Editor,
As a concerned citizen of Shillong I would like to draw the attention of the District Administration as well as Government that the experiment with shop numbering in Police Bazar, GS Road, Keatinge Road, Jail Road, Quinton Road, Garikhana, Qualapatty is for the purpose of social distancing, but it is creating more hardships to the business establishment and to the residents of these areas. Most of the essential items groceries, vegetables and fruits shops are closed though as per earlier notification, the Administration had allowed certain days for essential items and other items and accordingly the citizens/residents are prepared for the purchase of their own needs.
In fact the experiment with shop numbering in the above areas has confused the citizens. A customer can’t identify the product of a shop by its number, in fact many such citizens including senior citizens travelled to Police Bazar and G.S.Road to buy the product of their needs but had to return empty handed. Further this kind of experiment with the business establishment is not evident in other localities like Laitumkhrah, Nongthymmai etc. All other areas are running without numbers and without any limitations. The District Administration is perhaps concerned about the post Lockdown period but at the same time it must look at the small traders and daily wage earners who are badly affected by this lockdown. They also should be allowed to run their businesses without any discrimination.
The District Authority must also look at the rates of essential commodities which have spiralled especially of vegetables, fish, and chicken where different markets are charging different rates. It is difficult for the poor to afford to run their lives in this crisis. It will be a relief for the common citizen if the District Administration can keep a check on prices of essential commodities. Government officials can survive even with salary cuts but to pay the salaries, Government needs revenue and businesses have to run. The District Administration has to strike a balance between Business and Administration.
Then the Government is appealing to all business establishments not to deduct the salaries of the employees of their establishments in this period of crisis, follow all statutory norms and deposit PF etc., but on the other hand it is not allowing them to run their businesses. And restricting opening of shops is not going to achieve the goal. The Government of the day needs to look into this matter seriously since it is affecting the revenues of the Government too. Allow business to run by maintaining, “Social Distancing” otherwise citizens will suffer irrespective of caste and creed. Eventually the Government may suffer for not adopting correct policies.
Yours etc.,
A concerned citizen.
Name withheld on request
Eerie silence from Govt
Editor,
The eerie silence from the Government of Meghalaya and local population against the shooting of a businessman, Dharamvir Bansal, speaks volumes about the times we are living in. The open statement by the HNLC militant group justifying the act is shameful. The spokesperson alleged that the businessman was shot at because he didn’t employ local youths and was making a lot of money from the state. The rational is ridiculous and ill-suited to a democratic free market, capitalist economy which gives an individual full freedom to earn his or her livelihood, as per his or her own terms, as long as it is legal. Was it Dharamvir’s responsibility to provide jobs or is that the onus of the Government of Meghalaya? Can a profit making entity or businessman afford to employ unskilled people that a particular business demands? Similarly can the HNLC afford to recruit less skilled cadres who don’t know how to shoot or kill?
To the question of what the businessmen are giving in return, let it be made amply clear that all non-tribal business establishments are paying their due taxes which go to the state’s coffers. There are also lakhs of businessman from outside the state whose tax money is channeled by the Central government to the Government of Meghalaya which in turn is the source of income for lakhs of citizen’s of the state. At this juncture, it is important to ask a fundamental question. What does the state of Meghalaya provide to India and its citizens in return? Entry and Exit check points, a Resident Act that bars Indian citizens (could be the same tax- paying businessman) from staying more than 2 days without permission? What has been the contribution of the state in the larger scheme of things? Ever thought why the Central Government pumps in so much money to a state that is perpetually begging and has no well thought-out roadmap to increase its revenue. What have organizations like HNLC and KSU given to the people of Hynniewtrep besides terrorizing innocent people who just want to earn a livelihood? Do such organizations know what has been the impact of their actions over the decades? They have fostered enmity among communities and propagated racial discrimination. They have stopped investments into the state which was earlier known to be cosmopolitan in nature. They have made thousands of locals flee Meghalaya and seek greener pastures elsewhere. Imagine how a Khasi living in Kolkata or Bangalore would feel if shot in the same manner like Dharamvir.
The Indian government has been lenient enough so far to let go such acts of crime which can be classified as racism by all yardsticks and for which there is severe penalty prescribed in the Constitution. But why blame the Central Government only when law and order is a state subject after all? Questions must be raised as to what the State Government has done to prevent such atrocities from recurring time and again? How many HNLC and KSU radical activists have been arrested since 1979 when the first communal riots broke out? Questions also need to be asked to the Meghalaya police, known to be one of the lesser corrupt police forces of our country, as to what sort of protection they are providing to the business community in the state?
The world functions on a give and take basis and we are all interconnected. We are not in the stone age where we hunt and kill. I pray that the misguided youths learn a thing or two about business management before making ludicrous public comments. It’s behavioural economics that rules our everyday lives, not sermons and Taliban type diktats in the 21st century. Time we introspect and broaden our thinking.
Yours etc.,
Ajay Gautam
Via email