Editor,
Shillong now is a place where the traffic crawls in most places at most times, when it does move at all. This might have been an excuse for at least some of the city’s residents to try a healthier – and quicker – alternative, namely walking, but the roads are so full of vehicles that one would have to walk on the rooftops of cars to be able to walk at all. There is hardly space left anywhere to put one foot down on solid earth, let alone two feet. In those parts of the city where there is some sort of footpath – narrow though it may be – one can at least try walking, even if it is in single file. However, a lot of places don’t make even that minimal concession to pedestrians. In the road near the Hon’ble Chief Minister’s residence that goes down to Polo Bazar for instance, there is no footpath. There is however a school in the vicinity. As a result, every day, the rare few parents who do not send cars to pick up their children are forced to negotiate some very heavy traffic along with their children.
The lack of concern for pedestrians disproportionately affects children and the elderly, who find it difficult to cross roads safely. The city’s lack of facilities for pedestrians is a completely non-partisan issue of civic governance that all residents of Shillong who have young children or elderly parents would benefit from solving.
In more developed parts of the world, they now make cycling tracks a part of urban planning. Here, where everyone used to walk, with good consequences for their own health and the environment, progress has taken us from clean roads with moving traffic and sufficient walking space to gridlocked roads with no walking or cycling space. By the time the city’s bosses progress to building appropriate infrastructure to solve the current traffic woes that trouble both drivers and pedestrians, the rest of the world may well have moved on to flying cars.
Yours etc.,
Samrat X,
Via email
Commitment to smooth city traffic
Editor,
The health of a person depends upon how smooth and free his blood vessels are. In the case of continuous cholesterol build-up in the blood vessels, the person definitely becomes susceptible to various kinds of illnesses that consequently lead to his death. Blood vessels are like roads through which the oxygen, carbon dioxide and digested nutrients are transported by the blood. The same holds true with the city we live. If the roads in the city are jammed and choked with a random fleet of vehicles then know for sure that the city is unhealthy and needs surgery. It’s also going to reduce the life-span of its denizens. This is exactly what is happening now in Shillong.
Our town is terribly unhealthy. The traffic here is virtually immobile and sloppy. The public can’t reach their destination within the normal time. All our expensive vehicles are like showpieces, and for many others, they have become a huge liability. Perhaps about 40-60 % of vehicles are parked at home. What is bizarre is that our jealous friends still eye us and dream of buying new vehicles and rush to the motor showrooms. But in reality, buying vehicles in Shillong is like inviting a whole lot of miseries.
It might be worthwhile to make traffic movement in Shillong an election issue this time around. Why don’t we drive a hard bargain with our aspirant MLA candidates, especially of Shillong town? This is the only time we can make our leaders intently listen to our genuine grievances as they walk up or down to our drawing rooms with folded hands. Come on, let’s hit the iron while it’s hot. It will make sense if we residents of Shillong unitedly put pressure on our respective leaders to include traffic streamlining in their election manifesto so that they will leave no stone unturned to solve the traffic issues that have been the bane of Shillong. A complete prohibition on granting of fresh permits for new vehicles, for at least ten years, widening of roads, and constructions of over bridges — wherever viable, compulsory using of school buses are a few must-do pleas to our leaders. It would be prudent for them to make this promise before they fuel themselves for the victory. Indeed, smooth road communication makes way for swift economic growth, and overall development and that finally brings prosperity to the state. I am very sure our honorable leaders will give a serious thought to this suggestion. So, no more dilly-dally, let’s all unite to keep the show on the road right away.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Via email
Modi Govt’s anti- pensioners’ policy
Editor,
The 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) had recommended two formula on how to fix the revised pension of pre-2016 pensioners, option-1 and option-2. Option-2 is the easiest to implement. It involves multiplying the pension fixed under the 6th CPC by a fitmen factor of 2.57. Option-1 is also easy to implement. It involves only finding out the pay scale at which a person had retired and the last pay drawn by him to determine the number of increments earned by him in that pay scale. His notional pay is then fixed at the minimum of the corresponding pay matrix of the 7th CPC and raised by the number of those increments earned by him in his old pay scale at 3% per increment. The amount so obtained is his notional pay. 50% of this amount is his pension and 30%, family pension
Option-1 is the most beneficial to the pre-2016 pensioners. Its aim is to bring parity in pension between the old and the new pensioners. It is the most scientific, rational and implementable formula. It involves minimum calculation. Once the notional pay is fixed at the minimum of the pay matrix of the 7th CPC and the number of the increment earned in the pay scale from which a person had retired. One need not do any multiplication or addition in the process of raising the notional pay by the number of increments earned in the old pay scale. Only counting the rows/cells of the corresponding pay matrix by the number of increments is sufficient. For instance, a retiree who had earned 20 increments in his old pay scale draws the amount against row/cell no. 21 as his notional pay for pension.
But, alas! this formula has been rejected by the High Powered Committee (HPC)on the grounds that it is not feasible to implement due to lack of records and recommended option-3 instead, which had been accepted by the government . In both option-1 and option-3 records needed are service books and PPOs. Records which are not available for option-1 will not be available for option-3. Therefore, the ground put forward by the HPC for rejecting option-1 is flimsy and untenable. Moreover, the method of fixation of notional pay under option-3 is cumbersome. Notional pay has to be fixed at every intervening pay commissions, on 1.1.’86; 1.1.’96; 1.1.’06; 1.1.’16. To fix notional pay of a retiree on 1.1.’86 and 1.1.’96 , one has to hunt for records , whereas, in option-1, once the pay scale from which a person had retired and the number of increments earned in that pay scale is known , which is very easy to find out ,one need not go through the intervening pay commissions , 1.1.’86; 1.1.’96; 1.1.’06, but go straight to the 7th CPC’s corresponding pay matrix.
By rejecting option-1, the government had done great injustice to its pensioners. The biggest losers are the old ones who retired in the 4th, 5th CPCs . The loss in monthly pension can go up to more than Rs 10,000 per month depending on individual cases. Drastic reduction in the interest rate of the senior citizen saving scheme from 9% to 8.3% on 1.7.’17 is another display of an anti-senior citizens’ attitude.
Yours etc
A.Pyrtuh
Shillong- 14