Editor,
This is to bring to your notice the abysmal Emergency facilities available at Woodland’s Hospital. On Friday night ( Dec 5, 2014) my colleague’s 22 month old son fell down the staircase at his premises. Woodland Hospital seemed the best option and we rushed towards the so called “ISO -9001” certified Hospital .The baby was bleeding profusely. When we reached the Emergency service the lady stationed there to handle emergency cases was completely unaware of the processes to be followed . Nothing was done to stop even the bleeding and we had no option but to rush to some other hospital in the city. The child’s parents, felt completely helpless at that point an I wonder what it will take to bring about a regulatory body in lines with TRAI, IRDA etc to bring Hospitals under the scanner. Thankfully, the child is doing well and has no major issues. I request Hospital authority to take note of this incident and have a well oiled Emergency Team in place to serve the hopelessly hopefuls who turn up at their doorstep.
Yours etc.,
Kamalaj Deb,
Via email
Village adoption should be on merit
Editor,
The BJP government under Mr.Modi had recently chalked out a well conceived plan of asking Members of Parliament to adopt a village or two in any part of the country of their choice. A good initiative indeed that will ultimately give these MPs’ a sense of belonging, understanding and responsibility to bring in developmental programmes! Coming to Meghalaya a similar initiative was initiated, and it was good to see that even an MP not belonging to this state has agreed to adopt some of the remotest villages in Ri Bhoi district. However, in the case of Jaintia Hills how could the sitting Congress MP of Lok Sabha recommend the adoption of a village like Shangpung-Lakadong when these are in some ways economically and socially better off if you compare them with the most difficult and neglected villages of Saipung Block. It would have been prudent for Vincent Pala to recommend not two but maybe ten villages considering his financial health and look inwards to villages under Saipung Block where roads only remain a dream. Perhaps he should take a trip to village called Mullian where it would open up his mind and heart.
Yours etc…
Dominic S.Wankhar
Shillong-3
Scholarship: unnecessary hardships
Editor,
Students applying for scholarship online are facing unnecessary hardship involving time and expenses. They have to procure their parents’ income certificate from the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Income certificate on a Rs. 10 non-judicial form costs as high as Rs. 300. They need to travel far distances with their parents to get this document. Then they have to get their work done in the internet cafes. They have to spend Rs. 100-200 each time they visit a cafe. Worse, the scholarship portal is often non-functional. Students line up at the DC’s office and cafes instead of being in the classrooms. On the whole students will have to spend more than Rs.1000 to be finally able to submit the application online whereas the amount of scholarship is a little more than Rs. 2000. Is the process which involves energy, time and money commensurate with the scholarship?
One cannot understand the need for an income certificate. Everyone knows that these certificates are not genuine. They are obtained without any checks or verifications. How do vendors know the income of all families in a district? The rich and poor produce the same certificate. All tribal students are supposed to get the scholarship. What purpose does an income certificate serve? Is not the Tribal Certificate alone sufficient? Why put the students and their guardians through unnecessary hardships? Instead of making the work easier, the online application has made it more difficult.
Yours etc.,
Albert Thyrniang
Mendal – 794 002