Old democratic institutions in Meghalaya effectively respond to COVID!
Even today, Meghalaya continues to be an enigma to many citizens in other parts of our country. The appreciation of the state is often limited to lush greenery, music festivals and scenic tourist locations. As a trainee IPS officer in the state, I found myself appreciating the same but also compelled to acknowledge and value much more. Serving in Shillong, situated in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya, during the troublesome times of the covid pandemic, I encountered one of the oldest democratic institutions of the sub-continent. Amazingly, I found that these continue to hold relevance in everyday life as well as in the midst of grave crises.
When COVID struck India, it was an unprecedented situation. The entire world was struggling to understand the nature of the virus while at the same time combat its spread and lethality. Hence, any state administration not only required cooperation and discipline amongst the larger public but also strong grassroots level organisations to ensure the same. In this light, many cite Kerala as a state that successfully contained the spread of the virus with the aid of ground level workers. Meghalaya, too, had it’s own mechanisms and institutions at play. This helped the state successfully contain the pandemic to a large extent.
These institutions are spread across the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills which constitute Meghalaya. The society in Khasi hills, where I was serving, is organized into the following groups — the Darbar Shnong or the assembly of headmen, the Seng Kynthei or the women’s organisation in every village and the Seng Sangla or the youth organisation. It did not take me long to realise that almost every adult member of society is tied to one community organisation or the other. It has over time inculcated a sense of belongingness and responsibility in every member of the public. Moreover, the attachment to these organizations is strong as they all operate in a democratic manner. All the heads are elected and regular meetings ensure participation of all members.
The advantages of such social groups was evident during covid. Adherence to the lockdown required discipline and also dissemination of information about the disease. The state police was highly facilitated in this task by the heads and secretaries of these groups. Further, when social distancing was to be enforced in markets, we had members of the youth organisations working nights with us and drawing up lines (for queus) and boxes outside shops before they could be opened. Moreover, the headmen and seng kynthei heads, practically the fathers and mothers of the communities, would ensure regular distribution of food and rations to those hit economically. Finally, when the disease did begin to spread in the Khasi hills, the headmen provided assistance to the administration with efficient contact-tracing as they knew every member of their community, their family members and friends.
The heads of these organisations seem to have genuine support and respect of the people. They ensured that panic was curbed regarding this unknown virus and those affected by it were not stigmatised. Whenever such panic and stigmatisation did occur in isolated instances, a meeting of the administration with the elders would provide immediate results.
We see that mutual support and trust between grassroots level organisations and the administration helped the state effectively navigate through the pandemic at its peak. The state has shown the way forward by demonstrating that any state policy is better enforced with cooperation of the local populace.
