Manipur’s society : At a glance

Marjing Mayanglambam
I believe that regular constructive critique and feedbacks from the public is a healthy means towards developing that society. Silently spectating the ups and downs of a society’s progress is not what a responsible citizen must do. For both good and bad, we must exercise our right to speech by being vocal actively through any communicable means to make sure that we acknowledge the changes in our society. In fact, our opinions and observations can also be useful in our society’s progress. In this article, I will briefly share what is happening and what can be done in our land’s society in three areas of focus.
1. Education : It is believed that the primary foundation of a society depends on how much its education system is developed and this does not necessarily mean that there should be a huge number of A+ grade students. In Manipur, education seems to be more focused on how to score high marks rather than learning.
It is no longer a surprise that there are lots of tuition centres in Manipur and they have the same aim too, ie to produce more students with high marks on a factory scale. There is little to no focus on learning lessons about how to live life well and how to follow one’s passion. It's mostly memorizing theorems, formulae, dates, and quotes by deceased philosophers. We need to add more about Manipur so that we can know more about our land’s history, politics, and economy and focus less on other land’s stories. We can get some inspiration or information from others, but we need to know more about and from our land.
Students will automatically be interested if the infrastructure of their schools and universities is highly developed and has most of the latest tools, and software. Extra-curricular activities should be highly supported in schools so that students can express their talents and creativity. There are huge roles of teachers in inspiring students. Teachers who just read passages from the textbook and give notes are not inspirational. They need to think beyond the traditional teaching environment and at least do something which can spark innovation and curiosity among the students. I have met a few teachers who stepped outside of the defunct ‘clerical selection education system’ and became the change bringers. Nevertheless, our education system can be developed a lot, and NEP may help.
2. Administration : Being a democratic country, the role of the administration is huge. Better administration can shape society’s developmental pace. Politicians and administrators must work together to fulfil various needs of our society rather than showing off their powers needlessly. It is the administrative duty to make sure that all the basic human rights are given without any hindrances. They must provide any documents required by the citizen without any wastage of time and corruption.
It is such a pain to visit SDO and DC offices to seek documents without having any relatives in the offices. Sometimes, it is hard to believe that our administrators are meant to provide us with services because of their way of work which is the total opposite of where we are providing them with services to get our work done. No wonder why many youths are interested in becoming administrators and politicians not to serve people honestly but to leech from the people. In these painstaking situations, I might prefer the system of foreign countries where they make the administrative services very smooth and fast without having many problems.
Other departments that play an important role in the administration work of Manipur can also further improve their service by being less mean and providing helpful insights into our requirements.
3. Law and Order : Our land is highly tense, socio-politically due to various reasons both internal and external factors and requires the need for police forces. They are required most of the time to defuse riots, fights and attacks with or from any sources. However, the people see them not for their courageous and heroic roles but rather with fear and sometimes disgust. Fast response to any crime and suspicious activities is highly sought. They along with various elected heads and administrators own the road which is a big public nuisance. Everybody is in a hurry, yet we must not assume that the road is our property where we can drive at high speeds. It would be highly appreciated if they behaved modestly and kindly while performing their duties.
One act of kindness can start the process of us to change our view towards them. However, I have met a few officers and constables who were very down-to-earth and humble enough to help me with my needs and questions.
“Justice delayed is justice denied.” – I have seen this passage being written on the walls of  various places. Our judiciary is doing great and can do more and better. Domestic and child related cases should not be delayed. It should be acknowledged that cases related to drugs are one of the main striking reasons besides illegal immigration for the present turmoil in our land.
Our government has done lots of work which is highly beneficial to deserving people and I extend my heartiest thanks to them for doing so. Sometimes, reminding ourselves to be grateful to the govt. is necessary because they too are humans and to be precise, our close brethren. The above three areas are just mere details, and I have shared whatever I can to spread awareness. I will be sharing more in the future if I ever get the chance by negating the risks of being too vocal about Manipur.