We, the Nagas are very fond of playing the blame game in every situation. There may have been very few moments when someone stops right there in his tracks and start pondering for a moment if, in reality, it has been his mistake at the first place. However, this short moment of enlightenment is just a passing phase soon forgotten...and the blame game continues. This was clearly evidenced in the recent series of mud-slinging against each other by the public and the government over the excessive power-cuts (or was it a total blackout) in the one and only commercial hub of Nagaland – Dimapur. While the public, on the one hand, was irate at the government for not repairing/replacing the obsolete transformers and the Department not supplying the already announced quota of power supply everyday; the government, on the other hand was happy to shift the blame on the public for non-payment of bills and illegal hooking up of power lines as reasons for the excess power consumption in the city and the subsequent inability to supply the whole city with regular electricity.
Having observed the situation from far, far away for quite some time (like all of us Nagas do – and I am no exception), it was disheartening to see that it culminated to acts of vandalism on the part of the public in destroying public property, hitherto not prevalent in our cultured Naga society...makes me wonder if we are picking up all the right things from our dear neighbors – the mainland Indians, who believe that destroying public modes of transportation, property, buildings, etc is the loss of the government (“Let the government suffer loss...we’ve shown them what we can do”). The disheartenment led me to pen down these few points for the kind perusal and necessary action (like forgetting it the moment we finish reading it or maybe sling more mud-balls at me).
It has been said of old that evil begets evil. Hence, we Nagas, as believers in the One who abhors all evil, it is our responsibility to be prudent in all our actions lest we point a finger at others while the other four fingers are pointing back at us.
A few months back, we saw a bright light shining forth from Chekiye Village. The Village’s decision to check illegal hooking up of power supply and illegal use of electronic heating/cooking appliances within their jurisdiction should have served as a living example for all the Nagas in general and to the Dimapurians in particular. However, the noble Gulliverian venture was soon forgotten. If only every locality in Dimapur and its suburbs had taken pains to check illegal hooking up of power supply, illegal use of electronic heating/cooking appliances and illegal tampering of meter boxes (a favourite pass time of all Naga household), we might have had a few more extra hours of regular power supply (but if my grandma hadn’t passed away, she would have been alive too).
The second culprit is also us, my dear Naga brothers and sisters. “We want – but we don’t want to pay”. The regular bill payers may kindly forgive me for generalizing, but, many of us use but don’t pay. We want everything in our daily life to be streamlined beautifully (luxuriously) so that there is not even a single corner for discomfort. Air-conditioned homes and work places; refrigerated Elken-filtered water; delicious dishes cooked in microwaves; a quick cup of cappuccino (via electric kettle); a super-fast cooking (via Induction cook-tops); mobile phones, smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc. But we seem to have forgotten that all of these “modern” appliances run on electricity. So when that poor cycle-riding sweat-dripping meter reader drops a white sheet of paper at our door-steps, the decibel level increases and the fault is either with the meter-box (“Arey! I paid Rs. 500/- to that lineman to see the meter-box...”) or the fault is with the Department for trying to cheat you by sending you very high bills. But...oh yes...there’s another but! We fail to see the “Arrear B/F” entries in that white sheet of paper…Bingo! The bulk of the huge bill amount is from the “Arrears Brought Forward” from the previous months…Ah Yes! My dear friend...you have not paid your light bill for the last, few, couple of months (even years in some cases); and the Power Department has rather been kind enough to still permit you to use this blessing. So, before the Department (having run out of all options), asks the Pastor of your local Church to read out the list of the bill defaulters along with the amount due, please pay your pending Light Bills. And the Department of Power nods in agreement and pats me on the back “Atta boy! Well said!”
Whoa! Whoa! Hold your horses! I have a few words for you too my dear Power Department. It is an Open Secret that the Government of India has been continuously channeling in huge amounts of money in the Power sector (like with the roads...which is another matter I might write upon at a later date) for development and upgradation of various machinery & equipments as well as to enable providing 24X7 regular power supply to the State of Nagaland (save during maintenance or natural calamity). The question that comes to mind here is – Is the funding in its entirety being used for the development and maintenance of the power sector? We know that the Power department ought to be appreciated because among all the departments having work-charged employees, this department is the only one where work-charged employees regularly risk their lives in the line of duty, performing maintenance works, so as to enable regular power supply to the people. However, if the materials, equipments and machineries are outdated, aged, over-used or inadequate for a particular locality, area or city, then I believe the department should think about replacement or proper maintenance on a regular basis to give a long-lasting performance...just like my wife’s doctor used to say, “When we repair a car, we want it to perform for a longer time; not just take us from Kohima to Dimapur and conk out!”.
So, I believe the time has come for building long-lasting foundations for our transformers, buy larger capacity machinery and equipments to enable proper coverage of bigger localities and proper regular supply of electricity and implementation of proper scientific methods for maintenance works so that we can get the maximum potential out of the machinery & equipments.
In the meantime, let us not destroy public property (because it belongs to all of us); let us not hook-up power lines illegally; let us pay our bills regularly ... let us beget good on our part. Then, maybe the Power Department will start to look kindly upon us and bless us with regular 24X7 electricity.
Viky Noel Jimomi,
Kohima
