Editor,
The unsavoury developments in the socio-political arena during the last fortnight in Shillong has proved our worst fears right. There was always a suspicion that the Hindu right wing elements have begun to penetrate into tribal states of the Northeast and are asserting themselves like never before. The portents are very clear. They are moving the Governor (who is a BJP man) instead of moving the State Government; they are moving the Prime Minister, instead of seeking our Chief Minister’s assistance. Even the Ichamati issue came to a flashpoint after a petition was submitted to the Union Minister of Women and Child Welfare and through it the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights issued notice to the Meghalaya Government. This is not a healthy trend. Worse still is the sudden resurgence of these reactionary elements located at various places of the country. The distasteful comments by the former Governor, Tathagata Roy from the safe distance of Kolkata is simply unacceptable.
Every right thinking person will feel outraged by such communal remarks by a self-professed Hindu ideologue. Even political leaders from Cachar area are hyper active on this issue. Some of them have referred to the presence of 70,000 Khasis and Jaintias who live there permanently. These pointers are unmistakable evidence of the right wing jingoism that has taken over the politics of the country. As minority Christians, I feel, we should also seek international help in mitigating our fears of being trampled by the majoritarian rule in the country. The most blatant case of religious intolerance in the country today is the arrest of Fr Stan Swamy.
All things considered, if the Ichamati residents can take the help of Delhi, so can the Christians knock the doors of international bodies, including the UN for reining in the “constitutional terrorism” unleashed by a regime that has won elections by default.
Yours etc.,
Pynshngain Jyrwa,
Via email.
Thanks for a peaceful Puja
Editor,
I thank all concerned for giving us a peaceful Puja this year. We had a simple celebration but most notably it was devoid of any untoward incident. Sometime Puja revelers create trouble among themselves. This time, such rowdy behaviour was totally absent. The Administration did a perfect job and therefore deserves our kudos. Had the Puja got disturbed, I shudder to think what might have been the reactions outside the State. Thank God for the good senses that prevailed among all concerned.
Yours etc.,
Dibakar Roy,
Via email.
Govt lacks technical skills
Editor,
Along with the increase in number of graduates every year and the limited employment opportunities, there is also a very low professionalism in many government organisations. The fact that there would be only one or two placements for any job offering pushes a lot of graduates with the desired qualifications to apply, but, the most annoying fact is that despite the progress in technology and advancement in technical skills, Government organisations like PHE , MeECL MBDA and others still don’t have facility for online submission of applications.
As we all know there are several job openings offered by Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). For these contractual posts what is not specifically mentioned are the exact qualifications of a candidate. The educational qualifications sought are Social work/ MBA/ Engineering/ Social science/ Management etc., for one single post. Hence any graduate who comes across the advertisement and needs a job would apply, if he/she has either one of those qualifications. And in order to apply, those candidates would have to get a hard copy of their documents and then go all the way to the office for submission if there is no walk-in interview. This is pathetic especially when as we all know there will be nepotism and favoritism. Hence this is a total waste of time , energy and money.
There are also some organisations where a job application requires cash to be submitted in the form of a challan or bank draft. Online payment methods were especially made to substitute these kinds of transactions and with the pandemic it’s all the more important for online payments to take place.
There are a lot of programmers and IT graduates who were sponsored by the Government and qualified for JEE mains , who would be able to fix these sort of small problems. Government organisations should employ these individuals before employing any other staff otherwise there is no point in trying to create a smart city or a smart town.
Yours etc.,
Arthur Collen,
Via email
Is Agriculture not a State subject?
Editor,
It is indubitably unprecedented that in September this year the Modi Govt., using brute majority in parliament, passed 3 laws on the farm sector: Farmers’ (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm services Act, 2020; Farmers’ Produce Trade & Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Mentionably these Acts took effect from September 27,, 2020 as President Ram Nath Kovind has expeditiously given his assent. In the aftermath of the enactments of these farm laws, there have been widespread agitations among the farmers in India and as the last straw, the State Government of Punjab has of late passed a counter resolution to put paid to the Central laws in question, thereby indicating that the State Government can arguably defy Central Acts in a federal set up!
The implacable fear of the farming communities against the said Acts is the abiding doubt that Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) which are intended to ensure fair price for farm products shall subsequently lead to corporate monopolizing of the farm sector. Additionally, a good number of experienced and bona-fide constitutional experts are harboring a view that the passing of the aforesaid Acts is nothing short of a blatant breach of the principles of a federal structure as enshrined in our time-honoured Constitution given that Agriculture is unquestionably a state subject under Entry 14 of the List II which explicitly does not grant competence to the Central Government to legislate as the issues relate to Agriculture.
In fine, the Modi Government has therefore set a very undemocratic precedent, which I fear, can be conveniently adopted by later unscrupulous rulers leading to demeaning the essence of Parliamentary democracy and for which India is placed in high esteem globally as the largest democracy in the world.
Yours etc.,
Jerome K. Diengdoh,
Via email