Editor,
Through your medium I would like to applaud one of the best service NGO’s that I have heard of. I have never been a part of this NGO but whatever and whenever I hear about it, simply spell bounds me. I am taking about the Rotary Club of Shillong. The club is engaged in a range of activities with the sole aim of making the society a better place to live in, without much of fanfare and publicity. For example, they have constructed a state of the art public toilet at Jhalupara bang on the highway, much along the lines of the Swachh Bharat mission. They may not have got any funds from any Government agency for the same (as no credit to them is mentioned on the plaque) but the very fact that they made it possible is praise-worthy. I hope it lives up to the expectations. Also, recently I have heard from a friend of mine that the NGO was instrumental in saving the life of a four year old child of a farmer from a village by assisting the child to undergo a heart surgery in a renowned hospital.
When I hear such news, I wonder about the purpose of our lives if it’s not meant to be of any use to help others? And such news gives the much needed motivation to do good to the society in general and thank the said NGO and others for giving such direction to life. May your tribe increase!
Yours etc.,
Albert Lyngdoh,
Via email
India’s women sportspersons!
Editor,
This is in response to Proloy Bagchi’s article, “Making India proud” (ST, Nov 18, 2017). India’s star sportswomen namely PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Arunima Sinha, Sakshi Malik, MC Mary Kom, Dipa Karmakar, Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and many others have indeed made India proud. As a matter of fact, they have given a slap in the face of those who killed their girl children in the womb (foeticide) or in the cradle (infanticide), or deprived their own daughters of nutritional and emotional discrimination. Because of female foeticide and infanticide, India’s child sex ratio (0-6 years) came down from 945 girls per 1000 boys in 1991 to 914 girls in 2011.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata
Daylight robbery by Reliance mobile
Editor,
Reliance Communication (Mobile) launched its mobile venture in Meghalaya, probably about 20 years back but has suddenly and silently packed up and left without prior notice to its valued customers — as if a robber runs away from the place of crime. Two weeks ago one very upset customer exclaimed in fury “Reliance came, it plundered us, and now leaves behind only the ugly impression because we customers have been facing untold problems. We have been moving from pillar to post to port out the old number. I think this devious company must have felt that it can’t further squeeze out easy money from us.”
The age of materialism is always littered with such unethical activities. Who edged out Reliance mobile? It’s Jio Reliance – his big brother descended from the same womb. ‘Reliance Industries’ of his brother, who has eyes bigger than the stomach, is only hurting the stomach of 100 million other Indian. From high category industries to the middle and the cottage industries, all are slowly under the grip of this invincible and rapacious Reliance Industries. Where do Delhiites buy one kg apple now? It’s not from a poor vendor who has not eaten since yesterday, but from the ‘Reliance Fresh’ which has over 700 state-of-the-art outlets across the country. Now just guess what is in store for the crores of poverty-stricken citizens of India if a few tycoons are thus allowed to fulfill their insatiable greed by encroaching upon the business avenues of small traders and petty vendors? What are RELIANCE MALLS for? Here you find anything under one roof. Have they not badly affected the business of small traders? Why is PM Modi silent on this? Why is he willfully and unfairly facilitating the corporate business expansionism at the cost of lakhs of small-scale traders?
Perhaps we still have in our vivid memory how this ‘Reliance Communication’ charged from the customers for each call. Initially, it’s probably about Rs 13 per minute and incoming rate was Rs 7. People were so excited when it reduced the incoming calls to Rs 5 and then Rs 3. Those were the days when people would save their hard-earned money to buy a black and white Nokia set and rush for a new connection at Reliance office. This way the company minted huge amount of money since it had no competitors to roar at it. But now his “own brother” Mukesh Ambani has kicked him out. One wonders, how other companies will survive when Jio with its cutting-edge infrastructure entices the customers with the endless charm of glamour and filthy entertainment – though, at the end of the day, they mislead and corrupt our youths!
Due to the abrupt suspension of mobile services the citizens of Meghalaya have been suffering indescribable inconvenience. Particularly, the business communities have been hit badly. They could not contact the potential business customers for a while now and this resulted in a heavy loss of business. What action is the Meghalaya Government going to take against the company that has left countless consumers in dire straits? What about the security deposit, which is to the tune of crores of rupees, that the company has collected from the customers — which has been lying with it for over a decade? When customers contacted the company for porting out the SIM connection the staff of the company asked them to clear the “outstanding dues”. When reminded of their security deposit of Rs 2000 or so, they just talked back that they don’t know anything about that? Is it not a crime for Reliance to not refund the money taken as security deposit from customers and earning interest on it? Is it not a case of daylight robbery – because this company of swift communication has yet not communicated to the customers about the “refund” of the security deposit?
Are all harsh laws, formidable courts and police only to incriminate and harass the middle and the lower class – who can’t at all appoint a battery of devious lawyers to save them from any inadvertent misstep? I would like to know 100 names of big shots who are in jail for their series of grave crimes?
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Via email