Manifesto for Nagaland

With another Lok Sabha election round the corner it is once again time for people to choose which political party or leader will represent them in Parliament. To make the exercise of elections meaningful as well as participatory efforts must be made to engage both the people and leaders on various issues before us. In a welcome move aimed at preparing an agenda for the next government to tackle, the Times of India (TOI) has put together a manifesto that it would like political parties to study seriously and even incorporate into their own. Not everything mentioned will echo with voters back home but in the context of a State like Nagaland some of the relevant points raised in the TOI manifesto include the following: ending wasteful government expenditure, allocating resources in a transparent manner, bringing black money back and administrative reforms.

In another survey of voters, economic growth is seen as the number one issue followed closely by corruption, inflation, tax, law and order, access to government benefits, leadership and even identity. Closer home, the youths of Nagaland have compiled the top ten issues confronting the State and listed them in the 'Top ten Nagaland Youth Manifesto 2014' under the nationwide campaign 'My Space My unManifesto'. This manifesto includes among others, passing of Lokayukta Bill in the Nagaland Assembly along with establishing a CBI branch at the earliest. Other noteworthy agendas mentioned are, better implementation of project in the constituencies by the MLAs/Ministers; better road connectivity; improving health services; youth-centric policies; promotion of meritocracy and not nepotism etc.

What could be the issues of importance for Nagaland? Unfortunately things like fighting corruption or providing good governance does not seem to enjoy place of prominence for our voters. This despite claims that we are a Christian State. Is there something wrong with us as a people or is it the system that does not ensure free and fair elections? Perhaps it is both. Consider the fact that during the last Assembly elections in the State, the Nagaland Congress talked about bringing a Lokayukta Bill on the lines of the Lok Pal. The NPF on the other hand was silent on this important aspect to tackle corruption and yet the party went on to register a landslide victory and returning Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio for a third consecutive term. It shows that corruption is not an election issue in Nagaland.

It is also true that most issues raised in such election manifestos have to be addressed by respective State governments. The government at the Centre will be concerned more with national issues which are outside the purview of States. Some of the important agenda like bringing in a Lokayukta Bill will perhaps have to wait for the next Assembly election as it is the elected government in the State which will have to bring this about. It is unlikely that the present NPF government will introduce such a bill at this juncture. The point really is that an Assembly Election provides a better opportunity to bring people centric issues to the table and thereby addressing them more effectively.

Having said that though, the coming Lok Sabha election will be important from the point of view of taking forward the Naga political issue and the other problems related to it such as on the ceasefire mechanism and its fallout, unabated taxation or extortion by armed groups. Besides going by the concerns voiced in different social forums or media, several other issues remain in the context of Nagaland. According to this column, these would include the political reconciliation of the Naga Political Groups (NPGs); the demand for Frontier Nagaland by the ENPO; Article 371 (A) and its safeguard; tackling corruption; administrative reforms, youth employment and lastly how to fast track development, particularly improving basic infrastructures like road and electricity. People want answers and therefore both the DAN consensus candidate Neiphiu Rio and Congress candidate KV Pusa should explain their position on all these important matters and what they plan to do if elected.