It’s more than just development deficit
New States are usually created after taking into consideration a number of factors—ethno-cultural, language, economic viability to name a few. The announcement by the Union Government ruling out the creation of a separate Frontier State, as demanded by the Eastern Nagaland Peoples Organization (ENPO) to be carved out of Nagaland, is therefore not surprising at all. To be precise, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has ‘frankly’ told leaders of the government of Nagaland that creating a separate State out of Nagaland is not ‘viable’ at all. Instead, the Home minister has advised the State government to start undertaking initiatives to develop the eastern areas of Nagaland for which the Planning Commission of India would be more than ‘happy’ to offer special dispensations. Then off course the other alternative, which both the State and the Centre is willing to give, is the one under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India—an Autonomous Council or perhaps a return to the erstwhile Regional Council, which was part of the 16 Point Agreement when the State of Nagaland was formed and subsequently inserted as one of the key feature of Article 371 (A). Now the question is whether the ENPO is willing to scale down its demand and take what is on offer or perhaps there is a need for the ENPO and the State government to sit across the table and work out on a creative third alternative, to be mutually agreed upon, and also given that the Central government has expressed its willingness to offer support for the development of the ENPO region. It is interesting that the Union Home Minister had made it clear during the meeting that the ENPO issue is purely ‘internal in nature’ which the Nagaland government must resolve and not the Centre. In fact when the news about the ENPO demand first surfaced, this column had suggested that the Chief Minister should call for a dialogue at the highest level involving all stake holders. It is now up to the present government to take some pro-active steps to once again reach out to the ENPO. Perhaps an all party team should be formed.
Now coming to the question of development or the lack of it in this case, are we being honest with ourselves? It seems to be the case that the State government is projecting the ENPO grievances as related to “development deficit”. It is true that the fruits of development have not reached the people and this is as a result of the miserable performance of our successive governments, failure of our leaders, public apathy. We cannot give excuse of ‘development deficit’ every time. Let us not ignore the reality that our governance has to improve hundred fold if we want to address the grievances of development. While policies and programmes do exist, it is the ‘governance deficit’ which has contributed to the present day problem. It is not that development programmes or government funds are lacking but simply the fact that these have not been implemented properly. The State government should not think of asking for big economic packages when it has been unable to meet the needs of the present from the existing development funds. Perhaps before committing crores of rupees, the Centre should also make sure to put in place a proper mechanism so that development funds are utilized properly without misuse. This is a good time for the present State government, the political parties and also the public leaders including from Eastern Nagaland to seriously reflect on the current situation, especially on the development front and the plethora of genuine grievances being highlighted by the ENPO. Quotas, funds, relaxations etc continue to be doled out although their implementation also needs to be improved upon. Much more could have also been done by leaders from the region to improve the lot of the people. Having said that, the genuine grievances presented by the ENPO merits immediate attention and correction. As already mentioned in these columns, separation from present Nagaland is however not the answer.
