Nagaland still has to wait for some more time till its own version of the Lokayukta Bill is enacted in the state. The select committee of the Nagaland Lokayukta Bill 2015 moved for the extension of its tenure during the recent Assembly session and was granted another 6 months for the committee to present its report. Nagaland is one of the 9 states in India that is yet to enact the Lok Ayukta Bill. With the current scenario where the public has lost its trust in the government machinery it is pertinent that the ruling government pass the bill to gain back the trust of the electorates.
As pointed out by the Governor, with the rise in scams and illegal rackets in the state, it has only increased the need to enact the Lokayukta Bill at the earliest. The constitution of the Lokayukta/Lokpal is not a recent concept and it was mooted in the Parliament by the Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Moraji Desai way back in 1966. Even though the centre could pass the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act only in 2013, many states in India had already enacted Lokayukta bill before that, starting with Maharashtra in 1971.
The compulsory declaration of assets and liabilities by public servants is highly required in Nagaland at present. It is one of the important sections of the Lokayukta Act. It will be one of the first steps in placing a legal deterrent to control the rampant corruption and accumulation of illegal proceeds from public fund. When it comes to utilisation of money meant for public there should not be any special cases for any state including Nagaland. Complete accountability of public servants without any dilution of the Act has to be maintained.
The opportunity to earn some quick money from the public funds is the reason for the mad rush among public servants and job seekers alike to be placed at the most lucrative departments. The uneven and disproportionate accumulation of wealth is mostly attributable to corruption existing in the state and one major factor that is rapidly creating a clear divide in the socio-economic classes with a big noticeable wide gap between the haves and the have nots. It proliferates a condition where the crafty benefit instead of the hardworking and sincere public servants. It again leads to frustration and de-motivation among the once sincere lot who slowly become susceptible to and takes the bait of corruption.
The Naga ethos on equality is slowly being disturbed and the counter product is rearing its ugly head on the other hand where everyone wants to be with the “in-crowd”. A discontented population is one of the hardest to govern anywhere in the world. The present government should hasten to enact the Lokayukta bill at the earliest before it faces the electorates in 2018.
