Editor,
The authors of the article “Can Meghalaya feed itself” (Bhogtoram Mawroh & and Chenxiang Rimchi N Marak) would like to inform the readers that the authors cited for the paper ‘Nutritional Intake and Consumption Pattern in the States of Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya’ were not Daniella Anne L. Chyne, R. Ananthan, T. Longvah but Anika MWK Shadap and Veronica Pala. We regret the error which was our own.
Yours etc.,
Bhogtoram Mawroh & Chenxiang Rimchi N Marak)
Via email
Why this double training?
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I wish to highlights some points worth pondering related to the cadre course to be conducted by the Meghalaya Fire Service department in the 2nd week of September,2020 for the promotion of the rank of Leading Fireman to the rank of Sub officer. All the personnel who will be attending the said course have already successfully completed the 6 (six) months Sub Officer Course conducted by the Nagpur Fire Service College at the Regional Training Center, North Guwahati, Sila, where the entire expenditure for the course was sponsored by Department. Hence I fail to understand why the same personnel who had passed the 6 (six) months Sub Officer Course have to again attend the cadre course to be conducted by the Meghalaya Fire Service department for promotion to Sub officer course. Is the course conducted by a reputed institute like the Nagpur Fire Service College not enough? If yes, does this not amount to wastage of public money?
Secondly, the inclusion of the junior colleagues in the cadre course to be conducted by the Department and the superseding of junior personnel is a common practice in Fire service Department which is rarely the case with other branches of the Police department like the Armed Branch (AB), Unarmed Branch (UB), etc. Since the Fire service is a disciplinary force which is under the umbrella of the Police Department this action is totally unjustified and indiscriminately meted out to the Fire service personnel. The question that arises is whether the victims of this unjustified act have to approach the Court to fight for their legal rights? Presently the Fire Service Department is in a chaos where jealousy, hatred and manipulation among staff is rampant. This in turn has demoralized the personnel. And all this, thanks to the step motherly treatment of those at the helm of power.
Finally with the pandemic scenario that the state is facing right now, is this the right time to conduct the cadre course? Since most of the personnel will be coming from different parts of the district to attend the course and considering the safety of all the personnel my humble request to the concerned authority is to do away with the cadre course since all of the personnel have already completed the 6 (six) month Sub Officer Course as mentioned above and to simply conduct the Viva Voce where Social Distancing as a Safety Protocol by the Health Department can be maintained.
Finally, I leave it the wisdom of the concerned authority to decide and act accordingly.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request
Via email
Wanted Online and Offline Exam Centres in Tura
Editor,
After Covid19 struck the state, now everything has been made online including learning for school kids and adults who are studying in Colleges and Universities. Tura is the headquarter for all the learning activities as major schools and colleges are situated in the district. As a concerned citizen of Garo Hills it is high time that we also have a common centre for conducting online examinations as there is no such centre in the whole of Garo Hills and when the students have to write various examinations be it online or offline like UPSC, SSC, IBPS,CDS,NDA etc which are mainly job oriented and other entrance exams like JEE, NEET, UGC NET & CSIR etc., the students have to opt for centres outside the state which at times becomes very expensive as not all the students and candidates get Shillong as their examination centre.
Travelling to other centres like Guwahati is not easy as the majority of students have to arrive a day before the exams. It is an expensive affair especially for those from rural areas. Most of the North-Eastern states have two examination centres with Assam having several centres. Last week there was much confusion among the student community from Garo Hills regarding the NEET exam. Many had to look for hotels and guest houses to stay in as some of them had got Shillong as their examination centre. The problem is that if they come to Shillong they have to stay back for a night, hence some had to spend the night in their private vehicles.
As a concerned citizen I feel that the examination centre should be opened in Tura in the interests of the student community of Garo Hills as it would lessen their unnecessary expenditure. The time consumed in travelling from other parts of Garo Hills to Tura will be much lesser and the journey can be completed in a day. I request the Government and concerned department to ensure that students are able to access this examination system in Garo Hills to benefit the entire student community of the entire Garo Hills. This is the need of the hour.
Yours etc.,
Sengat M Agitchak
Shillong- I