Editor,
It is astonishing that some officers who are recruited from among the best, lack a sense of humanity. I was in the DC’s office last week to meet some officer for my personal work. With me were about five to seven people including two senior citizens waiting in queue to meet the concerned officer. All of those present there at that particular moment including me have work which would take just two or three minutes only like asking for a signature, submitting documents, general inquiry…etc but for that we had to wait for nearly three hours to get our work done. And the reason we had to wait so long was because the concerned officer was having lunch with other colleagues in the room and busy discussing their personal matters that could be heard from outside, for hours! After the lunch, the officer was still engaged in some personal phone calls (chit chat) and kept us waiting for another twenty to thirty minutes outside. As ordinary people we had to wait to meet such officers till they choose to meet the public. I felt almost like a beggar. I wonder if they need hours for lunch and personal breaks during office hours, at the cost of common people. Then their appointment to the job is questionable! And because of a few lethargic persons the public suffers and the blame goes to the entire District Administration. I know they will try to justify when they read this but the reality is that this happens on a daily basis. Work that can be completed in a day will not be done even in a week or a month.
Are these practices of some government officers justified? Are these people appointed to serve the public or to harass them? Can they treat the common people as they like? I think we should change the system in our country by paying salary to government officers depending on their daily performance reports so that they will learn to respect common people better and perform their duties quickly. In fact, no one force such people to take up the jobs they do. If they don’t like what they do they should just resign and let some better humans take it. Meghalaya has large numbers of unemployed and qualified youth. Respected, Deputy Commissioner East Khasi Hills District, please considers this letter as a public complaint against the shameful behavior of some public servants in your office.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request
Dangers of digital connectivity
Editor,
Apropos the article, “Are we ready for digital well – being?” by Herocles T. R. Kharmujai (ST, May 16, 2018), social media is a product of this digital era. Indians, especially a large section of our young generation have made it almost as essential a thing in their lives as water. But it can cause a tsunami if it is not properly utilized. We must not forget how dangerous a role Facebook had played in the Myanmar tragedy. As a matter of fact, Facebook has been blamed by the UN investigators for playing a crucial role in the spread of misinformation and hate speech against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.
The United Nations investigator, Yanghee Lee said, “Facebook has now turned a beast.” It was one of the major culprits that made more than 6,50,000 Rohingya Muslims run away from Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg had testified and he apologized. While Rohingyas being marginalised people in Myanmar became the sacrificial lambs for social media, Dalits, women, nomadic/ tribal/ religious minorities and the blue collar workers have been facing the music in India because of the hate campaign against them on social media and Facebook.
As a result, many Afrazuls have either brutally been killed or tortured or harassed or intimidated. Moreover, such murders and tortures have freely been uploaded and circulated across social media to instigate a mob hysteria among us and to create a reign of terror in the minds of Dalits, women, religious minorities and the blue collar workers like labourers, cobblers, vendors, hawkers who ensure smooth running of our daily lives.
It is therefore a matter of grave concern when sometimes it is seen that half-truth, post-truth and untruth have freely been posted on social media to spread hatred for Dalits and minorities. As for example, caste reservation has been projected as the reason for unemployment, totally hiding the fact that caste reservation is effective only in the government sector which is a tiny part of the total job market and that too such reservation is not more than the proportion of the population of backward castes.
Also, a lot of hullabaloo has been raised in social media against freebies for the poor by hiding the fact that a welfare state is supposed to do a lot more for the masses and many welfare states have become advanced in human development and happiness indices by giving their citizens free education, health care, handsome unemployment allowances and other social securities. All these along with fake quotes and wrong factual claims that have been circulated on Facebook make even liberal upper castes and the rich develop a hatred for the lower castes and the poor after consuming these narratives
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata