Of late, Nagaland Government and its various agencies are on clarifications spree and seem to be spending more time on damage control exercises, rather than any other activities.
While illumination on matters relating to public health, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, are understandable; however, on other issues, it seems to be cases of hasty policy measure only to be regretted at leisure. The latest to join the list is the “self-declaration form” issued to the employees under Government of Nagaland (GoN).
Is there a method to this madness? For this is not the instance. At around this time last year, the GoN spent considerable energy and time on damage control exercise after impetuously announcing the decision to set-up the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants Certificates of Nagaland (RIIN). The GoN suddenly re-discovered the route of consultation when the policy was supposed to be “in full swing” after huge public outcry. The issue is yet to be resolved.
In the present case, two matters have been flagged from various quarters – the issuance of the form itself and the terminology used in the said directive.
The seriousness of the issue was underscored with the GoN issuing two clarifications and another by Chief Minister of Nagaland, thereafter.
To recollect, the issue pertains to an office memorandum to State Government's employees on July 7, which surfaced in the public domain on July 9, asking them to furnish details regarding family relations in any “Naga underground organization.”
On both counts, the government clarified that the usage of the term, as well as the directive, was “conveyed” by the Raj Bhavan. The first clarification, on July 22, further elucidated that the letter ‘of this direction was sent to the Chief Secretary from the Commissioner & Secretary to Governor on February 14, 2020, asking for the information to be furnished by April 2.'
A reminder letter was received on June 24 requesting to furnish the information urgently and subsequently, the matter was deliberated by the State Cabinet on its July 3 meeting and the office memorandum was issued on July 7.
“The State Government had used the term ‘Naga political organizations’ in its press release dated July 22, 2020,” it stated on its second clarification on July 24.
Leaving asides all other dynamics at play, the issue also highlights two interesting aspects of governance in the State.
If the Governor’s first missive was sent on February 14, it took over 6 months for GoN to act upon it. Is this how things roll in the State? If this is the response to the highest constitutional head of the State, what would be the case for the general populace?
Most importantly, if one concurs with the clarifications by the GoN at face value, it also implies that the political class and the state administrative machinery were either unaware of the ground political realities or simply pusillanimous to effect any change and used the terminology as ‘conveyed.’
On the other end, the Governor, who is also the Government of India’s Interlocutor to the Indo-Naga Peace Talks, presumably must be well aware of intricate layers of Naga political issue. Notwithstanding the timing of the directive, if this is his considered opinion about the different groups with whom he is parleying with, on behalf of GoI, it does not augur well.
It is said that any crisis or damage control exercises are templates to plan and train for the future. With acute proclivities to advertently or inadvertently enter into crisis, those at the helm of affairs must take the present issue as a cautionary tale for future.
