Maybe it is time to appraise the worth of a promise made by the state government, say on matters related to alleviation of the day to day sufferings of the public. New problems continue to crop up on a daily basis asking for fitting solutions. But with perplexing consistency, the administration has been engaged in a policy of temporarily appeasement to get rid of the complaining parties only to follow it up with slackness and reluctance in carrying out their promises. Many times this lackadaisical attitude of the government has been the major factors for the growth of disenchantment and chagrin among social organizations and people from both hills and valley districts. When these people approach the government to apprise their grievances and suggestions they bring along hope that the latter will pursue their problems in earnest. Initial satisfaction at the assurances and commitment given by the ministers leads to gradual draining of trust, disillusionment and ultimately enragement, driving the affected parties to tread destructive paths like calling bandhs. We cannot support bandhs and blockades or other forms of agitations that disturb our daily routines. But the moot question is whether government’s apathy is partly to be blamed for many of them.
Since the middle part of this year, the Jiribam units of AMSU, MSF, DESAM and KSA called for the intervention of the government in filling up the shortages of teachers at the schools in the subdivision. After getting satisfied with the assurance from the Education minister O Okendra and officials of the education department, the first round of agitation was scrapped. However, following the inaction of the administration the stir was re-launched leading to a second round of talks in middle November. As the fallout, on November 18, 2013, the department of education (s) posted 31 new teachers for the schools at Jiribam. The matter could have drawn to a close here but for the heartbreaking turnaround when just two teachers signed up for their new postings. Until the end of the month the rest of the teachers have shown no interest to take up their new jobs. Apparently, the government never took up fitting actions to compel the recalcitrant teachers to turn up and allay the fears of the agitating students. Yet again, the abject failure of the government to tackle a normal local situation has led to its escalation sending waves of fear to the rest of the state. The stir has begun mildly on Wednesday and was concentrated on locking up of government institutions in the sub-division. However, there is no guarantee that tempo of the stir will not be turned up in the following days. In the last two instances, the agitation spilled to the national highways. Many vehicles were damaged and the route was closed, at once affecting the flow of essential commodities towards Imphal. We appeal to the government to satisfy the legitimate demands for filling up the protracted vacancies of teachers in the sub-division and in the meantime enter into negotiation with the students to convince the latter to restrain themselves from taking up harsh measures while both parties identify new routes for sorting out the problem amicably.