Editor,
Apropos the letter by Mickey M. Marwein ‘Are missionary schools forgetting their mission?’ (ST June 5, 2017), first and foremost thanks for reminding the missionary schools to focus on their mission to the poor and the downtrodden people. However, let me strongly remind the readers that missionary schools are basically set up to educate the poor as the writer had stated and this practice continues till date. In fact reservation of seats for the poor is there, but with one condition that they should be hard working students and this was vindicated during the last HSSLC result (science stream) in which Lawanaibok Kharpuli a student from a poor family successfully topped the list in the state. According to the report, Kharpuli prefers books to internet and had not used a mobile phone till date (ST June 9, 2017). From this report we could say that he is a hard working student and he knows the importance of education and the struggle of his poor parents to send him to school. Therefore I am surprised to read the letter that missionary schools are forgetting their mission by recruiting only rich students.
Further I am also shocked that the writer had mentioned only two schools (St.Peter’s Pyndengrei and St Anthony’s Shillong). Are there no other schools where students find it difficult to get admissions when their percentage is low? Can you mention which school in Meghalaya admits students with low percentage and rejects the good students? Naturally each school wants to keep its prestige but without neglecting the hard working students from poor families. I am also amazed to see students rushing to get admission in these particular schools; I don’t know why! Perhaps they are good schools or the results are good. And the results are good because the school recruits only good and hard working students. Therefore to say that the school allows only rich students is totally wrong. Let me also inform the writer that St Anthony’s school also has an evening section that has been started for the poor and under privileged students who cannot afford to attend classes in the day time. The majority of students attending evening classes are not so clever and come from poor families, so they work during the day and attend classes in the evening. Likewise, there are many other missionary schools which continue to do acts of charity for society. Thus, to say that missionary schools are forgetting their mission is absolutely wrong and a prejudiced view.
Yours etc.,
Aiborlang Nongsiej
Mawkyrwat,South West Khasi Hills
Regional party alliance a selfish move!
Editor,
The UDP-HSPDP pre-poll alliance better known as pre-poll seat adjustment, declared on May 25 last is yet another attempt to mislead the people of Meghalaya that these two state parties are of one mind in the run up to the 2018 Assembly elections. This alliance is nothing short of a marriage of convenience between the sitting MLAs of these two parties, only, because there is no seat adjustments in constituencies where these parties currently have no MLAs. Then again, there will be contests against each other (called friendly matches by them) even in some constituencies where MLAs of these parties exist. These parties are silent and even ignored constituencies where they have sitting MDCs. Moreover, this pre-poll alliance (seat adjustment) excludes other state parties like KHNAM and the newly floated political party, the Public Democratic Front (PDF), which is very much a state party though it has not officially been given recognition by the Election Commission.
This two party coalition is therefore an exclusive club of those sitting MLAs and is aimed at ensuring party tickets to the sitting MLAs only and to bar MDCs or other prospective aspirants from contesting elections from these two parties. This is an extremely self-centered move by the sitting MLAs of these two parties. There may be other party members who are more capable, more popular and more acceptable to the electorate than the present sitting MLAs but they are barred by this exclusive club. This will be more harmful and damaging than achieving the objective. It will pave the way for rebellion from within these two parties. Moreover, traditional and committed voters of the respective parties will not vote for those candidates, other than those belonging to their own parties. They may prefer not to vote at all or vote for independents or other less traditional political enemies.
In fact, they have missed the bus by accepting the proposal put forth by H.S Shylla, whose proposal was for sincere complete poll alliance and pre-poll seat adjustments with all regional parties( read state parties), which include KHNAM, PDF and others and not aimed at alliance only to suit certain individuals in the two parties. In fact, the people of Meghalaya who believe in regional parties were overjoyed to hear that they were going for a complete unification which would lead provide voters with an alternative to the Congress.
At the moment people here see the BJP as the alternative in the present scenario. But the Party is ill organised and has not taken roots yet in Meghalaya in moist of the 60 constituencies. In most constituencies in Meghalaya the party has no units at all. It will take time for it to grow and to be widely accepted by all sections in Meghalaya, because the leadership here is not capable and some of them have dubious antecedents.
Yours etc.,
Philip Marwein,
Via email