In a state like Nagaland where one’s social status is
determined by the source of employment, the above conversation between society
and teacher are quite mundane. It trickles down to every individual who are not
even remotely within the periphery of the sacrosanct circle (GOVERNMENT).
Because such questions continue to be raised; it becomes an apparent
society-manufactured yardstick of ‘who is successful and who is not’. Ideally,
the first and third question should have been the only questions asked. I
recall an interaction with the students in the class where one evidently
pummeled by the magnitude of the society’s expectation said, ‘In one of the
village meeting, my opinions were discredited in favour of a government peon
simply because I was a student and the other a government employee’ which
reminded me of a relative’s advice ‘If you crack exams through competition,
even if it’s the post of a sweeper, you should take it’. This reference is not
to discredit the value of service every government servant provides but to
imply how one’s opinion can also be categorised based on the sector one works
in. The problem here is with the societal validation which promotes a
conditioned mind that distinguishes between the superior being and inferior
being. This pattern tries to create a homogenous society-manufactured success
story while marginalising the life experiences of private employees. So every
individual that fails(ed) to be a part of the government sector is forced to
believe that they are the inferior citizens of the state. Because outside the
government sector, the society would like to argue that there is no financial
stability and a comfortable life. Every individual is made to believe it as a
universal truth and that’s the only selling narrative which is horribly wrong.
The clichéd warning of many Naga parents is ‘study well and
become an Engineer, Doctor, crack NPSC or UPSC and other government services
otherwise don’t waste our money and become a farmer’. Should we continue to
canonize the government sector; no government of the day will be able to
satisfy the incessant demand of the society. This is one of the genesis of
backdoor appointments and unethical rampancy of nepotism. The society and the government
work hand in glove to sustain the vicious cycle of unholy matrimony between
government job-nepotism-backdoor appointment-corruption. Personally, the
current fiasco over the regularisation of 147 Assistant Professors and
Librarian posts by the government weighs heavily in favour of this cycle. To be
called an Assistant Professor of a government college rather than a private
college/university Assistant Professor seems more glorifying. The most definite
borderline between the two is the salary and the societal status or otherwise
the societal validation. In fact, teachers from the private sector are made
accountable to every penny that they earn with fixed rules and regulations. It
may not be wrong to add this that the private employees give more working hours
and are scrutinised by the concerned management more than the government does
towards its employees. On this note, a student who graduated from one of the
reputed government colleges in Nagaland once commented, ‘Throughout the entire
semester, I saw my subject teacher come for class only a couple of times’. Such
is the reality of our education system- created by those who see work as a
burden and deliberately choose to walk away from their responsibilities.
However, this is not to generalise and take away the acknowledgments due from
those who have honestly given their best and continue their unrelenting
struggle to refine the problematic system.
Values are meant to be the most essential requisite for
anyone irrespective of their commitments to the public and private sector.
However, we ironically value the amount of Gandhi stamped notes earned rather
than pursue the values of ethical integrity and honesty. Instead, these values
are compromised since they have no monetary return in the society. So tomorrow
if you come across an employed person, please refrain from asking which sector
they work in and how much they earn but learn to appreciate them for the
invaluable services they relentless give to the society in whatever capacity
they can. Let us not weigh our jobs in the hierarchical scale and drown each
other in the infinite ocean of comparison. Every service that one does is like
a piece of puzzle that is meant to complete the larger picture. The teachers on
their part are trying to send out educationally reformed citizens equipped to
escape the unceremonious conditioning of the society. Let’s be kind and
encourage each other to do better each day and make the society more inclusive
and accommodative.
Let’s change the dominant societal narratives and
categorisation.
Dr. Chibenthung Yanthan
Assistant Professor, International Relations Programme
