There is no magic formula for policy to foster rapid socio-economic development and progress of a society. It is impossible to prescribe specific policy pathways that guarantee success of a people group. It is only through hard work and enterprise that a society can progress. Of course, the government plays a pivotal role in a people’s growth but the government in itself is just a group of individuals and it is only as functional as the people are enterprising. The government cannot legislate a people into prosperity. Thus, it can be said that a people can progress only with the creation of an ecosystem where there is the right set of circumstances under which hard working and enterprising members will flourish. Unfortunately, Mokokchung does not have that ecosystem.
We have a tendency to put the blame on others for the lack of progress in our society but we must realize that blaming others is one of the reasons why we are not progressing in the first place. It is a reflection of our laidback attitude. Blaming others or the circumstances for our failure is more convenient than owning responsibility. We have to get ourselves out of this defeatist mentality, the sooner the better. As a social group, we must make a conscious effort to take corrective measures, identify our strengths and weaknesses, influence policy makers and take proactive actions. Being a tribal community who as recently as a century ago were living in the confines of our village republics, we have much catching up to do. The rest of the world is going to move ahead – with or without us. Therefore, we must also take the necessary steps to move ahead in tandem with the changing world or we will be left behind.
People groups that are today the most advanced were also once just like us. Spanning over thousands of years, their societies evolved and progressed. The British, for instance, were also once tribals just like we are who went on to subdue the whole world. We are in a way very fortunate because modernity dawned on our land without us having to go through thousands of years of lived evolution. What is unfortunate for us, however, is that we have not been able to capitalize on the advantages that modernity has given us. It is in this context that this column would like to encourage our intelligentsia to get more proactive and expressive. Without the intelligentsia guiding the members of the society, without critiquing the government, and without engaging in the socio-economic and political discourse, it is impossible to even think of Mokokchung making any significant progress. Yes, there are the public leaders and the political leaders too, but there are times when the intelligentsia must get busy for the good of the society as a whole – and that time is now.