My Years in Service

CONTINUED-40... Our unique inimitable sense of hospitality was therefore, given the centre stage – we considered the safety, security and comfort of our guests as a matter of honour and prestige – this characteristic being a common determining factor across the tribal perception.  “For the Nagas, friendship is a precious jewel and family...our soul. Rural Nagaland is perhaps the safest place to spend a vacation. Absorb the crisp healthy fresh air and the warmth of a human relationship that is fast disappearing in a cosmopolitan city”... was a standard line delivered in every platform. MY time in the Department of Tourism/ Arts & Culture, as indeed my years in the Bureaucracy, was drawing to a close. As it turned out, this was my last post. To end it all on an unrealistic expectation of creating a meaningful Tourism infrastructure in Nagaland on the earmarked budget of the State Government, was the joke of the 21st Century. Dr. S.C. Jamir, the then Chief Minister of Nagaland,(now Governor of Odisa) wanted to recreate a tourism heaven in Nagaland in the likeness of ‘Hawaii’, with Rs.40.00 kakhs as an annual developmental budget...that was way back in the mid-nineties. The financial comedy for these two departments that I presently held, had not altered even after the turn of the century. Mr. Niphieu Rio, the then Chief Minister (now MP) also held the same philosophy for all the wrong reasons. The Department of Tourism, Arts & Culture was the burial ground for ‘uncooperative’ bureaucrats and those without a viable political connections. It was more than obvious that I remained an uncomfortable thorn in their political backside....for not always toeing the dotted line without question, as they would like all bureaucrats to do. Added to this was their discomfort that I happened to be a first cousin of another political rival called Mr. K.L.Chishi. Both these political creatures had an identical mathematical conclusion in their minds...neutralize this cousin brother of K.L.Chishi to a department that was logistically and financially irrelevant and impotent, lest he turns out to be of consequential assistance to him. I was therefore, just another convenient pawn in their political chessboard...a prime target. Deep down, I had resolved that I would not ride into the sunset of my bureaucratic career in a totally ‘incognito’ status. I accepted my assignment as a challenge. So be it!... was what I thought as a starter. The only pragmatic strategy open to the department was to impress the Ministry of Tourism, GoI, that Nagaland was as good a destination as any destinations in the mainland India, worth developing. In as far as the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Arts & Culture were concerned, their attention was squarely fixed on the inflexible central project guidelines as their Bible, many of which were at odds with the ground reality interest of the State. At every given opportunity we therefore, spent quality time to do a visual Power Point Presentation (PPP) focused on our 16 Tribes with different dialects, customs, traditions, culture and festivals. The God created natural beauty, still not grossly tampered by human hands, were an essential ingredient of “back to nature” campaign. While our presentation were always received with warm applause, the issue of personal security continued to be a persistent question being raised at every sittings. Our unique inimitable sense of hospitality was therefore, given the centre stage – we considered the safety, security and comfort of our guests as a matter of honour and prestige – this characteristic being a common determining factor across the tribal perception. “For the Nagas, friendship is a precious jewel and family...our soul. Rural Nagaland is perhaps the safest place to spend a vacation. Absorb the crisp healthy fresh air and the warmth of a human relationship that is fast disappearing in a cosmopolitan city”... was a standard line delivered in every platform. The North Eastern States in general, were not doing too well at this stage, in terms of performance. Many of the centrally sponsored schemes were unable to take off in other NE States due to inability to acquire land for the same. Delay in implementation was leading to cost escalations, which was a common phenomena and which the Centre was unhappy but unprepared to bail out. It was here that Nagaland was beginning to create an impact in the comparative appraisal of the Ministry of Tourism. In our case, land was not an issue. Villages were anxiously prepared to provide community land to the department free of cost for any proposed development. Land transfer certificate was therefore a simple matter. We also made it a point to ensure that our schemes were completed within the time frame. The contracting firms were normally given a liberal 30% mobilization advance to ensure fund constraints did not get in the way of works progress and ensured timely unfettered clearance of their running bills against works already completed. The field officers were under strict orders to oversee the work progress. They would often sit together with the contracting firms to identify constraint areas and have them promptly addressed during the monthly performance review which had become a regular feature. The management cycle was now operating like clock work and it made all the difference at the Centre. The Ministry of Tourism had a flagship programme of giving every State one Circuit worth Rs.8.00 crores and one Destination development at the cost of Rs.5.00 crores. Each Circuit would deal with creation of a Central Hub, amenity centres along with other subsidiary centres spread out over a given zone and network with other similar Circuits within and outside the State. The Destination would deal with specific independent interest areas based on Culture tourism, rural tourism, bio-diversity/nature tourism, adventure tourism... like hiking, trekking, camping and so on. Seeing our field performance, which were being ‘field verified’ by the central teams, the Ministry made an exception for Nagaland. Considering that all the North Eastern States, barring Sikhim, were underperforming, the Ministry took a view that N.E States which were performing well should be given special attention and additionally be backed up. Relaxing the central guidelines of one Circuit and one Destination principle, Nagaland was awarded two Circuits and an additional Destination. By 2007 our central funding was touching Rs.26.00 crores from this flagship program alone. Including other schemes and projects, our budget had significantly multiplied to an approximate Rs.36.00 crores annually. This department, which had been relegated to the back bench of bureaucracy as a punishment posting zone was now beginning to draw attention of the Finance Department and was beginning to uncomfortably attract a lot of political flies as well. The Finance department wanted to clamp down on the Tourism Department to ensure that central funds should first be credited to the State exchequer and not directly be utilised by the Department. This issue was in fact discussed threadbare with the Ministry of Tourism, GoI. All the States made it amply clear that working through the State Finance Department led to frequent fund diversions and delays in the financial process that destabilized the works progress...that time bound works completion was not achievable under these circumstances. The Ministry of Tourism therefore cleared the formation of an independent Tourism Management Council(TMC) in each State for direct funding from the Centre. We set up our own TMC and received our funds directly. Though the Finance Department was frothing from every conceivable pores, they could do little to alter the set guideline of the Ministry of Tourism during my entire tenure.