Category: KanglaOnline

For far too often we have been told, and indeed made to believe, there is no paucity of developmental funds for the Northeast. The North Eastern Council, NEC, with its headquarters in Shillong and the relatively recent Department of North East Region, DoNER ministry in New Delhi, are supposed to be the nodal instruments by which these development funds are to be disbursed for the purpose, and whatever funds not utilised is also supposed not to lapse but go into a separate coffer of non-lapsable pool of fund to be carried over to subsequent years and remain basically a Northeast developmental fund. Although we do not have the exact figure, understandably this non-lapsable pool of NE developmental fund would have built up quite sizeably in the years that have gone by. The question is, why is this fund not translating into any tangible and visible developmental projects? There are developmental activities no doubt, but hardly at the pace of magnitude that could or should have been.

A sense of urgency is what is primarily missing in any government activities in the regard. For the last five or six years, consumers in the state have been fed the excuse that electricity is scarce in the state because transmission lines available currently are outdated and not broad enough to bring in the state’s greatly increased requirement from the Northeast power grid and that these transmission lines were being upgraded to make them fit for the purpose. What is taking the government so long to do the needful? Why is it not taking up this matter on a war footing? The injuries this acute power shortage has caused and is still causing are immediate and desperate for it is stunting the growth of the state’s fledgling private sector, the health of which nobody will doubt will prove to be the ultimate solution to the employment problem above all else, the government’s direct employment capacity being limited and already super-saturated. This is a matter which cannot wait unlike say the rail line being constructed. The rail line is important but it is a long term need. Electricity is a daily necessity for any modern economy and indeed household.

In the midst of the monsoon, we also find treated municipal piped water is still scarce. One can only imagine what the situation would be even a month after the wet season is over. Why is this issue also not being taken up on a war footing? There are many more similar cases that need urgent government attention and with it remedial action. None however is forthcoming. There are also many ongoing projects, such as the Imphal sewerage project, which have been overshooting deadlines continually. What is worse, there are also no indications whatsoever so far that this project would come to a fitting closure in the near future. Meanwhile, the citizenry are expected to keep tolerating the fiasco created by these projects in perpetual states of incompleteness. It is atrocious that the old argument that it is insurgency which is keeping all these work at bay is still sought to be the balm to keep public outrage at bay. Development must happen despite all barriers. If the government acknowledges extortion cannot be curbed then let it factor in this extraordinary cost into its project estimates so that the projects themselves do not suffer.

What is also noticeable in recent times is that the military suddenly seems to have become flushed with developmental money. It is now thinking in terms of undertaking small and mid level developmental projects as part of its civic action programmes. Is this money coming from the non-lapsable pool with the DoNER ministry? The military can now donate community halls, sports complex etc to villages. Has there been a shift in the developmental funding pattern of the Government of India? The military adamantly refuses to be brought under civil law when it come to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, which incidentally is 54 years old now, but would readily be given civil responsibilities in matters of implementing civil developmental projects. Is this an amplified version of what has often been referred to quite disparagingly as “donor agenda” (meaning donors would directly or indirectly dictate the terms and directions of development) when it came to funds availed to various Non Government Organisations, NGO, especially by foreign funding agencies? Is this a way of silently militarising civil space both literally and metaphorically? India is a thriving democracy. How then is it that in backwater states like Manipur, governance seems to tend towards conditions that resemble that of a military junta.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/fuzzy-development-logic/

The ritual goes on. Irom Sharmila was produced before the court once again today. The outcome was a foregone conclusion and will remain so till at least the foreseeable future. She will have to remain in jail till such a time as she breaks her indefinite hunger strike demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, totally from the state. Since the latter consequence is hardly likely to happen in the immediate future, it is even more unlikely this hard-willed lady would break her fast, even if she is aware, and she probably is, that her fast will not be able to make the government change its mind on the matter. And so this tragic human drama must continue as it has been. If the court for some technical or other reason grants her bail, she would be rearrested on a new charge. This has been carrying on for the past nearly 11 years now and nobody is under any illusion anymore a court victory can settle Sharmila’s case. In any case, since she is not willing to give up her indefinite fast, if set free, she would die of starvation, and if that happens, the case would get even more complicated. The state’s response of keeping her in custody and forcibly feeding her through the nose therefore is not unreasonable. For the other option would virtually amount to culpable murder through wilfully inappropriate action.

