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Photo Courtesy: Ato Richa
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We’ve all heard the phrase ‘A picture is worth a thousand
words’. Well, the image above says a lot about us, doesn’t it?
Garbage piled up right underneath a public notice put up by
the authorities of a residential colony in Kohima warning against the same -
“Dumping of waste and garbage is strictly prohibited in this area. Defaulters
will be penalised with a fine of Rs 1000.”
Firstly, it is indisputable visual testimony of the complete
disregard of law, a trait that we’re slowly but surely becoming
infamous for as a society. We thumb our noses at rules and regulations that are
meant to keep life running as smoothly as possible for every citizen.
This can be observed in all areas of life. Everyone behaves
like they know better than everyone else and that rules are made for others and
not for them.
Let’s take traffic rules for instance. These rules are put
in place to safeguard everyone’s safety and to keep our towns free and moving
with the least inconvenience caused to anyone. But do we care about them? No,
most Naga vehicle users don’t give a hoot. Traffic signs and rules mean nothing
– we park wherever we want, stop to drop or pick up whenever and wherever we
want, turn and dart in and out or speed drive with no concern for anyone,
double/triple park anywhere we like as long as we can get our work done and so
on and so forth.
It’s an undeniable truth that we Nagas are in general pretty
casual about following rules and regulations. ‘I’ll take only two minutes’, ‘I’m
in a bit of a rush’ or something to that effect or the classic ‘do you know who
I am’ are statements you hear often resulting in massive traffic jams, queue jumping
and pushy obnoxious behaviour and doing whatever you want no
matter what the rules are. I think we can safely say that we show up very, very
poorly in the departments of discipline and self-regulation.
Okay, so that’s an unsavoury trait that certainly does not stand us in good stead as a people. But on the other side of this sorry tale are the ‘authorities’ who themselves make a total mockery of the laws and regulations. The image highlighted above is a case in point. The public notice was issued by the Head GB presumably because the authorities of the locality had made some decisions on sanitation and waste disposal in the area. The question is where were they when people started dumping garbage in the spot where they had specifically ordered that it should not be dumped?
Okay, so that’s an unsavoury trait that certainly does not stand us in good stead as a people. But on the other side of this sorry tale are the ‘authorities’ who themselves make a total mockery of the laws and regulations. The image highlighted above is a case in point. The public notice was issued by the Head GB presumably because the authorities of the locality had made some decisions on sanitation and waste disposal in the area. The question is where were they when people started dumping garbage in the spot where they had specifically ordered that it should not be dumped?
This again can be observed at all levels of authority – from
the top rung of the government ladder down to the assorted local authorities.
Nobody can accuse us of not having laws. We have plenty and very good ones at
that. Notifications of rules and regulations and bans and restrictions and so
on also keep showing up regularly accompanied by strict warnings of consequences
on violators. Again, check photo above. The problem is that there is never
anyone around to follow up on these rules and to enforce them. The biggest sham
in the State is, of course, the liquor ban. But that’s another story altogether.
I remember a letter sent in by a senior citizen and a loyal
reader when I was with Eastern Mirror. He had voiced his disgust and
frustration about ‘useless notices on government working hours’ while observing
that every year the State Government notifies office working hours which no
government employee ever pays attention to. Referring to a Home Department
notification saying that the working hours for both summer and winter will
remain the same, 9:30 am to 4 pm, he had pointed out that no employee turns up
to office before 11 am and are gone by 2 pm leaving only the ‘ghosts’ behind in
the empty offices. He questioned the point of such notifications which the
employees are simply going to ignore in the absence of any enforcement.
Good question indeed. Government issues notification,
employees ignore, there’s no sign of enforcement and life goes on till it’s
time to issue another notification.
I mentioned traffic rules above. So, drivers are ignoring
signs and breaking rules left and right. No surprise there. But where are the
enforcers? Forget other towns and just take a ride round capital town Kohima. You
will find cars parked right beside almost every ‘No Parking’ sign. And, mind
you, these ‘No Parking’ signs have been put up by the Traffic Department. Again
I ask – where are the enforcers? Why put up the signs if you’re not going to
enforce it?
It’s the same scenario with even very serious offences like
drunk driving and underage driving. The laws are there but there’s no one to
check and enforce them.
Laws do not automatically implement itself. If you have the
authority to create rules, you have the responsibility to uphold them.
Laying down rules and regulations with no follow-through
whatsoever makes a mockery of the law and simply encourages total disregard and
lack of respect for the rule of law among citizens.
Is it any wonder that our society is descending into a
complete chaotic mess?