Technically speaking, there are two types of whistle blowers, i.e. the one that blows whistle just to run away when confronted and the other is, blow the whistle and take appropriate action on the wrongdoers and invariably ACAUT may not be the only whistle blower but retrospection showed that most of the precedent whistle blowers failed to stand the test of real watchdog for the fact of personal interest before the civil society.
No doubt, the concept and ideology of ACAUT to stem the rot of corruption, challenging a culture of complicity in our Naga society is loud and clear but the labyrinth road ahead seem leading to nowhere could mean another failed history in the making. No wonder, India is waking up from its long slumber to fight corruption in various public system which result is yet to be seen but steadfastly pursuing and the honorable Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi is optimistic of cleansing the corruptive system in the country. Invariably, in India many whistleblowers cropped up t o fight this gigantic social evil who are becoming no less than Mahatma Gandhi in the making such as Vishwanath Chaturvedi 49 UP and Sanjiv Chaturvadi 40 IFS officer Haryana & New Delhi 2015 Ramon Magsaysay awardees who took on mighty Mulayalam and his son Akhilesh for amassing disproportionate assets along with other 200 cases of corruption including a series of scams in the administration system of AIIMS and Vyapam recruitment’s scams in Madhya Pradesh had set a very high standard of examples despite of great personal risk. Of course, this may not be taken as a goading to ACAUT where its endeavor to root-out the very diseases of corruption from our soil but try to understand the reality of its relentless sacrifice for “Clean Nagaland” where all the civil societies of the Nagas are behind ACAUT in rain and sunshine.Yes, ACAUT should possess the mentality strength of Tipu Sultan 1799 who said “I would rather live two days as a tiger than 200 years as a sheep” while defending the fort of Srirangapatna Mysore. True to its endeavoring spirit, ACAUT should not betray the hope and aspiration of the Nagas how big and high as mountain may be the problems, strong faith can even move the mighty mountain as the saying goes. Whereas, in the process of its endeavor, various obstacle seemed to be behaving like a hydra-head was the fact of our inherent mindset that they should be considered as a challenge of opportune to be overcome where the culture of symbiotic back-scratching relation exists between politician and bureaucrats here in Nagaland as well. However to augment its virtue, the nomenclature of ACAUT (Action Committee Against Unabated Taxation) fall short of its real activities that includes stemming corruption had not included in the abbreviation and hence it would be more appropriate to nomenclaturize as ACACUT (Action Committee Against Corruption and Unabated taxation) in its pluralistic fight against various social-evil. Truest to the philosophy of ACAUT one govt. one tax was hugely welcome by the civil societies not necessarily a success as of today but surely the wave was felt by most of the NPGs apprehensive of their fiscal balance and had seemingly taken up another innovative step in the form of licensing Raj for various business unit in and around Dimapur to the most dismay of ACAUT.
Nevertheless, currently ACAUT is focusing on corruption especially on “Backdoor appointment” to various posts in various govt. departments unearthing vital information through RTI, however ending up with the RTI extraction without PIL (Public Interest Litigation )may not serve any purpose as well that would be akin to running away after blowing the whistle. Here let’s try to understand the technical aspect and its inherent problem within the context of Nagalang state govt. service rules and it implication in all aspect of legal procedures. There are around sixty departments and the HoD (Head of Department) had been delegated with the power to appoint called “Appointing authority” within the contextual of service protocol that can only be amended or re-amended by the state standing parliamentary. Whereas, simply asking for a RTI in a particular department could be akin to have caught the thief but failed to take action on the culprit. Nonetheless, the chair of the HoD is surely becoming a cacophony musical chair and the centre of all controversies of course not necessarily all the departments but surely there couldn’t be smoke without fire. Therefore, it would be imperative on our part to understand the nuance in hands how it becomes so. Look! Two entities having the same meaning but different affect in its work; i.e. Direct recruitment for instance: where certain percentage of the staff strength in a particular department (depends on that department) can be recruited through proper channel of screening the quality/qualification and veracity of the candidates consisting board members with HoD as its chairman and can appoint a candidate if found suitable by meeting all the criteria so set for. Whereas, on the other hand more or less the same meaning; Direct appointment for instance; becomes the bone of contention was for the fact that all the sundry are randomly appointed at the whim and fancy of HoD or under the influence of politician but so-far non to bell the big cat that where ACAUT today is. Under such circumstances the high and mighty knows where the manholes are (emergency underground escape route) that is the power so conferred and delegated to the HOD within the protocol of state service rules where RTI sought by ACAUT becomes a mere formalities as legal action become too weak in the face of such situation.
Therefore, under such circumstances the need of the hour is to pinpoint the loopholes and put through corrective measures. Invariably, the following point may be contemplated upon by the intellectual Nagas and explore the viability through public debate if at all ACAUT has to accomplish this thought out to be insurmountable task as to make it surmountable ones.
1. First of all re-mend the state govt. service rules, distinctly appropriating the rules of direct recruitment where certain post in the hierarchy be made mandatory through NPSC and no direct appointment on this category by the HoD or any other authorities or influence.
2. Whereas, direct appointment may not be clampdown on contingency, ad hog or contract appointment but the incumbent shouldn’t be regularized without going through the mandatory prescription of written and oral interview where they should be made to compete with fresh intending candidate through notification and post advertisement in the media papers.
3. As per the existing rules, while conducting the recruitment examination, the board may include at least two members from the NPSC as to make it more transparent in its procedure of selection of the candidates and make inclusive provision for B.T. (Backward tribe) reservation quotas and not forgetting the balance of tribe strength as to ease heartburn for a certain tribe in a particular department.
4. Direct appointment should be abrogated, which means without going through the prescribed screening process and literally done in the later stage as a mere formalities. Of course, this doesn’t mean clipping the wing of the HoD but surely the system can be made more transparent in this manner.
5. True, this point can be very sensitive to certain section of people but in my humble opinion, the NPSC delegated chairman, members appointed from different backgrounds such as politician, retirees from the govt. or social activists be abrogated. Why? It is the common knowledge that many successful candidates in written exam make a made-rush to these members seeking favour in viva-voice which is otherwise tantamount to direct campaigning, violating against the recruitment standing rules. Here, of course I never meant the very system in itself is counterproductive but whether it is relevant to continue the same formula to decide the fate especially (BT) candidates by just asking few simple questions when the NPSC can do the work competently.
6. Appointing of non-technician to technical post be stopped with-forth through re-amendment of state service rules. This is because there are instances of appointing non technician and allowing them to pursue technical course in the very discipline in the form of in-service trainees which directly infringed upon the right of trained personnel. This rule is no more relevant today since there is no dearth of technical person in various disciplines amongst the Nagas.
Well, I am of the opinion that unless the system is synchronized with the present trend of society, our endeavor would be like groping in the darkness and hence it would be imperative we as stakeholders should also equally shoulder with ACAUT in our various capacities as to make a vibrant society as desired by ACAUT. LONG LIVE ACAUT!
