Dr Asangba Tzüdir
The recent disclosure through RTI on the huge losses incurred by the Department of Tourism, Govt. of Nagaland, on Hornbill festival was not only revealing but has also put a huge question mark on the making and the celebration of the ‘festival of festivals.’ Such losses incurred do not present a prospective picture at a time when the state budget is running in huge deficit.
NPCC, who filed the RTI, disclosed that the public exchequer incurred a loss of Rs. 11 crore, 87 lakhs and 99 thousand during the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014 respectively with only a meager earning of Rs. 7.01 lakhs as revenue. More surprising is the fact that the report did not include the entry fee of 2010, 2011 and 2012 which is a source of govt. revenue. More shocking reports is being ‘awaited’ as the RTI being filed by NPCC is yet to receive any reports for the years 2013 and 2015 and this has already raised suspicious eyebrows. Now that the reports given under the RTI is not complete, the Tourism department should be pressed upon through RTI so that the ‘awaited’ reports are also made public in order to make a concrete assessment of the losses. Hopefully, it does not end in ‘records missing.’
On the credibility of the report, what is more appalling is the fact that the report showed a total of 1,72,013 tourists for the year 2014 including both domestic and international and that the revenue collected from entry tickets as per treasury challan amounted to a paltry sum of Rs. 3,14,916 which means that an impossible rate of Rs. 1.83 per head was collected. This is in fact a telling revelation through a small window opening about the state of dirty internal affairs.
The number of tourists visiting the festival also raises suspicion and in spite of the ballooned figures of attendance, one have clearly witnessed a drastic decline in the number of people attending the festival over the years; so also the ‘benefits’ of our local entrepreneurs needs to be properly assessed. But what needs to be seriously thought about is the fact that the loss incurred is something which cannot be blindly ignored.
Well, the celebration of Hornbill festival is seen in the larger interest of Naga unity and also with the objective of “reviving, protecting and sustaining the richness of the Naga heritage and traditions” besides giving a space for the local entrepreneurs. The celebration of Hornbill festival has only ended up in multiple blows with huge losses incurred as revealed through the RTI, without even serving the supposed objective for which Hornbill festival is organized. Of course, there is ‘blind entertainment and celebrations.’
There were suggestions about reducing the number of days and with the general air of feeling that, the festival is slowly becoming a huge burden, a lot of ‘remodeling’ needs to be done starting with the overall planning of the festival. On the losses incurred, if Hornbill is to come out of such heavy losses, then there has to be a proper observation where the working mechanism needs to be constantly put under scanner considering the fact that, as per 2014 records, on an average an impossible amount of Rs. 1.83 being accounted from entry tickets. Such statistics proves that records have not been properly maintained and thereby it is imperative that there is proper book keeping of records that should be ‘air tight’ and ‘tamper free.’ For a government that earnestly and passionately talks about ‘accountability’ and ‘transparency’, stringent measures needs to be adopted to curb corruption happening at every level within the system.
For Hornbill festival 2016, a sum of Rs. 500 lakhs has already been earmarked which will most probably go down the drain without hardly any returns in terms of revenue if it is not properly accounted for. In the present context, such policies of accountability and transparency seems herculean and daunting because, as long as our ‘Naga condition’ and mentality thinks about scratching each other’s back along with the attitudinal trend of ‘the juice is worth the squeeze’ the dirt will only keep mounting…which is indeed as very sad reminder that we have failed as humans, as moral beings.
(Dr. Asangba Tzüdir is an Editor with Heritage Publishing House. He contributes a weekly guest editorial to the Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
