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Knocking
At Delhi’s Door
Chief Minister O Ibobi and his Ministerial team must have cut a sorry figure when Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh merely made a perfunctory observation that the Finance Minister will see what can be done to lift the State out of the financial morass it is presently stuck. No assurances, no promises not even that sympathetic hearing that the Center will consider the plight of Manipur. To be frank, we do not know whether our sympathy should go to the Chief Minister or whether the SPF Government should be pulled up for failing to live upto the expectations of the people.
If we remember correctly, chief Minister O Ibobi accompanied by Power Minister Phungjathang Tonsing and Works Minister Gaikhangam left for New Delhi straight after the Monsoon session of the Assembly to press the Center to release a sum of Rs 150 crores as Non-Plan Assistance as well as to sanction another Rs 560 crores as soft loans to help Manipur tide over the acute financial crisis which had got a vice like grip on the State for the last many years. It is not that the people here were overly optimistic that the Center would agree to bail the State out but at least there was that flicker of hope in the heart of all that Delhi may just agree to view the problem of Manipur in a sympathetic manner.
However if the reports received from Delhi is anything to go by, Mr. Jaswant Singh is in no mood to play the Godfather and so far everything suggests that the Delhi mission of the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues may not yield the desired results. With no source of income and with Delhi unwilling to come to our aid, what do we do? Should we go on suffering because our State Government just do not know how to apply the lever on the Center or should our State Government do something to convince the Center that they are to provide to effective governance and of course ensure financial discipline.
We know that the present financial problem was not created by the present Government and we are sure that coffer is but a debt ridden one. However in as much as our sympathy and understanding goes to the Chief Minister we cannot help but ask what steps they have taken up ever since they came to power to right the economy of the State. We know the SPF Government released a booklet listing their achievements and policies and programs to be adopted when they completed 100 days in office. But that list has done nothing to better the financial aspect and that is the question that each and every member of the SPF should ask themselves now.
As reported in this paper a few days back, the key to convincing the Center to bail the State out will be the Action Taken Report on the MoU signed between the Center and the State Government. The tragedy is, apart from the Bill passed in the Assembly to lift prohibition from the Hill districts, the State Government has nothing much to show in the Action Taken Report. The dithering stand on such vital issues as reviving or closing down the sick public Sector Units will surely send out the signal that the Government is unwilling to take hard and unpopular decisions and this is what is galling.
These are tough times and Chief Minister O Ibobi should remember that tough times call for tough decisions and not some populist measures. If the Government cannot decide whether to close down or revive the sick units, then we may as well ask whether there is any point in having a Government at all. Perhaps, O Ibobi may take a leaf from his predecessor, Radhabinod Koijam and take some real hard decisions. Remember, Koijam heading a minority Government, took some hard decisions that were not popular with the people but were nevertheless necessary for curing the State from financial ills.
For Ibobi the time calls for some firm stand and not to play to the gallery. It is only when the State Government shows the inclination to act tough and instill financial discipline will New Delhi agree to help. And like it or not without Delhi’s help there is no way.
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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