Editor,
The much talked about Shillong Airport Expansion Project, is being done at the expense of some poor and innocent individual land owners. There is a murky deal behind the whole issue. Our property (DB Museum) is one among the six others whose land has been forcefully appropriated by the Government. It is clear that the compensation for the six plots had already been done in 2010 by the District Authority of Ri Bhoi, but it is a mystery that the owners of the six plots have never received the money. It seemed that the amount has gone to another individual who seemed to have claimed ownership over all the above said plots. It is unacceptable that the Government authority with its law-abiding tradition should have paid the amount without first ascertaining the ownership of these plots. Officers who are involved in such a gross mistake should be taken to task. It appears too that there is a murky deal behind all these payments since many things do not seem to have been done in the proper manner. When the PAC (Public Account Committee) headed by Mr Paul Lyngdoh (MLA) took up the matter with the aggrieved persons, then there came a statement from the Government that this issue is beyond the jurisdiction of the PAC. Is this not a suspicious move? This leads us to think that the authority is trying to protect someone of their own. As of now the High Court has given orders for the expansion work to begin and the District Authority has no option but to implement the order. Now where is justice here? Should the person who received all the money (blood money) and the government officials involved in this dirty deal go scot free? Is this what every Indian citizen is entitled to get? Are we living under dictatorship or under democracy? If justice is to be given to Indian citizens then I think the High Court should first constitute a CBI investigation into this matter or else we will only perpetuate corruption and injustice in this beautiful country of ours.
Yours etc.,
Barnes Mawrie sdb,
Customer unfriendly GPO
Editor,
Many of us customers are facing a lot of problems at Shillong GPO aside from the obvious link failure. First and foremost the working hours at the saving/deposit counter is very less compared to other financial institutions. Opening an account or depositing money is a whole day affair as it is always overcrowded. The staff and the higher- ups at the GPO are very unprofessional, rude and indifferent to the plight of us customers. We the customers of Shillong GPO thank The Shillong Times for bringing up this issue on behalf of us customers, however it remains to be seen if anything good will come out of this.
Yours etc.,
Sandy Troyden,
Corruption at IRCTC counter
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I would like to bring to the notice of the concerned authorities about the illegal practices by some corrupt officials at the lone IRCTC ticket booking counter at Tura MTC office premises. On 5th January, I had gone to the aforesaid ticket counter for buying a Tatkal train ticket for myself and my family for travelling from Guwahati to Kolkata next day. After completing all the procedures, I was asked to pay a certain amount of fare by the official at the ticket counter. I paid the amount to him and collected the ticket. After collecting the ticket, I casually went through the same and to my utter surprise I found that I was charged Rs.600 more than the actual fare that was printed on the ticket. Accordingly I went back to the official at the counter and reported the matter to him. He simply replied that they charge Rs.200 extra per passenger for Tatkal tickets. Upon enquiry from some fellow passengers, I came to know that this is a regular affair at the said counter. Since the said IRTC counter is run by the Indian Railways and no private travel agent or office is involved, how can these government officials charge more than the actual fare? Isn’t it day light corruption by these officials who are taking advantage of the innocent passengers from this region who have very little knowledge about trains and its ticketing systems? I therefore urge the concerned authorities to immediately stop this illegal practice by corrupt officials and take stern action on their corrupt activities so that common travellers don’t get looted in broad day light.
Yours etc.,
A. Majumdar
Tura