Natural Disaster
A seminar on “Emerging Trends in Reduction of Natural Disaster in the Northeast” was organized by All India Radio, NES, Shillong at the St Anthony’s College Conference Hall, recently. A senior journalist present said, “We have heard about fishes dying from time to time in Jaintia Hills, and wonder if that is due to water turning toxic owing to coal mining in the district. I have seen in West Bengal, an agency was engaged by the government to find out the quality of water. The agency reported that there is high arsenic level in the water in that state. Should the Government here not conduct similar surveys as such phenomenon are also disasters?” Answering his query an AIR official said that in case of natural disasters, people can do very little, but before a man made disasters can be prevented. His contention was that man-made disasters include reckless garbage dumping, air pollution, changing eco-system etc. What are called disposable materials like plastic cups and plates ultimately end up in drains, the AIR official said. Sharing the formula developed by AIR after the Bihar flood, he said that information technology and radio when used together make a perfect match. “This is the age of IT but there are villages in the country where internet has not reached but radio is everywhere,” he said, informing further how volunteers helped affected people by using the radio during the Bihar flood. Such use of technology is needed here in the city in times of disaster.
Perform or Perish!
The new policy of the Union Government to terminate the services of non-performing officers of the All India Services is a welcome step. Now non-performers can be asked to leave after 15 years of service if they have failed to deliver the goods (meaning that they should produce visible results) Such steps should be emulated by the state government here where a lot of dead wood has accumulated; non-performing human resource continues to be paid and where buck- passing is a standard fare. If this rule could be further extended to include ministers, it would add to the productivity of the State. But to remove an officer would need the recommendation of the state government. This is the only lacuna of this otherwise “perform or perish” corporate formula that will now be implemented by the government. When this policy was discussed with some teachers, they commented that it is a beautiful policy to hold a person accountable. They also said that if the policy comes into force then quite a few of our senior babus might have to be given a handshake. Many have suggested that the Government should evolve a system where people can rate officers confidentially on the basis of their experiences in dealing with them.
(In)Justice
The recent explosive story involving persons who have diverted rice and wheat from the Public Distribution System (PDS) to the open market is actually not news. This has been happening from the time the State was born and many people have made their wealth and become respectable, wealthy citizens by this trade for decades. So the three salesmen of a ration shop in Iewduh who were sacked recently for diverting PDS material to the black market are small fries compared to the big fish who have now moved on to other businesses. Those who know how the Public Distribution System (PDS) works say that what the whole-sellers and foodgrain stockists have been diverting PDS rice, and wheat into the open markets in collusion with the local traders. They have made their millions and are now into other businesses. They chuckle that all those stockists had fake ‘chakki mills’ which had never seen even a handful of wheat being ground, but they got away with their deception by paying the babus and Civil Supplies Minister including the MLAs in the Public Utilities Committee who came to see those empty chakki mills but certify that they existed. In fact many are wondering why the government is making a song and dance about this malfeasance only now. Good question !