Editor
Apropos to the article of DN Lyngdoh (ST 27 July 2011) I totally agree with the suggestion that there should be surprise checks for passengers traveling without tickets. This practice should also be extended to the Meghalaya State Transport Corporation buses plying to Guwahati and various areas of the State where there are many ticket-less travelers who cause a huge loss to the corporation. The suggestion if implemented both for JNNRUM funded buses and MSRTC will generate maximum profit to the Corporation, although a certain amount has to be spent to arrange for a task force to perform the job of enforcing strict measures both on the passengers and the conductors. Again as stated by DN Lyngdoh this ensures that the passengers take the responsibility to demand tickets rather than facing stringent punishment of having to pay the fine or to be jailed, which is the practice in other states like Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, etc. Hope that in the near future MTC will be able to expand its network of buses or MSRTC buses to other left out, remote areas of the State. If this suggestion is implemented in right earnest the question of loss will no longer arise. If privately owned buses can generate profit and survive, why not MTC?
Yours etc.,
S.B.Kharbangar,
Via email
Spin offs and spiral offs of Meghalaya politics
Editor,
Like many words in English ‘tumultuous’ too has two meanings; The first is a joyous, rapturous sounding ‘mexican wave’ type movement of union and harmony; the second is its opposite, where there is a lot of noise and motion signifying nothing. The death dance of a headless chicken would exemplify this and Meghalaya politics would follow suit close behind. Our democracy too has two expressions: the first is the huge, and for most part, orderly exercise called ‘General Election’ that is touted to be the most effective sign of our democracy. The second is the opposite of the first, where the so called humble representative of the people turns around and crowns him/herself as the emperor, as Napoleon did. In the process he/she also turns the meaning of ‘minister’(servant) upside down, all in the name of power vested(wasted) in them by the finest democratic process of the world. Where in the world can you have the cake and eat it as well!
All the ‘spin offs’ (good outcome)of the democratic process are with the ‘mafia’ which only pays lip service to it every five years and we the donkeys of democracy are saddled with all the ‘spiral-offs’ ( destructive effects) of it. Blinded and gagged, we are made to believe that we are having the ride of our life, but in fact, we are only careening into chaos, thumping ourselves silly in all the blind corners. We can only take solace in the dictum: ‘before things become better, they turn worse’, a lot worse. We hope we are in that ‘lot worse’ penultimate stage. Don’t cry baby, don’t cry. These are still days of miracle and wonder.
Yours etc.,
John D Jayakumar
Skewed examination system!
Editor,
Apropos the report, ‘Bright students victims of best-of-five policy,’ the present system of MBoSe is not essentially a “best of five policy”. A “best of five” policy is actually not a bad idea. But what is happening now is a worse case scenario. It is in effect a ‘best of three’ policy because marks of English and MIL are compulsorily taken and then the marks of the remaining three subjects are added to the above two compulsory subjects. So a student can obtain 100 marks each in the four subjects and say 80 each in English and MIL, his total will be a mere 460 and a whole 100 marks of the 4th subject is happily
discarded thereby giving a very false picture of the student’s performance. This is what exactly happened this year. Many have pointed out that the 2nd position holder had a larger grand total than the 1st one. This new system too is purely responsible for the dismal picture in the performance in Garo hills. Many students from the top private schools here in Tura who always manage too feature on the Merit lists over the years could not find a place either on the Top Ten List or the Tribal List even though their grand totals were much more than those students who got positions this year. There is no doubt that the bright students have become victims of this system and something should
be done about this. MBoSe can make passing in English and MIL mandatory but taking those marks can be done away with- if the powers that be sit and think hard enough and welcome suggestions from students and interested parents. I am sure things will work out right for our large student population.
Yours etc.,
Shirleen A B Sawkmie,
Tura