Editor,
I would like to bring to your notice the arbitrary, and somewhat illegal, behaviour of the management of Loreto Convent, Shillong. A notice was circulated to the parents of students of the school that Loreto Convent would be levying an additional sum of Rs 500 per month in addition to the regular fees towards ‘upgradation of the school to class XII’ and construction of a new building for this section. This sum would be payable up until the completion of the developmental work.
This rather innocuous notice has larger ramifications. .
1) The decision to develop the high school section was taken by the school management. At no time were the parents of the students taken into confidence and perhaps justifiably so. My contention is that if the school had unilaterally decided to undertake such a project it should have also explored methods of financing other than thrusting it on unsuspecting students. Why should the student be the reason as well as the means for the development?
2) The school will be potentially raising Rs 60 lakhs per annum from the students. This will continue till the completion of the project, which could very well be interminably since nothing to the contrary has been mentioned in the notice.
3) To add insult to injury, the management did not think it relevant that prior to making such a demand, a discussion with the parents of the students would have been in order, to explain the pros and cons of this development and how it could benefit the students if the same were done. Alternatively, it is also quite plausible that a good portion of the present lot of students would continue their high school education in other institutions within and outside the city. Why should they be the ones to bear the brunt for the profit of the Loreto Convent?
4) While for some, s 500 would be a trivial amount, there are many who would be unduly burdened by this exorbitant demand. A regular student is paying on an average fees of rupees twenty six thousand per annum for the year 2014, which also includes a very vague ‘Developmental fee’ of Rs 1200 per annum. This translates to about Rs 2180 per month. The additional Rs 500 would be a whopping twenty 23% increment to the expense in fees. I`m sure the management did not deliberate on this matter for too long.
5) If this is a precursor, students can continue to expect such arbitrary actions in the future too.
6) Finally, it would serve the management well if the students are considered as consumers only, rather than financiers too. Among other things, they cannot also be burdened with the development of the school.
There are many ways to extort. This is one of the more suave and innovative methods. The school should be warned that aspects of legality and justification need to be analysed threadbare before such demands are made.
Yours etc.,
V M Wahlang,
Via email
Milk scarcity, alcohol abundance in Meghalaya
Editor,
Meghalaya is perhaps one of the few states in India, where a person will have a very hard time to purchase fresh packaged cow’s milk. Milk demand here far exceeds its production due to lack of infrastructure and proper planning and policy. The animal husbandry department which makes available packaged milk produces it in limited quantity and the supply is also erratic. But when it comes to alcohol there is never any dearth of the spirit. Wine stores are open from 10 am – 8 pm but there is no dedicated milk shop for the public in the state. Very few private firms are supplying milk here. The animal husbandry department must increase its spending on milk production in order to make more milk available for the population of the state. The State Govt should decide whether it wants its population to have the option of spending more on milk or alcohol.
Yours etc.,
Harmit Ranhotra,
Via email