Editor:
We are shocked to see the editorial, Harijan Colony: Call for a pragmatic approach. (ST June 18, 2019). The entire content of the editorial is against the residents of the Harijan Colony and in the name of pragmatism and slum clearance, you have chided CM Conrad Sangma for his assurance to the Punjabi Lane settlers by saying, “But this does not solve the long term problem which is that of a slum in the vicinity of the largest market of Meghalaya, which is bursting at the seams.”
Dharavi is the biggest slum of Asia in the heart of Mumbai city. The city administration and the State government has not taken any steps to relocate the residents out of the city in the name of cleaning up the city. Right to a housing of one’s choice is a fundamental right and no state can force any such policy on the residents. You have not made a single reference to the history of the area and have arbitrarily condemned the residents of the area. Significantly, the whole editorial thrust is to give legitimacy to the Shillong Municipal Board, whose actions are in contempt of orders of the Meghalaya High Court.
We expect the Shillong Times to adopt an impartial approach and not a biased and sectarian approach against the poorest of the poor residents who have served the state of Shillong for the last two centuries.
Yours etc.,
Gurjit Singh,
Via email
MeECL services collapsing
Editor,
The services of the MeECL are going from bad to worse in spite of numerous and regular shut-downs for so called maintenance works. Power outages are frequent in all major towns of the state. Rural areas go without any power supply for weeks on end. Reverse polarity happens every now and then posing a danger to the users. The inefficiency is so glaring yet there is no accountability whatsoever. The senior management seems to have lost all control over it’s ground and maintenance staff!
To add to the woes of the paying individual consumer, the MePDCL also seems to be on a downward slide. Two years back I had complained online on their website as well as to the Grievance Committee that one cannot make any corrections/alterations in respect of their profile like contact number etc. Nothing has been done even up-to today. Doesn’t this Corporation have an IT Manager? And if yes, what is he/she doing? Or is it that no one bothers to check and test the functionality of the various options on the website?
The worse, however, is that their website has now been non-functional for a month! Online payments can, therefore, not be made. Do the officials of this utility expect the senior citizen consumer to go back to the old practice and stand in line for an hour or more to pay the electricity bill?
Those at the helm of affairs in these two Corporations, what do you do during your working hours? Do you even attend office, because that is what it looks like? We are paying for electricity unlike you who get free power supply!
Is there any hope for these utilities, or are they on the verge of collapse?
Yours etc.
Eugene Thomas,
Shillong 793006
Is medical education expensive ?
Editor,
I have often pondered over this dilemma faced with a barrage of high profile persons including political leaders, social scientists, administrators and even doctors like Dr Devi Shetty endorsing the view that it is. Figure of 1 crore being spent by the Government on every MBBS doctor produced has been bandied about for a long time. This is the excuse used to introduce a compulsory rural service for MBBS students from time to time in different states in different forms. Even the idea of No Objection certificate from MCI needed by MBBS doctors to go abroad stems to some extent from this hoax. Yes I call it a hoax or a propaganda and I will try to prove the same.
Where did this figure come from ? My idea is that it was picked up from what private medical colleges charge as fee and ancillary charges from its victims. Total of about 67,000 MBBS doctors are produced in India every year. If it costs 1 crore per doctor as input cost then we are spending 67000 crores on this venture as a nation. With approximately 32,000 Government seats we can whittle down the Government’s expenditure to 32000 crores which is 65 % of the nation’s budget for healthcare. Even taking into account the states’ contribution the Government then is spending about 40% of its annual budget for health only on medical education. If we take example of UT Chandigarh which has budget of about 475 crore for health which it has to cover expenditure of all 4 major hospitals multiple dispensaries and other facilities at its command obviously it is not spending 100 crore out of this only on education of MBBS doctors.
Fact is Medical Education provides cheap labour to healthcare and if anything, it subsidizes the healthcare provided to the citizens as part of its constitutional responsibility by the Government. If undergraduate and post graduate students were not to participate in providing healthcare, the entire system would collapse and Government would need to hire three times more doctors and nurses to do the same inadequate job it currently does. In fact medical education saves expenditure which government would otherwise have to do as part of its duty.
Why then is this oft repeated propaganda heard that Government spends “crores” to make one doctor. The reason is that the Government is loathe to let go of the cheap labour which it has used and abused for 10 years or so it takes to prepare a doctor and wishes to extend the period of bonded labour by another 2-3 years by hook or crook if possible. Unfortunately since this figure has been loosely and frequently stated in public , press and even in court judgments and it has never really been countered, hence it has become entrenched in public psyche.
Medical education is extremely profitable which is why so many powerful people ventured into it. 80 MPs were reportedly owning Medical Colleges at one time. Students who could not afford the 60 lac to 1 crore cost in private colleges in India go abroad where the MBBS education is obtained in 15-30 lakhs cost from different countries. Obviously those managing the colleges in China, Philipines, Russia, and so many other countries make a profit from this amount.
What is needed is a white paper from the Government as well as the medical associations on the factual cost of medical education after a detailed study of the matter.
Yours etc.,
Dr Neeraj Nagpal
Convenor,Medicos Legal Action Group,
Managing Director MLAG Indemnity,
Ex President IMA Chandigarh