Tanuj Goswami
There is no gainsaying the fact that the binary process of development narrative and paradigm shift in the State of Assam is seen to have walked almost hand in hand and so does the flurry of different activities witnessed in some Government departments/agencies/undertakings which earlier were as busy as the hibernating bear is a glaring indication of good time ahead.
Of course, there are many other departments of the State Government where the process of rationalization is half-backed and due to the incumbent's low morale or whatever the reason behind it - the pace of an all-inclusive development scenario is still non-existent requiring adequate toning up and close observation of the authority to bring vibrancy.
Assam once earned the bad sobriquet of being a land of lahe lahe' and our very work culture thrived on slothfulness, perhaps based on the historical background but this indeed played spoilsport putting us several notches behind most of the other States of our great nation.
Till a few years back the standard or quality of most of our Government departments was not up to the required scale or level which mirrored unpleasant development indices in terms of health care, law and order, corruption, accountability, communication, transparency, infrastructure, social welfare and many others.
One can well deduce the rationale underneath from empirical evidence, they were Government's inaction/willful neglect /political chicanery/ bad work culture/shoddy decision making leading to no holds barred situation. Innumerable cases of corruption in all major Government departments, misuse, abuse or disuse of mandated government roles/functions took us to a point of no return. And this led to the dawn of a new national concept of development 'minimum government and maximum governance' as espoused by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The present BJP Government in Assam is seen to have taken a very firm stand on many aspects of governance. So let us start from the ongoing eviction drive, launched on large numbers of undesirable encroachers on VGR/PGR and all sorts of Government lands, who have mastered the art of keeping on the illegal occupation of government land at their own sweet will and with gay abandon as if there exists no government worth its salt.
However, the sensible class of people is well aware of the political parties which patronized such encroachment and the hidden ulterior design behind it, particularly in some sensitive areas of lower and middle Assam.
Despite there being a well-defined procedure of eviction in the Assam Land Revenue Regulation (ALRR) and numerous government circulars issued from time to time to protect government land, there are even instances of the District Collectors /Circle officers either having debarred from/discouraged initiating encroachment cases till some years back. The sheer nonchalance and vote bank politics of the Government facilitated in thriving up the urge to encroach upon more and more Government land.
The magnitude of encroachment on Government land in Assam has reached an alarming proportion, so giving top priority to solving the festering border issues by the Assam Government with neighbouring states in a spirit of camaraderie is a very welcome move.
Lately, the CM, Assam being wrapped up in the people-centric focus of the BJP Government decided to be on right track unleashing a period of responsive administration. The Government machinery liable for ensuring public order/public trust/rule of law/accountability etc. has been made to sit up and take notice.
The CM's periodical interaction and review with the top officials at the Police headquarters and taking up policy issues with a clear vision to make things happen for ease of filing FIR and for carrying out foolproof investigation reports and related prosecutorial matters is really remarkable. To bridge the trust deficit between police and the public, allowing the citizen to engage in public works will no doubt promote democracy.
Having taken up quite a lot of public utility projects pertaining to departments like transport, Revenue, Medical, Social Welfare, Power etc., an aura of public confidence is being generated across the board.
The development narrative termed "Bikakhor Babe Eta Pokhek" in 11 districts of Assam by the CM along with the Cabinet colleagues in a whirlwind campaign – with the foundation stone of numerous infrastructural projects having laid up, which worth more than Rs 15,000 crore is no doubt well-meaning. Maintaining such closeness to the people reflects a good sense of true democracy and the public trust which no government can ever deny.
The Municipal corporation/Boards and Town Committees of Assam owe tremendous responsibilities to urban governance but it is sad that their mode of work or general run of affairs is archaic, abysmally poor and ineffective and reflects a damaging impression on the government of the day.
Most of these institutions at present are fronted by young people, so to make them functional and effective they need to be strengthened with full-scale digitization in matters of urban town planning, manpower planning, water supply, garbage cleaning and sundry public works.
The devolution of power and function to these local-self governments under the historic 74th constitutional amendment is yet to take root normatively as such the government through its present available means can bolster the functioning of the municipal corporation/boards/town committee through digital application for responsive management and for ease of services to consumers all best practices be foregrounded.
In order to advance and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal agenda by 2030 most of our national development initiatives have been structured and converged with SDGs, these local authorities have to shoulder huge responsibilities which is achievable through a paradigm shift anchored in modern outlook with modern tools.
A step forward in urban management is a must to enter into the orbit of five developed states within the next four years.