By Rajkumar Bobichand
The Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which has been postponed to 11 November this year, is not the first to be conducted in Manipur. The test was conducted for the first time last year, but all the centres were in Imphal. There were no complaints on the venue of the test then. But, this year the complaints have come as to why the test could not be conducted in the hill districts also. The educated unemployed youths of the hills are not amused with the government attitude. Their argument is that many of the educated youths residing in the hill districts cannot come to Imphal for collection and submission of application forms or to appear in the test. Their arguments are not irrational as Manipur is part of India which is a welfare state.
Yes, the government had already promised to conduct the TET examination in the Hills districts of Manipur in the near future but not immediately. If so, why is it not possible to conduct TET in the hills at least at the District Headquarters including Jiribam Sub-Division from this year?
The Joint Committee of Hill District Students’ Organisation comprising of Tangkhul Katamnao Saklong (TKS), Churachandpur District Students’ Union (CDSU), Naga Students’ Union Chandel (NSUC), Zeliangrong Students’ Union Manipur (ZSUM), Senapati District Students’ Association (SDSA) and Thadou Students’ Association (TSA)-General HQ has been demanding conduct of TET in all the hills districts of Manipur. They have called a number of Bandhs and blockades to press their demand.
However, the Joint Committee had relaxed the call for Indefinite Economic Blockade on all the National Highways passing through Manipur from 15 October midnight for three days giving time to the government to find a solution. This action has been taken at the request of the Education Minister Moirangthem Okendro after a three-hour meeting between the government representatives and the Joint Committee representatives on 14 October. Now, it is very clear that the Joint Committee will go ahead with its planned Indefinite Economic Blockade if the government fails to find an amicable solution within the stipulated time.
However, the Government seems prepared or stubborn to go ahead with the date of TET already fixed. It is reaffirmed from the statement of the government that postponement of the examination would render some candidates ineligible as their age would exceed the age bar. It is very funny. If the candidates are once allowed to apply for the test, the age bar factor should not be made a factor. This is a test of eligibility for teacher. Qualifying TET does not guarantee appointment to the post of school teachers. Only when the vacancy arises, they will be considered for appointment. Even if they are guaranteed for appointment, the age bar factor is not irresolvable. Even the age limits – both minimum and maximum – for appointment to the posts of school teachers needs to be discussed and debated. The rationale behind the relaxation of age limit in the UGC’s NET for Lectureship needs to be taken into account. The government can also think of a way out for those who have been teaching for many years in private schools as they had not the opportunity of applying for government jobs as there was no recruitment in their time.
From government statements and press briefings, the reason of government’s failure to conduct TET in the hills this year is that there are no enough infrastructures. Now, it is pertinent to raise a number of questions. Is it really the lack of infrastructure or lack of confidence or the suspicion that unfair means would be used if TET examinations are conducted in the Hills? The Government should be very clear about this. It must not be vague and ambiguous. And why there should not be enough infrastructures in the hills for conducting such a small test? Is the governance totally failed in the hills? How are all the High School, Higher Secondary and University examinations conducted in the hills? Or if it is lack of confidence and suspicion that the candidate would use unfair means, is there no a way out? Can questions not be set and arranged in a way that the candidates cannot use unfair means and copy from each other? Do the government think that such small things and actions of the government will not perturb the inter-ethnic relations or Manipur?
Even in case of issuing TET Application Forms, people witnessed the long queues outside the R D S High School. The forms could have been made available on websites and would have been allowed to submit online and even fees could have been paid online. The government cannot think of decentralisation in this age of Information Technology. The government administrators and officers cannot make tasks simpler and convenient to the public. Rather they make tasks more complex and cause more inconveniences to the public.
There is something wrong with the conducts of business of the government. The government takes everything casually and acts randomly. The attitudes of the most civil servants, police officers and employees of the government departments are not positive. They cannot think that they are working for public. Rather they think and act as if they are the masters and the public as beggars standing at their doors. So they cannot think of repercussions of their decisions and actions, which may affect the ethnic relations and integrity of Manipur. The Government has not a vision. Without a vision, there cannot be good governance. The government cannot see and act holistically.
And the big question is – Why the Government is creating more problems giving rooms to make more rifts between the Hills and Valley? The Government must not add salt to the already wounded ethnic relations of Manipur. Every government department has a role towards building an active coexistence of different ethnic groups of Manipur.