Editor,
On April 18 last I left my mobile phone at Counter No 8 in State Bank of India, Kachari Branch, Shillong. I realised that my phone was lost only in the evening of that day and tried searching everywhere- my handbag, my car, my home – but in vain. Then I sat quietly and thought through my whole day’s activities and bingo!, I remembered leaving it at the above counter and immediately made several calls and got connected to a lady, June Syiemiong, who works in this bank and who assured me that she would let me know the next day. She kept her word and called me the following day to give me the good news that my phone was safely kept by Ms Lanora Mutyen , who was on duty at Counter No.8 on the day I left my phone there.
The above incident confirms my conviction that there are still good, honest people in our city and this cheers me up. Thank you ladies! With people like you around, all is not lost. Allow me to encourage others, starting with myself, to practice such actions and revive the ‘ tip briew tip blei’, ‘kamai ia ka hok’ among the Khasis.
Yours etc.,
Darilyn Syiem,
Via email
Has MeECL lost the plot?
Editor,
Their motto says “Lighting up your lives” but MeECL has actually failed to provide the people of Shillong proper electricity supply especially in the rural areas of the state. There is load (scheduled and unscheduled) all the time. Besides that, there is power cut every day, sometimes every hour. It’s very irritating for those working online, for shop owners, cyber cafes etc., to concentrate on their work in this pitiable situation. The Power Minister should do something and take action on the matter. MeECL should announce the power shut down timings and avoid arbitrary power cuts at odd timings. Every household cannot afford an inverter/inverters or generators. Indeed ensuring uninterrupted power supply is a big challenge for the MeECL and it seems to have lost its objective. I hope the Government will pay attention to the plight of the power consumers of Meghalaya.
Yours etc.,
A concerned citizen,
Via email
Replacing plaques of Tagore’s last visit to Shillong.
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I would like to draw the attention of the present owners of former ‘Sidhli House’, Upland Road Shillong, regarding replacement of the memorial plaques, related to Rabindranath Tagore’s stay here during his last visit to Shillong in April – May 1927. It bears mention that the former owner of Sidhli House was Rani Manjula Devi, (Queen of the estate of Sidhli, erstwhile Assam) an ardent devotee of Tagore, who preserved the house with full piety, as a valuable memorial of the great poet-bard till her death. The plaques, bearing the record of Tagore’s stay here were erected and placed ceremonially by the Bimola Prasad Chaliha Ministry of Assam in 1961, the centenary year of Tagore, at the initiative of the Central Government. This heritage house was disposed of during 2010-11, after the demise of Rani Manjula Devi. The present owner, when approached by a delegation of Rabindra lovers of Shillong including myself, with the request to replace the plaques in the proper place to make the public aware of Tagore’s memory here, had agreed to replace them along with a statue of Tagore, in front of the newly built building at his own cost after the construction is completed. That was May 12, 2011. Six years on we are still awaiting fulfillment of the solemn commitment made to us.
Yours etc.
Uma Purkayastha
Shillong – 4
E-governance a distant dream!
Editor,
The state transport department in its website mentions several important points related to transport services, rules, application forms and permits. However, I happened to meet some people who wanted to register their vehicles of 2010 and 2011 models respectively and to apply for commercial tourist permit. Unfortunately they were verbally informed at the DTO’s office in Shillong by some staff member that they could not apply for tourist permits, which is ridiculous as no such public notice or information is available at the website of the Transport Department which incidentally has not been updated. We would like to know when such a cap was decided and on what basis? Secondly, if at all there is a moratorium on tourist permits why wasn’t any public notification put up? It seems to me that anyone requiring the services of the DTO and STA office is forced to grease the palms of the staff and dalals to hurry up their case rather than wait and get delayed, that too in this age of web technology. While other states have progressed by leaps and bounds in electronic governance why are those sitting in their cushy chairs failing to implement and bring changes in the overall interest of the public?
Yours etc…
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong-7