Haunting mistakes

Mistakes, that remain unrepaired, never disappear. They repeatedly return to haunt sometime or the other, one way or the other. At the moment, Nagaland appears to be haunted by one of these mistakes. A few years back, Nagaland’s Department of Higher and Technical Education hired 147 Assistant Professors and Librarians on contract, the terms of which are not fully known. All these years, there were no advertisements for these posts and no formal/official recruitment was conducted through the NPSC or as mandated by the UGC. A few months back, the State Government regularized these contractual appointees thereby opening a whole can of worms and more such cans of other Departments’ will possibly be opened in a matter of time. Student organizations, research scholars and youth bodies have been peacefully protesting against said regularization for over a week and their very determined stand is that they would not rest till said regularization order is revoked. What they want is fresh advertisements and legally mandated recruitment process paving the way for an acceptable degree of level playing field.

As usual, the State Government mumbled and fumbled its way till it had to blink first. Last week, all Government Colleges were directed to assemble in support of the regularization order on April 21 last. Student bodies, including tribal student and youth bodies, were not having any of it. They directed members ~ basically students ~ not to participate in said ‘show of support and solidarity’. This order is reported to have been issued by the Department of Higher and Technical Education, which it later denied and then rescinded, which in turn was reported to have been directed by the Minister of said Department, prompting the protesters to demand his resignation. On April 21 last, students, research scholars, youths and even members of the public gathered at the State Secretariat complex in greater strength and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima.

Meanwhile, the Government did what it knows best ~ resort to gerrymandering ~ which worked on so many protested issues all these decades. The State Cabinet met on the same day and decided to keep the regularization order in abeyance and of course set up a committee. The protesters were not having any of it and soundly rejected the Cabinet’s decisions, which was clearly stated in their memorandum to the Chief Minister. Their unequivocal stand remains the revocation of said regularization order. The NSF had earlier given a timeframe to the Government to revoke the same order which ends on April 28. Now we wait for the next level as the game of the Government versus youth power unfolds.

Regularization of contractual appointments without due process is not a new phenomenon in Nagaland. It is a rampant decades-old practice elevated to the level of culture in almost every Government Department and agency. It is very likely that there are very few tribes, clans and families that have not been the beneficiaries of this culture. Appointments and regularizations are generally called ‘backdoor appointments’ here and are also rampant in the School Education Departments rendering children and youngsters and their future victims of corruption and nepotism. Last year, the High Court revoked such ‘backdoor appointments’ of over a thousand in the Police Department and ordered advertisements of the posts and recruitment through the NPSC.
‘Backdoor appointments’ have an interesting background. In the early years of statehood, there was a dire need for human resource in Government Departments and agencies. People with minimum qualifications were appointed and minimum in-house training was imparted to them. People already in administrative and other services, not least sundry politicians, were sort of sanctioned to make such appointments ~ desperate times demanded desperate measures, after all. It wasn’t seen as corruption or nepotism at that time ~ what needed to be done was done. And in all fairness, such appointees worked with commitment and dedication and are still deemed the real pioneers of the State of Nagaland. However, the bad apples considered their Departments as their personal fiefdoms, arbitrarily laid down their writs and wrote the resonating human resource history of a number of Departments. In the initial chaotic process of state-building, they passed through the cracks unnoticed and were never called out.

Times brings about positive and negative changes. Things improved in many sectors and population also increased creating a whole new set of dynamics. Looking back in hindsight, Nagaland was then unprepared to deal with these dynamics. With more time passing by, these dynamics spawned increased newer dynamics overwhelming our newer political and bureaucratic leadership. In the early years of statehood, our political leaderships were committed and our bureaucracy was indeed a steel frame and catalyst of change, warts and all. Time changed all that, exposing how unwilling, unable therefore unprepared our newer political and bureaucratic leadership are to find a way out from underneath the avalanche of the past and change course, much less understand the constant churning of dynamics. Therefore, ‘backdoor appointments’ continue in various forms, often stylized nowadays.

Impervious to societal climate change, the river of deep seated tribalism and clannism of the past continues to thunderously roll down to the present and pave the way for ‘backdoor appointments’. Newer political and bureaucratic leaderships developed a thick shell of impunity emboldened by political majority resulting in a fear that spawns surrender and sycophancy. Meanwhile, education, exposure and technology emboldened younger generations that do not buy the run-of-the-mill political and bureaucratic narratives hence demand their rights, transparency and accountability ~ constitutional basics ~ apparently alien concepts to those in power, especially in today’s political climate.

Then there is the issue of leadership deficit resulting in policy paralyses. This leadership deficit is not confined only to the political and bureaucratic but also to the societal such as the Church, tribal organizations and generally what are known as the ‘Elders’ ~ the leadership of which have also been increasingly afflicted with the disease of ‘backdoor appointments’. The tragic impact of ‘backdoor appointments’ are clearly stamped on all aspects of present day State of Nagaland, which all the promised 4-lane national highways cannot conceal and all the proposed shinning infrastructure development cannot compensate for abandoned and lost integrity. Never has a societal leadership of a State let down young generations so badly as in Nagaland. Never has a societal leadership of a State destroy its own future as thoroughly as in Nagaland. Never has a societal leadership of a State walk away from the purpose and promise of a State as determinedly as in Nagaland. Unsurprisingly, the inherent malaise of unrepaired mistakes now haunts the same but also a different Nagaland.

(The Columnist is a journalist and poet. Published in the Assam Tribune issue of April 14, 2925)