Official website of Govt. of Assam - Public Information Officers (Union Govt.) - Public Information Officers (Indian Parliament) - Central Information Commission (CIC) - Directorate of Information & Public Relations Govt. Of Assam

RTI Acts & Rules - RTI User's Guide - RTI Acts 2005, FAQ (in Assamese) - RTI Acts 2005, Main Characteristics (in Assamese)

Politics Of Governance Reality Lessons Of Non-performance
By: R.S. Mooshahary

The founder of Infosys, Mr.Narayana Murthy once remarked that our bureaucrats are habitually prone to MAFA - mistaking articulation for achievement. They seem to believe that the power of words will solve all the problems rather than acting on the words of power. In a sense, semantic nit picking is the forte of our politicians and bureaucrats for which they would win gold medal in any international competition.

Our ministers are persons of great common sense though they may not be men of learning. But sadly their common sense often tends to incline to self-aggrandizing activities and that is when they become usurpers and that encourages bureaucrats to jump on the polemical bandwagon instead of performance. Bureaucracy, being the handmaiden of the political executive, cannot be independently accountable for achievement or failure in governance. Politicians are the ones who decide and guide the course and content of governance.

Often we see the politicians reeling off figures on progress and achievement in the spheres of their responsibilities. They provide newspapers with huge advertisements listing out the items of government initiatives for the welfare of the people. They must be aware that its biggest beneficiaries are the newspaper owners as they get hefty payment out of these advertisements. The people - the deprived and the excluded specifically - are nowhere in the reckoning for the end benefit of government programs.

We do not need any statistics to tell us the condition of the state; it is there for all to see. If at all there is need for a reference point, the statistics will only confirm that the state has slid to the last position even among the states in the northeast in terms of per capita income, which is just 15219 rupees in 2006-7. The mainstay of state economy - the agriculture too - is lagging behind in productivity at 1466 kg per hectare, which is far lower than that of other northeastern states. In fact, Assam has very little to take credit in governance even among the northeastern states. At the all India level, the chronically laggard state like Bihar is overtaking Assam to prove the point that dynamic and honest leadership can redeem governance from the morass of inefficiency, corruption and indolence.

Ministers take credit for spending huge amounts on various developmental projects. That shows there is really no dearth of fund for development programs. The mystery is where are all these money going year after year? Take the example of Guwahati. The city is becoming increasingly uninhabitable with rotting garbage, potholes, exposed drains, and inadequate civic amenities despite claims of its beautification and spending huge amounts of money on projects to improve its infrastructure. This is the only metropolis in the region and it has an exclusive department with separate financial provisions and a minister to accelerate its transformation into a city of pride. Its condition in fact mirrors the image of the state as a whole.

With much gusto, projects are initiated for improving the facilities for the city population, promises are made to make it neat, clean and green and ban imposed on the use of plastic bags in the city and smoking in public, but things have only deteriorated. Plastic bags continue to litter everywhere and smoking in public place goes on as usual. The city continues to expand as a third rate overgrown town of squalor and scum in a violence-scarred banana republic.

The government that cannot improve the capital city is unlikely to provide impetus to improve the state. It can only articulate statistics of money spent in the implementation of development programs but like in Guwahati city, the reality is grim and pathetic. The pullulating toxins of corruption have overshadowed the governance objective for long and until the government is able to contain these agents of neuralgia, any claims of achievement are but empty rhetoric - a shameless self-flattery.

On the New Year day, the Chief Minister claimed that holding of the national games was the government's biggest achievement in 2007. It was no doubt a big event, which was conducted very commendably. It was, however, confined to the capital city for which the entire resources of the state were deployed. In the overall perspective that event was no more than an isolated example of determined government action, which is not usually seen elsewhere. It was not an example of good governance nor was it an affirmative action to improve public delivery apparatus to benefit the people.

However, with that type of single-minded focus the government can surely achieve much more. I have discussed in this space the need to ban the bandh for saving the state. The government wants public support for it. Is it necessary for the public to call for a bandh to demonstrate their support? Government must understand the mood of the people and not be influenced by the vocal and militant fringe of the society who claims to represent the people. People are against bandh and it has been amply demonstrated in the panchayat elections where they defied the poll boycott diktat and bandh calls and came in droves to vote.

Assam is bleeding physically, economically and emotionally through bandhs, roadblocks, chakka jams and such other coercive forms of protests more than through any other form of violence. The incidents like that happened at Lakhipur recently where police had to open fire killing 8 people and where scores of people were injured and property destroyed are the ugly faces of bandhs. Worst they divide the society through intimidation and disinformation. The sponsors of such acts must be visited by the harsh consequence of law.

Sections 34 (common intention), 120A & 120B (criminal conspiracy) are applicable to the bandh organizers to charge them for criminal offences for injury, death or destruction of property irrespective of their physical presence at any time or place during the observance of bandh. They are also liable for damages in civil proceedings. Similarly, the organizers of public processions and congregations must be prosecuted wherever there is violence and as a preventive action prohibit the participants of such programs from carrying weapons of offence like spears, bows & arrows, machetes, rods, sticks etc. These laws need to be strengthened by empowering the law enforcement agencies through an instrument of ordinance to deal with all coercive methods of protests effectively. Such an action will win government more plaudits than the conduct of national games.

The most important task of government is to govern and govern effectively. The failure to govern manifests in public violence, misappropriation of public resources, inability to take firm action, excuses for delay, indiscipline and chaos. Why is it that the public functionaries who are responsible for misappropriating PDS items exposed through the medium of RTI Act, who misappropriate fund allotted for poverty alleviation programs like NREGS, who make illegal appointments, who make inflated estimates for project works and otherwise swindle public money remain unpunished? These failures have stoked violence and militancy rendering the state chronically prone to lawlessness.

Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and again and expecting different result. In the politics of governance, they do not seem to want different result. They want to continue making hay while their political sun shines. Yet the CEO of the state - the Chief Minister - can make a difference by choosing a different team and working with drive and determination.

The writer, a former Director General of Police in Kerala and Director General of the National Security Guard and the Border Security Force, is currently the State Chief Information Commissioner, Assam)