Back to issues of good governance! Even though the residue of ill will from the past two months cannot just be wished away, even as the temperature cools, let the government get back to the serious business of good governance. It seems such a long time since the economic blockade began on the issue of ADC elections obscuring the question of where exactly the issues of governance were in the state before all the mayhem was let loose. If we remember correctly there were plenty of them. Leaving aside the controversial ones such as that of “fake encounter” killings by government forces, there were also other equally important although more innocuous ones such as the acute shortfall of electric power in the state. Arguably, Manipur would rank as the worst on this front in the entire northeast region. The shortfall is felt more than ever now in what can rightly be called the world’s football month. With the competition slowly but surely climbing to a climax as the league rounds are approaching a conclusion to kick-off the knockout round, power failures are also beginning to drive many football fans in the state to near despair. Many consumers in the state are probably left wondering whatever happened to the government’s promise before the start of the World Cup that it would buy extra power so that nobody misses the once-in-four-years sporting extravaganza. It is not too late yet for the government to do something. Let it remember that in this entertainment starved state with few outlets to release bottled up energy, events such as the World Cup, are priceless balm to cool frayed senses.

Beyond the World Cup however, electric power remains an issue that cannot afford to be neglected by any government worth its salt. In fact, the profile of the 21st Century international diplomacy, and the defining quality of the race of superpowers and would be superpowers to be on top, is energy.  Amidst this new paradigm, the question is, how can the Manipur government remain so indifferent to the acute shortage of power in the state? It must produce more otherwise buy more. The government must treat this literally as food and life saving drugs that it had to have airlifted during the prolonged economic blockade. As in the case of these commodities, it must go ahead and seek Central help to get enough electricity for the state. The government needs no reminder that nothing works without electricity these days. It is only to be imagined the losses the state economy must be put through each day that its consumers have to do without electricity. The number of micro enterprises such as Photostat shops, photo studios, cyber cafes, small printing presses etc, which have either been made to totter or else made bankrupt in the last few years of no power, is anybody’s guess. Larger enterprises too would be spending much more than they would, and indeed household budgets of middle class citizenry too would have been put under tremendous strain, having to buy candles, kerosene oil, petrol, battery inverters and even home power generators with the money they could have spent more gainfully elsewhere. Poorer homes understandably would have been thrown into darkness after sunset, children’s studies would have been adversely affected and the list of losses to the economy can go on. Let the government then see an emergency in this situation.

The government did say it would be introducing foolproof technology to ensure all consumers pay for the power they consume, such as the prepaid power metering system. Since, as the government says, power bill defaulters have made per head loss of electric revenue prohibiting, making it virtually impossible for the government to clear its own bills to the Central power grids, the government cannot wait for the technology to set things in order. Other states in the northeast are managing much better without the new technology so why cannot it do it too. Ensuring everybody pays honestly would also ensure prudence in use of electricity, making it possible for more to share what is available. As of today, because most consumer meters have been tampered to show only a fraction of exact consumptions, pilferage has become a norm. Nobody cares about leaving their lights and gadgets on even when not needed, for they do not pay for the extra energy consumed. There are also many who tap electricity totally and illegally, and in what should have been an insult to more sensitive governments, openly too. Let the government then put its house in order on this front so that its fight with the state’s sliding economy is not made any more difficult to control.