The only way to save Sharmila then is to have the AFSPA repealed. We see all the reasons forwarded in defence of the AFSPA that the army can operate on civil duty only under the act’s present shape, rather convoluted. This is a clever subterfuge. The law is manmade and it can be reshaped as well. What can happen, and in fact what many demanded should be, and indeed what the Justice Jeevan Reddy commission which probed the relevance of the act recommended was in effect for a reshaping of the clauses of the act. The provision to bring in the army to assist civil administration cannot be done away, after all, the last defence to any serious challenge to the Nation State is its military, and the insurrections witnessed in the Northeast region, including importantly in Manipur, are indeed challenges to the Indian State. However, if the army needs an act to be able to take up civil duty, there is nothing which says it cannot be accountable to the country’s legal system. The AFSPA says precisely this. First are its draconian features which include the power to even kill on suspicion. But even more dangerous is the guarantee of impunity which makes army offenders where the AFSPA has been promulgated not directly accountable to the civil court of law. Why must this clause remain? Remove this clause, and the AFSPA would lose its terrifying visage and consequently a lot less draconian. If the government makes this gesture, it would be a reasonable concession with which to persuade Sharmila to end her fast, thus saving her. It would also be a victory for her without making the Indian State a loser. The army can still swing into action when called for but within reasonable, democratic and civilised restraints.

Just a year ago, the establishment thought allowing foreigners into Manipur and some of its neighbouring states, was not advisable, on the presumption that this would adversely influence the mindset of the people here. The government for whatever the reason decided one fine morning that this regulation could be lifted on an experimental basis. A year down the line, other than an end to haranguing the foreign visitors, nothing that the government initially feared has come true. Lifting of similar restrictions in Kashmir years ago also had effects that were directly the opposite of what the government feared or pretended to fear would happen. It is time now for the government to yet again invoke the inspirational voice within itself, or what Barak Obama described as the “spark of divinity” in formulating policies, to resolve the issue. Let it again go ahead and extend another unilateral show of trust to the people of the Northeast and reframe the AFSPA. Let the provision to bring in the army to assist the civil administration when the latter requests for such an intervention remain, but let it act within the reasonable restraints provided by the constitutional law of the country. It is true the police can be, and has been, known to be high-handed too, however, because they are accountable to the law, the sense of the general public that they have nothing to defend themselves from undeserved victimisation is much less. Such inquiries as the one instituted into the BT Road killing and the manner the law was demonstrated to be domineering above all else, including the police, putting the police in the dock for the alleged crime they committed, itself was a good enough message. The army operating under the AFSPA is made to be seen as above this, and this is unhealthy.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/08/save-sharmila/

Leader writer: Leivon Jimmy
The education atmosphere in Manipur never gets better, and apparently will never be.

Proving this point would not be a hard topic for anyone especially denizens of the state who have witnessed unique forms of agitation every now and then.

One of the most unfortunate and grim realities creating worse case scenarios out of the educational system are ‘we’ sons/daughters of the soil. Our reckless acts have always been posing as a threat to the career of students’ community.

The most glaring and effective example at the moment is the ongoing agitation demanding separate district for Sadar hills. The agitation has given enough hardship to the general public but the most important issue remained the career of thousands of students, who have been deprived the right to education for over a month now. Around 7000 students of 136 schools, alone in Saitu-Gamphajol sub-division, are at stake.

The educational institutes have been paralyzed for more than a month now but there seems to be no immediate measures in sight to save this lot from both ends (the agitating and government).

To mention some ground realities, Children are using the National Highways as their playgrounds. They were seen running along the highway in packs carefree. The most shocking discovery is that the phrase “an idle mind is devil’s workshop” fits in very well, as these children started to even mimic the blockade supporters.

Looking back to the past, the people have seen similar deprivation but much worse, the educational system in the state especially in valley districts were paralyzed for several months in protest against the July 23, Kwairamband incident. The July incident has already created a huge gap in the academic career of a generation, huge enough that many fears what the future holds.

Keeping aside these two issues, there are frequent strikes, bandh, blockade annually on many issues, most of them does not relax educational institution from the purview of the agitation. And still there are more issues ahead of us that could bring similar fate on academic atmosphere.    

It is questionable, is it really necessary to deprive the students of their right to study however genuine the demand is?. Students are considered the future pillar of our society but if the pillars are weak will our society be stable?.

Where is the Right to free and compulsory education act passed by the parliament on August 4, 2009, providing provision of free and compulsory education to children from 6 to 14 years.

If we are serious enough, this is the high time that all the section of the society including the government, to put a full stop to the trend of unnecessarily disturbing educational institutions in any issues. So that we could pass down a whole new legacy to the next generation free of gambling students lives and career.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2011/09/where-is-the-right-to-education/