Editor,
What the Government of Meghalaya and the High Court has done to restrict Wines Store and Bars is commendable. Kudos to them! Now the next best thing they can do is to restrict the construction of houses near the rivers. Since they have put the distance of having a wine store or a bar to about 200 meters from Hospitals, Educational Institutions and Places of Worship, they should also keep some distance for constructing houses, shops etc. near the river. The distance from a river should be about 30-50 meters. Thinking about the welfare of the environment is equally important as that of safeguarding the interest of society. Rampant construction of houses near the river has turned rivers into drains thereby making them an eye sore. Our rivers have been raped and killed by unethical people. These people should be thrown away to the jungles; then only will they realize the importance of nature. SAVE THE NATURE AND ITS BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDING. THEN ONLY WE CAN PROUDLY PROCLAIM THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE CITIZENs. God has given us a wonderful world to live in. Who are we to dirty and destroy it? Is the High Court listening? If so why are encroachers on the Umkhrah River treated as holy cows?
Yours etc.,
Lamphrang Nonglait,
Via email
Who needs parliamentary secretaries?
The PIL filed in the Meghalaya High Court against the unconstitutional appointment of parliamentary secretaries by the Congress- led government in the state is commendable. The necessity to accommodate so many parliamentary secretaries in the post of Chairman, Co-Chairman, Vice-Chairman etc and giving them the status of ministers is nothing new. It has been going on for a long time. Prior to this Mr Kyrshan War had filed a similar PIL but nothing came of it. The argument that PS’s are useful and help in lessening the burden of the cabinet ministers is the funniest joke we’ve ever heard. It is nothing but creating unproductive self-interested individuals. Another irony is that since as tribals none pay income tax so the perks, facilities and amenities given at par with minister of state are a waste of public money. That money could be used for development purposes. We hope that the government has a reasonable justification and perhaps it could give out a report card on the performance of these parliamentary secretaries.
Yours etc….
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong-3
On the Internet
Editor,
“An idea can change your life!”, as one popular advertisement of a mobile service provider put it. Yes, the internet can change lives, where in the ad a boy living in penury, but with a mobile phone in his hand that has internet access, invented a flying robot that could fetch things for his master. The boy was not an IIT student, being too poor. His parents couldn’t afford. He was not well educated, but read downloaded e-books and web pages. In this age of the internet, if we use wisely, it can change our lives forever. A poor college student who has a cheap Chinese smart phone that he purchased somewhere in the alleyways of Iewduh, can be a topper in his class reading digital books and watching You Tube university lectures that he had patiently downloaded, not having money to buy books. A struggling amateur writer/poet can make a name for himself in just a year’s time by submitting and getting his work published in prominent international literary magazines and journals.
These are some of the blessings of the internet. It has helped equip ourselves with a global consciousness, a global perspective on things, a positive self-belief that “anything is possible”. It has made everything accessible, with it being the widest distribution system. It has opened our eyes to endless and limitless possibilities making the world to appear to us to be small, and not “broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”, as Tagore put it. The very fact that the good, the bad and the ugly all exist there reflects a picture of our progressive modern world. But it is also transformative and can help us evolve if we are carefully selective.
Yours etc,
Willie Gordon Suting
Shillong 1
R R Colony – indiscriminate car parking
Editor,
The indiscriminate parking of vehicles on both sides of the RR Colony main road is a malignant issue and traffic police don’t seem to have the inclination to discipline errant drivers. Letters to your esteemed daily highlighting the constraints of pedestrians and those driving on the main road of RR colony in the past has not resulted in any response from the appropriate authority nor the local Welfare Society ! One can hardly walk or drive freely on this road due to parking by the taxis, private vehicles etc on both sides . The irony is that ” NO PARKING” signs are boldly written on the walls but who cares? Since this main road of RR colony was given the nod to by the local Welfare Society to become a thoroughfare some years ago such troubles and indiscipline has aggravated. Before it is too late, I once again request the authorities to take a serious view of the matter.
Yours etc.,
Anjan Kr Das,
Shillong -6