Editor,
The State Govt. under the leadership of Mr P. Tynsong has demonstrated that it is a Government of the rich. Recently in his briefing to the media, Mr Tynsong said only the people who have shops (rich traders) can open. Mr. Deputy CM are hawkers not hungry? Do hawkers don’t have children and family to feed? Under your leadership, basic rights given by the Constitution of India are denied. Mr. CM doesn’t want to take the blame and is disguising himself. As of now he is busy with the politics of horse-trading with the BJP his affiliated friend in Manipur. Our CM unlike other CMs, doesn’t take Covid-19 seriously. If he is serious, why should he busy himself with the political games in Manipur? For our CM politics is more important than the rise of covid patients. The Deputy CM becomes the mouthpiece of our CM, as if our CM is abroad. This Govt. plays the blame game tactic to gain the trust and confidence of the public. But Sirs the citizens of Meghalaya are mostly poor and live from hand to mouth. Please don’t consider Meghalaya to comprise of only the rich and well to do. When the Government lacks leadership, chaos and mayhem follow. Mr Tynsong you need to think a million times and provide answers to the poor and the downtrodden of our society.
Yours, etc.
Batskhem Mawlein
Shillong – 2
NEIGRIHMS should not fall from grace
Editor,
A letter of grievance captioned, “NEIGRIHMS nurses’ grievance & clarification” (ST, June 22, 2020) by the nurses of the hospital is uncalled for. It clearly shows the desperation of the nurses who have to attend to Covid patients risking their lives. What is unfortunate is that the Hospital management is seemingly apathetic so far as the safety and welfare measures of the health workers are concerned. The letter squarely blames the administration for being unorganized, unprepared and unsystematic in handling Covid cases.
Well, all segments of the hospital should function as a family. Any shortcomings and misunderstanding in the departments should be sorted out internally by the administrative authorities without much delay. Therefore, it always calls for the management to be “extra alert”. No situation would arise that might compel any section/department to come out in public with grievances. This is a totally disgraceful and unhealthy development. The citizens of the Northeast sincerely wish NEIGRIHMS good health. The hospital should not fall from grace at any cost.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Covid cases spiraling
Editor,
The other day the World Health Organization’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus became philosophical while addressing the Dubai virtual health forum. He said, “We cannot defeat the pandemic with a divided world.” Yes, it is true that we cannot achieve anything if we are disorganized. With the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in China, there also broke out strong anti-China feelings for the obvious reason that China had not shared the precious information on the Covid-19 pandemic. Ghebreyesus said, “the greatest threat facing the world is not the virus itself, which has now killed over 471,000 people and infected nearly nine million worldwide, but the lack of global solidarity and global leadership.”
Ghebreyesus was serious and also spoke about the crisis the world economy is facing. He said, “We know that the pandemic is much more than a health crisis, it is an economic crisis, a social crisis and in many countries a political crisis. Its effects will be felt for decades to come.” Right now the world economy is in dire straits, and people are facing acute shortage of food. India is going to be hit most by the pandemic.
Now the WHO has sent out a fresh warning on Monday over the dangers of the new Covid-19 in the light of numerous European countries further easing their lockdown restrictions. It may be pertinent to note that coronavirus positive cases around the world are rising especially in Latin America with Brazil now registering over 50,000 deaths. Discomforting news is that Australia is again in the grip of second wave of Covid-19 attack.
Unfortunately, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has started downplaying the coronavirus pandemic virulence. He compared the virus to ‘a little flu’ and argued that the economic impact of shutdowns is often worse than the virus itself. It may be remembered that Brazil is the second worst-affected country by the Covid-19 pandemic after the US. It is a country that has been hit hard by political infighting, and therefore it lacked a unified policy to handle the virus.
As Ghebreyesus pointed out, we cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world. So, there should be a consensus among countries of the world to help each other by sharing everything especially exclusive information on the pandemic. Such a unified and cooperating world can easily beat the pandemic.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan,
Via email