Blockade hour rush
The two day night road blockade called by four pressure groups caused an unprecedented rush in every grocery store in the city last week.
It looked as if Shillong has regressed into those bad old days when Shillong was affected either by a bandh or a government curfew. Interestingly the city has always taken the call of these pressure groups very seriously, particularly the government employees. It is easy to send the people of Shillong into paranoia.
There is never any questioning if the act of blackmailing the government is correct. No one ever gives a call to the pressure groups to call for a public consultation on the issues they raise. It is assumed that they have the mandate of the people.
In fact what makes these road blockades successful is the acquiescent public. It is enough for a few petrol bombs to be hurled for every human being to rush indoors. Is this how people claim their freedom? Sometimes it bothers on the ridiculous.
And every time it is government employees who leave office early on the pretext of some fear or the other. Sadly the government itself (the top echelon) does not seem to have control on employees who practice laissez faire policy. Can Meghalaya ever progress at this rate?
The student exodus
The death of Dana Sangma and Richard Loitam in different universities of the country has created a ruckus not just in the North Eastern region but across the nation. Students are asking all citizens to sing an online petition seeking justice for the deceased.
A parent whose son is currently studying in Bangalore said she is worried since she has not seen the college premises but relied on other friends to admit her son in the college recommended by them.
The student exodus from Meghalaya alone is alarming and involves several crores of rupees annually.
Another parent who allegedly enrolled her son into the much advertised Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPM), headed by the formidable (?) Arindam Chaudhuri said she was asked to pay an advance of Rs 25,000 for her son’s seat on the promise that it would be refunded in case he took admission elsewhere.
The boy got admission into a better institute and decided to ask for the refund from IIPM. It’s now over a year but the refund is yet to come. Now the institute does not even pick up the phone when the parents of the boy call.
This is how so-called reputed institutions behave!
Dogs affecting tourism
Stray dogs are seen loitering around the Captain Williamson Sangma Museum next to the State Central Library every day and thereby deterring visitors from entering the premises. Several tourists came to visit the museum but turned back.
The dogs, which authorities claim are from the adjoining areas of the city, have created a fear psychosis in the minds of the tourist as they lie down around the premises and bark at people who come anywhere near the museum.
A tourist from neighboring Assam was chased out of the campus just as she reached the museum. Her husband and children shouted at her to run for her life. How can the authorities be so indifferent to such incidents? If things do not improve then the museum will lose footfalls and turn into an ivory tower instead. Is the Shillong Municipality listening?