Editor
The Administrative Head in our office (name withheld) has been organising a daily small lunch party in the office during the COVID 19 lockdown till date. In one way this has already broken (at least we can all agree that it has broken) a protocol of gathering people during lunch time at the workplace. There is a mixed reaction to this decision. A handful of people are happy and overwhelmed with the idea of cooking, eating and gossiping everyday in the office while a handful are against the idea of wasting time on something unproductive but are too timid to voice out their opinions. Most of them are forced to join in and have lunch with the whole group which is against their will. It is chaotic to see that the staff have gone astray from their duties. Their prime duty now is to plan for tomorrow’s lunch, shopping for groceries, chopping vegetables, cooking, washing utensils (No wonder they have to return a huge sum of money during the financial year because they are not performing their duties and denying help to beneficiaries because they don’t have time for the beneficiaries). Not that I am against socialising and having office lunch parties. A lunch party occasionally is always great and healthy but a lunch party everyday is way out of hand.
Now this little lunch party is turning from a fun gathering to a form of harassment, where the head of the office is verbally calling out offensive names (names based on the origin of the race of the employees) to employees who bring their own lunch and refuse to eat the prepared lunch and it had gone to the extent of withholding the employees’ salary until they agreed to have the prepared lunch in the office (which is against Payment of Wages Act, 1936 : unjustified delay in payment of wages). This is very sad because just recently we had our Women’s Day celebration and now the women in our office are under threat of losing their jobs just because they choose to pack and eat their own lunch.
The intent of this letter is to make the public aware that a situation as horrifying as this is happening in a Government Department in the state capital of Meghalaya.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email
Vodafone services collapsing
Editor,
I wish to draw the attention of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills to the serious deterioration of the network services provided by Vodafone (Vi India) in many parts of Shillong city, particularly in the Mawlai area. Over the past few days, we the customers of this telecom company have seen that Vodafone’s network has not been working at all. 4G services are either non-existent or extremely slow, and incoming or outgoing calls are non-responsive. The problem began ever since the start of the load shedding in Meghalaya a few days ago. Does the company not have a backup mechanism in place to power their towers during such foreseeable situations? It is amusing to note that these telecom companies do not delay by even a second to end a customer’s services when the monthly payment for an ensuing month is not paid, however, the quality of services they are offering currently to the residents of Shillong city are not up to the mark. We appeal to the concerned authorities to look into this matter urgently as it affects our work and education.
Yours etc.,
K Nongsteng
Via email
Post office woes
Editor,
I went to the Jowai Post Office on March 5, 2021 for sending a registered letter and was surprised to see that there was no electricity since it was during the load shedding hours. Hence the clerk could not register my letter. In fact I went to the Post Office knowing it was load-shedding hours with the belief that they would be using their own power generator. Surprisingly, I was told that the generator has been out of order for several months. I was also told that they have repeatedly written to their higher authorities to repair the generator but there was no response. So this is how the people of Jowai Town and Jaintia Hills are serviced by the postal authorities! We cannot even expect the power generator of Jowai Post Office to be repaired. In the absence of power supply, the Post Office staff is forced to sit idle because none of the computers and machines can function without power supply. Just think of the huge loss to the Post Office when its employees have to idle away their time for hours together during the power cuts and all for want of a generator.
Yours etc.,
K. Kyndaid
Jowai
Stop the midnight load shedding!
Editor,
The news of murder of a chowkidar at the PWD Roads (Mechanical division) office at Tura during load shedding hours is a clear message to the Government that it needs to reschedule the load shedding hours which is currently from midnight to 6 am. The six hour long power cut gives ample time to the miscreants to carry out their planned crimes and escape without any hassle. On the other hand, many notorious criminals also come out in the dark like drug users, vehicle lifters, thieves and dacoits. In the previous years too we have experienced that many Catholic parishes were robbed across Garo Hills. These are planned crimes which are best executed during load shedding hours. In the villages, cattle were taken away in pick-up trucks and the areca nuts were stolen from the trees. One such incident happened in our area where the pigs were stolen. When the villagers chased the thieves, they ran away in their pick-up trucks and left the pigs half way because they were squeaking non-stop.
Hence load shedding during midnight hours should be discontinued. Only then can there be an end to many of the crimes both in towns and villages. If this load-shedding continues we will be forced to believe that this Government is also a partner in crime.
Yours etc.,
L A Sangma,
Tura
