Thursday, March 28, 2024
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The drug menace

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Editor,

Shillong has been hit by two menaces, one the menace of plastic waste and the other a rampant and growing drug menace. Civil society and Government seems to have finally woken up to the threat posed by plastic and admirable steps are currently being taken by both to create awareness relating to the use and disposal of plastic waste. However we also need to pay equal attention to the harmful impact the drug menace is having especially on our young people. It must be placed on record that the Police too, especially the East Khasi Hills Police headed by its SP, Claudia Lyngwa have been very pro-active on this front. Unprecedented hauls of huge quantities of narcotics, unheard of before, are now hitting the headlines almost daily.  Meghalaya is making headlines in controlling the inflow of harmful drugs into the city. The Police are doing a commendable job and are to be lauded for it.

The sudden drying up of supplies have no doubt hit the users and addicts very hard. They will become desperate as the drug market dries up and the price starts sky-rocketing. Drug related crimes are expected to shoot up and both the police and the Dorbar Shnongs , as well as residents of the city are cautioned to be extra alert on this score. As police pressure on the drug supply market mounts so will the pressure of desperation of the users and addicts. The plus side of such a situation perhaps is that the denial factor will also start to fall and more people, both addicts and their families, will now start looking for help and rehabilitation.

Here is where Govt needs to step in. Meghalaya is the only state in the NE that does not have a Govt drug rehabilitation centre. All other such centres in Meghalaya are privately owned and run, either by individuals or by organisations and NGOs. A Govt run rehabilitation centre will no doubt be of help, especially for those from the lower rungs of society. It is hoped that this urgently needed intervention by the Govt will find place of discussion in the forthcoming Assembly Session. Any positive outcome from such debates and follow up action taken will be of immense benefit to the people of this state.

Yours etc.,

Toki Blah,

Via email

 Trade license conundrum

Editor,

This refers to the news item published in your esteemed daily (ST Sep 8, 2019) under the heading “Police verification report delays renewal of trade license: Paul”. In this connection it may be informed to the concerned authorities at KHADC that so far no one, who has applied for renewal of trade license, was asked to submit the police verification report. That is why KHADC has not issued any police verification form to the traders for this purpose. Without prescribed forms issued by KHADC, what would police verify? Actually, trading license should have been renewed by the March 31, 2019 for the period from Apr 1, 2019 to May 31, 2019. Now after a lapse of six months if KHADC authorities are asking for police verification from non- tribal traders then it appears to be an absurd requirement.

Further, till date requirement of police verification was unheard of for the renewal of trading license. Nor is there any such provision in the Governing Act/Rules concerning renewal of trading license. One is duty bound to follow the existing laws but it would be improper for anyone to create a new law and ask someone to follow it from retrospective effect.

Yours etc..

M S Chettri

Via e-mail

Damage control exercise

Editor,

It appears that the Education Minister after having been briefed by experts had at long last done some minor damage control by introducing NCERT Physics text for class XI, thereby aggravating the situation further as class IX to class XII are the most valuable processes of learning to compete in JEE and NEET. Thus to begin with wrong texts and in the middle with right ones to finally end up with the wrong ones again, will greatly confuse the students. The problem started since the revision of curriculum for science by MBOSE. Some portions from Post graduate is transferred to BSc then it cascaded to class IX. So to expect BSc Physics (Hons) or BSc Maths (Hons) to be able to imbibe upon the young minds the subject of Physics is asking too much, especially with the texts having errors in every third page. We fail to emulate CBSE selection of teachers in which Post Graduates with very high percentage are taken as teachers of IX and X. For class XI with NCERT texts I am skeptical that Post Graduate teachers who have failed to detect 60% of errors and ill-covered topics for three long years will succeed in their task of teaching. NCERT needs 30 pages for one topic while MBOSE has only 8 pages. For class XII it would be wiser if teachers could skip topics right from semi – conductors to nuclei as they are packed with lies and fanciful ideas. We had squandered three valuable months since my first letter in The Shillong Times simply because of the Education Department’s ego and arrogance. Instead, one writer even countered my letter. Complete overhaul is a must and it should start right now. All classes from IX to XII should have NCERT text books and I believe parents would not mind buying books to help their children shine in life. The winter holidays could be reduced by a month. New and experienced teachers need to be included. And with these drastic changes, our students would fare well in NEET and JEE.

This is my last humble suggestion to the Education Minister. If nothing is done, I would remain in constant grief for my beloved MBOSE children who were for most part of the year wrongly educated and passed by wrong examiners in every detail of Physics. Whatever correct answers from the wrong text with marks duly granted is nothing short of a long term deception at a critical stage when students need correct textbooks. And the one who approved such texts is answerable for the careers of lakhs of MBOSE students.

Yours etc.,

 W.Passah,

Ex H.O.D Electronics,

St. Edmund’s College

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