Editor,
Apropos the recent recruitment in the Agriculture Department I really wonder why so much is being made about gold medalists not getting employed. Candidates are selected based on their performance in the written test and interviews. If gold medalists fail to perform for whatever reasons, can they be deemed as suitable candidates based on past achievements or on some certificates? Going by this logic why are all the gold medalist of this country not top IAS/IFS officers, or state service officers ? It is a known fact that average students often make it big in life due to sheer hard work and not some academicians. There’s a song by Don Williams which says, “Being first is not always the best”. It would be gratifying if names of these gold medalists are given out to the media for publication. I personally know of a gold medalist from NEHU teaching in a premier institution and who is considered by students to be a mediocre teacher and least innovative in thinking. On the other hand it does not need the caliber of a gold medalist to be a good agriculturist or horticulturist. Perhaps these gold medalists would be better off if they went for higher education where they are sure to gain a platinum medal.
Yours etc.,
Nesfield B Sangma,
Via email
Non-functional ICU at Tura
Editor,
The report in your daily (ST 13 March 2014) of the Chief Minister stating in the Assembly that Tura does not have an ICU till date would make it sound outrageous since the Tura Civil hospital was established a long time back and is one of the prominent health centers of the people of Garo Hills. The newspaper however reported again on the 18 March 2014 that the ICU is very much there in the Civil Hospital and our very own Doctor Chief Minister inaugurated it two years ago. That the Unit does not function is a different matter altogether as it is a typical case in point of the many inaugurated health centers we have in the State. In fact we have the hardware without the applicable soft-wares or the human resource and possibly there are no initiatives within to make best use of what is available. The Chief Minister must have suffered from a temporary bout of amnesia when he made the statement in the Assembly. But then this is a related symptom of the lack of serious commitment to health care by our political leaders in Meghalaya. This is because health is virtually absent from public debates and democratic politics in Meghalaya and has failed to pick up as an important election issue despite the poor quality of public health services delivery system in the State. Hence the insensitivity of our leaders to the issue of health care though there is always promise of proper attention to it in election manifestoes.
The insensitivity and indifference to health issues is more obvious when there is no response at times even after shortcomings are brought to public knowledge. For example, Your newspaper has reported more than once about the arbitrary closure of the Out Patient Department of NEIGRIHMS during the many central government holidays which people of the region do not as a rule celebrate. Yet we do not see any report of our local leaders expressing concern about this and taking up the issue with the authorities concerned despite being fully aware of the sufferings that patients, particularly those from far flung rural areas, have to face because of such an unexpected closure. Neither do we see any report of extensive discussions about healthcare in the Assembly or in other platforms when political leaders know very well that the delivery of public health services within their very own constituencies is dismal or non-existent. Such silence by our political leaders would imply that the health of their constituents has taken a backseat as there is no focus on developing the solid rock of support of basic public health care facilities within easy reach of the rural population. For far to long people from rural Meghalaya are deprived of timely health care at far less cost. This would ultimately lead to heavy reliance on unregulated private health care providers with exploitative pricing for the successive treatments of advanced health problems. The problem is naturally more aggravating for the poor people. The continued reliance on private health care facilities would eventually affect even the relatively well off. On the whole, while there is need to facilitate development initiatives in the State to enhance human lives and freedom, it is also necessary for our political leaders to appreciate that the growth possibilities of a state depends very much on the enhancement of human capabilities which come from good education and health care. In the final analysis it is hard to think of anything more important than health for the well being of citizens and their quality of life.
Yours etc.,
K.L.Tariang
Via email