Editor,
Apropos the letter “Wake up Cleve Colony” (ST 21sT Feb 2014), purportedly written by one N.S Nongsteng, I am to rejoin that cases of criminal incidents occasionally happen in every locality and I am surprised that the writer wanted to publicise the particular incidents in Cleve Colony. I know this locality and its residents well and from what I have heard about the particular incident of assault on the person from Mawlai by two local boys of the Colony, the local Durbar promptly informed the police and got these boys arrested. These dearly shows that the responsible citizen of the locality did not prefer instead to protect their own members who committed the crime and this is to be appreciated. I doubt if the leaders in many other localities would be brave enough to take such action. It also reflects that the members of the locality do not make any distinction between the residents of the locality when it comes to punishing those who commit wrongdoings. Therefore I fail to understand why N.S Nongsteng feels that condemnation of the act is more important than the swift action of getting those boys arrested. I also learnt that the members of the locality did their best to assist the victim up to the time that he was safely admitted in the hospital and also assisted the victim’s family members throughout the next day. This would indicate that the residents of the locality are not only fair and firm but also compassionate as well. Therefore, it appears that N.S Nongsteng did not really make a fair assessment of the whole situation and simply wants to present a wrong picture to the public to tarnish the image of the responsible leaders of Cleve Colony. Somehow it appears to me that someone from inside wants to wash dirty linen in public and this is certainly sad.
Yours etc.,
Saramai Lyngdoh
Shillong -3
Ambiguity in the use of NOTA button
Editor,
In pursuance of a verdict given by the supreme court on September 09, 2013 regarding use of NOTA (None Of The Above) button in EVM, the Election Commission of India for the first time experimented with the use of ‘NOTA’ during last assembly election in five states conducted in the month of November, 2013. While the results of that election are known to all the outcome of the use of ‘NOTA’ remained a silent point of discussion. In other words it can be said that the use of ‘NOTA’ has not given any respite to voters who deliberately used the button during the last assembly election since the candidate who polled the highest number of votes was declared the winner any way. As per laid down provisions in the Constitution of India, every eligible voter has been granted a statutory right to vote in favour of a person of his/her choice during any election, so in that case opting for ‘NOTA’ is simply a fuzzy exercise.
India being the largest democracy in the world, during the current Lok Sabha election, more than 80 crore bona fide citizens are entitled to vote for representatives of their choice and in that case use of EVM is considered to be a wise decision on the part of ECI. On the other hand, use of EVM not only reduces the time involved in the polling exercise but also gives the correct result regarding number of vote(s) polled by a candidate, instantly. I presume, in that case that the inclusion of ‘NOTA’ button in EVM simply complicates the polling exercise. Moreover, money spent by Government of India to modify the EVM may not lead to the expected inference. Use of EVM during any election still is still a new concept and as per statistic more than 80% of voters of rural areas (including new voters) and about 20% of voters in urban areas are ignorant about the use of EVM. Since the voters are not fully acquainted about the use of EVM, the inclusion of ‘NOTA’ button in EVMs may lead to casting of negative votes and needs to be taken into account while counting the total votes polled in a constituency. Let voters not get into a mess but in case more voters use NOTA (as an experiment) it may provoke the ECI to come up with other alternatives to fulfil the voters’ aspirations.
Yours etc.,
PB Das,
Shillong-3
NEHU apathy towards research scholars
Editor,
Through this renowned daily, we would like to make public of the sufferings of the research scholars in NEHU due to regular delay in releasing the monthly stipend meant for them by the University. Scholars can apply for fellowships at the end of the month. After applying, they have to wait for not less than half a month for the fellowship to come. Last year the scholars resorted to agitations because the fellowship was delayed for months. The fruit of the agitation is short lived. The trend of delay has resurfaced. We have not received our stipend (fellowship) for the last two months. When we inquired from the clerks, they said that they had not released the amount for the months of February and March on account of the financial year ending. When we enquired whether NEHU staff drew salary for the same months, they replied that their salaries are credited to their accounts by 1st or 2nd of every month.
If the NEHU management can pay salaries to themselves, then why not the stipend? Should scholars be forced to agitate again like last year? It is a shame that NEHU resolves to such delay tactics, when even newer universities like Mizoram and Nagaland Universities take less than 5 working days to pay the stipends. Scholars need money to complete their research and that is the purpose for which fellowship is given. They cannot afford to waste time in running around inquiring for their fellowships again and again. Worse, they cannot afford to spend sleepless nights thinking of the means to meet the financial requirements demanded by the academic activities or even to pay mess fees in the hostel. We hope that the NEHU authority would take this issue seriously.
Yours etc
Research Scholars, NEHU