Editor,
When everyone is busy preparing to welcome the birth of the saviour, the SBI in Tura simply pours cold water on our plans. No one seeks their favour but they simply fail to appreciate that during Christmas all and sundry would need cash. All ATM booths in Tura became a mere showpiece on December 24 and 25. They no longer dispense cash, but arrogantly displayed the sign ‘no cash available, go to other ATM’. It is the same story in every booth; in some booths shutters are already down and the rest said no cash. Is this the way the largest public sector bank should behave just because they have the largest number of depositors? The callousnesss of the Bank officials is displayed in no uncertain measure. Or is this due to total lack of application of mind? This is not the first time such arrogant and inept handling is displayed by the Banks, especially by SBI in Tura. It is definitely a deficiency of service and the district authorities should pull up the errant banks. Perhaps the banking ombudsman needs to take action against these banks.
Yours etc.,
Jibonsing R Marak,
Tura.
Winds of change in Tamilnadu
Editor
The monumental election victory by underdog TTV Dinakaran in the Radhakrishnan Nagar bypoll by a massive margin of over 40,000 votes is a writing on the wall for the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Post Jayalalitha and Sashikala exodus; the party has been suffering drastically under a topsy-turvy leadership with strong negative message to the local electorate. Furthermore, with the latest 2G acquittal for Raja and Kanimozhi, the DMK has stood up in Tamil Nadu with new vigour and energy. With the media circulation of possible alliance of DMK and BJP, a wind of change is expected now in Tamil Nadu. Lastly celebrities like Kamal Hassan and Rajnikanth taking active interest in local politics can further change the Dravidian electoral equation forever. Time will unveil the new political drama that is slowly moving towards an epic climax in the southernmost Indian state.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB Canada T1J 4B3
Regional parties a force to reckon with
Editor,
Apropos the article, “The Road to Election 2018,”( Dec 20, 2017) by Albert Thyrniang, it is illusory on the part of the writer to say that the UDPHSPDP presence in Garo Hills is zero. In fact people of Meghalaya are aware (if not the writer) that our party the UDP will jointly fight elections with HSPDP in Khasi and Jaintia Hills and with GNC in Garo Hills, all of which are the oldest regional parties of Meghalaya. It is also rubbish to allege that one cannot expect and hope to come to power when one gets nil results in the other half of the state. Our party, the UDP has a good number of supporters owing to the fact that the spirit of regionalism is very strong in Garo Hills. During the time of the erstwhile HPU which later became the UDP the Garo people voted for about 10 legislators. At present, we have a good number of winnable candidates who are contesting in this upcoming Assembly Election, 2018. In the first list of 28 candidates released by the UDP, 10 are from Garo Hills. The list includes our former MLA Nimarson Momin who would be contesting from Salmanpara constituency, amongst other prominent candidates. As we all know, in almost all the constituencies in Khasi and Jaintia Hills, HSPDP is roaring up support for UDP while UDP is drumming up support for HSPDP. In Garo Hills too, the same logic applies between UDP and GNC. Our party workers in Garo Hills had worked vigorously in the past to strengthen the party and even now and in future they will continue to work hard. We have high hopes that the aforementioned regional political force in Meghalaya will do well and will obviously form the next government.
Yours, etc…
Mr. Anvil Lyngdoh.
Mawkyrwat.
Vishal Mart must expand
Editor,
Vishal Megamart in Jail Road must be one of the busiest supermarkets in Shillong, if not the North East. The only problem that most people face is having to wait in the queue at the payment counter. Also the goods are scattered because there are too few salespersons to tidy up after customers have rummaged through the clothes et al. Vishal now needs to expand the store or open up another outlet. Perhaps it’s the competitive pricing which makes its affordable for all pockets that draws people to this supermarket at any time of the day or evening. It’s always crowded. On Wednesday, anyone whose shopping crossed Rs 1500, got three kilograms of sugar free. Such incentives are not given by other supermarkets elsewhere. Considering all this and to make it easier for shoppers, Vishal needs to think of another outlet somewhere in Laitumkhrah.
Yours etc.,
BS Nongdhar,
Via email