learn to appreciate them for the invaluable services they relentless give to the society in whatever capacity they can. Let us not weigh our jobs in the hierarchical scale and drown each other in the infinite ocean of comparison. Every service that one does is like a piece of puzzle that is meant to complete the larger picture. The teachers on their part are trying to send out educationally reformed citizens equipped to escape the unceremonious conditioning of the society. Let’s be kind and encourage each other to do better each day and make the society more inclusive and accommodative.
Let’s change the dominant societal narratives and categorization.
Dr Chibenthung Yanthan is Assistant Professor, International Relations Programme, North East Christian University, Dimapur
