Editor,
Your editorial, “MDA coalition on slippery path” (ST Nov 24,2020) is timely. While you have dwelt on unsavoury political portents witnessed in the recent months, it bears repetition that any coalition comprising such disparate political forces is bound to suffer hiccups. On one end of the spectrum, we see the right wing BJP and on the other there are the regional parties of different hues, each one desperately trying to outdo the other in protecting the interests of the state. The fact that the coalition has survived for two and half years despite some simmering tensions within, is a result of our political class’s desire to hold on to power at any cost. We have to admit that the NPP-led coalition’s brazen defiance of a call for an independent probe into the allegations brought out by BJP through RTI findings, will go down in the history of Meghalaya as a new low. How can any self respecting Government be so thick-skinned as to ignore the blatant evidence of corruption of funds is beyond comprehension. In other stated, it would have been an open and shut case. Not in Meghalaya these days!
One Minister of the previous government is on bail on serious charges of manipulations and doctoring of official records for favouring some chosen ones with jobs. And she hasn’t thought of political morality to resign. Truly speaking we in this state have accepted corruption in high places. We are surprised by how the NPP-led coalition has resorted to plain subterfuge for preventing a serious probe into the BJP charges of misuse of central funds. Everybody in the state knows in their heart of hearts that what BJP is claiming is true and nothing but true. But then, our political masters are unfazed.
Viewed against this background, I disagree with the concluding sentence of your editorial which puts the onus on BJP in-charge of Meghalaya Dr M Chuba Ao to “help mend the rift”. Your prognosis is erroneous. It is not the BJP which should help, it should be NPP and UDP combine which can help the case by agreeing to give the charges a fair trial. If they continue to defy logic and brazen it out, it is unlikely to silence the national party which has zero tolerance for corruption.
Yours etc.,
N K Sharma,
Via email.
Laudable initiative
Editor,
It is heartening to know through your paper (ST Nov 19, 2020) that the Government of Meghalaya has proposed to the Centre for setting up the Rabindra Cultural Complex at the Brookside compound, at Rilbong in Shillong. This is the highest tribute paid to the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and honouring his maiden visit during October 1919, where Tagore got the plot and theme to subsequently compose his timeless novel “Sesher Kabita” in the background of the picturesque Brookside. I sincerely appreciate the efforts put in by the Shillong civil society and Rabindra admirers who have been in constant touch with the State Government to help materialize this noble objective and a long cherished dream. This will open up vast opportunities to the Rabindra researchers of the entire north eastern states.
Yours etc.,
Arun Kumar Baksi
Kolkata,
DSC needs to wake up!
Editor,
Through this letter, we the candidates would like to express our deep anguish and frustration at the lackadaisical attitude of the District Selection Committee, East Khasi Hills District to complete the recruitment process for the 118 posts of LDA cum Typist which was advertised way back in August 2018. Even after 2 full years, DSC East Khasi Hills is unable to release the final results even though the screening and typing tests have already been conducted. Why is there such an unreasonable delay? Even the MPSC has started conducting exams, holding interviews and declaring results post lockdown phase, but it seems DSC, East Khasi Hills is still stuck in time. Whenever you knock their doors and enquire as to why there is a delay, their only excuse is that the District Administration is busy handling COVID 19 business. Is this really an acceptable answer? Is the District Administration office so weak that it cannot function as a multi-faceted institution?
The DSC East Khasi Hills should empathise with the lakhs of youth of this state who are suffering greatly due to sharp rise in unemployment and inflation in the market Hopefully, we expect the LDA cum Typist merit list to be out in a week’s time.
Yours etc.,
Jeremiah S.
Via email
Protectionism weakens
Editor,
The letter, ‘Action points to protect Meghalaya tribals’ by Chakshekar Reddy (ST Nov 23, 2020), is dripping with sarcasm but it also brings to the fore our own needless fears which have been used to hold the irrational population fed on a daily dose of fear of the outsider, as a captive vote bank. As a Khasi working and living outside Meghalaya I realise that my fellow youth will find it hard to survive in a climate of competition and sheer hard work. Their fear of the outsider is because they don’t want to put in any effort in what they do. Those in government employment are lackadaisical and lazy. Their belief is that if there are no outsiders there will be no competition and they can live an easy life with an assured salary.
The problem with Meghalaya is that everyone believes a government job is a birthright. I know many of my peers who got into the MCS and MPS not by merit but because of their parents’ political or social clout. I admit that a few might have got in through merit but if the MPSC is itself a body whose members are appointed, not by an independent selection committee but are all political appointees, then how can anyone ever hope for merit to become the final criterion for appointment into the state civil services. It’s the same with appointments to other posts too. The Education Scam came to the fore because it was too blatant and outrageous and because the affected teachers went to court. Those who sit for MSC or MPS exams and lose out to the less meritorious are wary of moving court lest they are marked out and would not be able to pass another MPSC conducted exam.
There are some young people like Pynman Nongtdu of Netfoodish fame whose story had appeared in The Shillong Times some months ago. He is where he is today through sheer hard work and he is not afraid of competition from Swiggy but tries to do better than them. That’s the spirit and such youth who run a business have no time to shout slogans about ILP or of isolating Meghalaya to a point where Tourism will no longer be viable because stories of tribal brinkmanship travel fast. In fact, those reports of postering campaigns by the KSU terming Bengalis of Meghalaya as Bangladeshis have made us look as bad as the Hindutva fundamentalists we condemn for being intolerant. I can understand that as a tribal community we fear the CAA might give citizenship to many illegal settlers here. But there is a way to take up this issue without getting aggressive or confrontational.
The CAA is an issue that needs to be taken up legally and constitutionally and not through belligerent posturing. None can take the law in their own hands and expect not to pay the price. In Meghalaya though, many have escaped the long arm of the law even after committing heinous crimes. I am glad to have moved out of the shell of protectionism that so many of my peers are comfortably hiding in. But for how long?
Yours etc.,
I G Kharsyntiew,
Bengaluru