Editor,
Outrageous or whatever you name it is the way the MeECL functions. Just a few days back we saw a letter to the editor in your newspaper about the continuous malfunction of the street lights along the dyke on the Umiam reservoir. Now we see photographs in your newspaper about the ill maintained children’s park of the MeECL at Umiam (ST 11Th Dec 2012) and its present sorry state which drives away visitors these days. This makes people to conclude that if the MeECL authority cannot properly look after its assets within its own backyard then it certainly would explain its shortcomings everywhere else . In fact there is nothing to cheer about our very own Corporation except that its coming in the news almost everyday for all the wrong reasons. The good news about the commissioning of the Leishka Power Project which would have cheered us is immediately marred when people came to know about the disproportionate cost involved in the construction of the project. Added to this is the disappointment on the lack of tangible result as people continue to face the problem of power breakdown incessantly everywhere and even for days in many villages in the state. There are complaints about the billing system in the rural areas where consumers are presented with accumulated bill amounts of several months which makes it difficult for them to pay in one shot. Over and above that, the response to complaints about payments is very imprecise which really frustrates the consumers. The payment system by dropping cheques in the ATM booth does not favour many consumers because it does not provide them with a receipt which can provide proof of payment when the MeECL goofs up by serving them with an outstanding amount against a bill already paid. Hence the long queue in the bill counters, again for the sake of obtaining a receipt. I fail to understand why the Corporation is so primitive in its style of functioning that it has, till date, failed to introduce the online payment system. On the whole the Corporation seriously suffers from lack of good governance rather than from anything else. It’s frustrating but this is to be expected when the Chief Secretary of the state is also heading the MeECL. It seems that our political masters are, however, not averse to the present arrangement. Ours not to reason why? Strange indeed!
Yours etc.,
Gilbert Rani
Shillong-14
Educators as moulders, but to what end?
Editor,
On Thursday, December 13, 2012, I was chatting with a renowned academician of Shillong, who also happens to be a popular tutor in the city, to discuss the condition of the present education system in the state. Just then two young students were returning from their class XI exams, from one of the so called graded colleges of Shillong. They wished their tutor but I was amazed but also pitied these young girls and irritated at the way institutions run these days. It came as a shock to me to hear these young girls almost delighted but somewhat embarrassed to answer that they were made to copy from a readymade note for their Biology practical exams, as they did not have any practical classes during the entire year. They expected a similar thing to happen for their Physics practicals, to which again no practical classes were conducted during the year.
I can’t help but wonder at the attitude and responsibility of the teachers who taught these young girls. I suppose they are also very young and are supposed to be more energetic and serious with their jobs (if not profession), considering the fact that they are all newly appointed, as a result of the delinking process which happened recently. I also wonder at the attitude and responsibility of the higher ups and authority of the institution, which make these junior-most teachers to behave and act in this way.
Disheartened at the already incompetent system that we have, especially at the higher secondary level, I but conclude by saying to myself that we would still have to rely on hospitals and doctors and also engineers and experts from outside the state, at least for the next few generations, even as the best of our products opt for nothing but these two important fields of study after their class XII. The only question is “Are we really not good enough?” or “Are we too good?”
Yours etc.,
Wanshan Khardewsaw
Via email
Shocking revelation
Editor,
Apropos the letter “Gambling in the name of fun” (ST Dec 12, 2012), as a parent myself, I am shocked to hear of such an incident taking place and that too in a reputed school/ college. We can understand that teenagers are tempted by the lure of alcohol, smoking, gambling, etc. But does the ‘Brother’ not understand the impact of his actions and what repercussions there will be in such young and impressionable minds? I am the parent of a school going child and I would now think twice before sending my child to a school/college where such practices are condoned and that too by a man of the cloth. St. Edmund’s is a venerable institution but one wonders as to where it is heading with such regrettable incidents taking place.
Yours etc.,
S. Lyngdoh
Via email