Editor,
We were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of 2021 to herald in some good news after the debacle of 2020 but even though the Covid scenario improved in our state, everything else took a downward turn. First it was the aftermath of the pandemic which led to the opening up of the economy to begin on a slow note. However, when it started picking up, the agitation for the imposition of ILP started. Tourism in the state which had already taken a hit because of the pandemic was slowly recovering but because of the clarion call for the ILP, mischief mongers had a field day beating up unsuspecting non-locals and even resorting to violence and killing. From there on started the path of mayhem. With the skyrocketing fuel prices, the commercial vehicles took to agitation putting the public in a spot. After that came the plying of trucks through the city because of the damage to their normal route which till date hasn’t yet been repaired thus adding to the already existing congestion and also leading to the catastrophic accident which happened recently leading to a standstill of traffic for one whole day.
Many of our residents are also suffering from water woes and owing to the dry weather conditions, this’ll only worsen. The latest addition to this list is the load shedding which has affected the citizens the most be it students, the online community and households in general.
My question to those in power is – are we really going to celebrate 50 years of statehood and have something to show for it or is Meghalaya being known as the Scotland of the East in some distant memory.
Yours etc.,
Angela Lyngdoh
Shillong-14
Why the resistance for a crematorium
Editor,
It was very disturbing to read the news item “Address resistance to space: Indigenous faith groups to Govt” (ST Feb 27, 2021) as the requirement of space is for the construction of an environment friendly crematorium for the mortal remains of the dead belonging to the indigenous faith. As a reminder to all and the traditional bodies like the village dorbar or dorbar shnong in particular, we wish to share our beliefs with regards to the last rites of the dead that is through cremation. If space for a crematorium is denied, isn’t this a denial of one of our beliefs?
Today, with the advent of a new environment-friendly crematorium, environmental hazards like pollution, stench, etc are taken care of. Anyone can bear witness to and verify the above claim by visiting the crematorium at Lum Thangbriew, Jaiaw. In fact the crematorium has been appreciated by many people from different parts of the country for its concept, design and effectiveness. On the contrary, here in our state, a stark resistance has cropped up studying its viability.
One of the reasons trotted out for the non-issuance of NOC is that the crematorium is too close to the residential areas. I am hereby compelled to draw the attention of those who refuse to issue the NOC to turn their eyes to the numerous burial grounds of people belonging to other faiths that are located in the heart of the city. One wonders if these pose no hazards to the eco-system of the land especially during monsoons. It is also a fact that in the case of the crematorium, acres of land are not required to fulfill the last rites of the dead. As a believer of the indigenous faith one feels that we are subjected to unwarranted harassment in our very own land.
I hereby put forward a plea before the Principal Secretary, Community and Rural Development (C&RD) Department to kindly use his wisdom and present a true and unbiased report on this crucial matter. On the same note, I hope that the Government reopens the funding of the project that was brought to a halt in 2016. This will be a blessing on us lesser mortals. Can we dare hope for concrete results?
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email
MPSC: Points to ponder
Editor,
As a young person I have a few questions to the MPSC.
Why is the functioning of the MPSC so slow?
1.) The Recruitment process :
It takes about 3-4 years to complete the recruitment process. Some even 5 years. There are some vacancies that we have applied for since 2017 and till date we haven’t even been called for the written test. Why the inordinate delay?
2.) Declaration of results:
It takes more than 3 months to release the results of the written test and around a month or more to release the results of the interview. I don’t understand why it takes so much time especially with today’s technology such as OMR machines and computers. Are the employees there that incompetent? Do they lack the skills to operate such machines? If there was an award for the slowest recruitment process, MPSC will surely get it.
Why is there no transparency?
1) Right from when we were in school, we would be given report cards after every exam; ranks were even displayed so that we can see our performance and even improve later on if we have not performed well. But now when it comes to jobs (where the sole purpose of studying was to get a job) we cannot see our marks, or our ranks. Why?
In many states or in central exams, even answer keys would be uploaded so that we can evaluate ourselves. But why is there so much secrecy in MPSC?
2.) In other states of India they have abolished interviews for Group-B (non-gazetted) and Group-C posts from 2016. But why is this not the case in Meghalaya?
As an unemployed youth, I just want to say that it is so frustrating to see the system this way because there is no guarantee that we will get a job no matter how hard we work. It’s so disheartening to see that there is no longer a fair way and also the elders that we were supposed to look up to are the same ones who teach us these unfair and corrupt ways. Many youths nowadays are suffering from anxiety or depression only because of this, and the worst part is that there is literally nothing we can do.
I just hope the people in power, or the so called “elected representatives” or the so called “student unions” or any NGOs will stand up for us and do something about this.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email