Editor,
Much has been said about the Power Department, be it in the Budget Session of the Assembly, social media and the print media. This issue became the ‘center of attraction’ for all the people questioning why this department is suffering and why it is under-performing.
I, however am appalled by how many of us overlook the other sectors and departments in the State. We have the education department, health and family welfare department, amongst many others.
Why are they not brought into the limelight as well? Yes, the Power Department has its own ailments that are crippling it. But is this the only department which is ailing in our State? I am very sure that is not the case. Why then is the Power Dept the only target?
In the recently concluded Budget Session, Education and Health were very scantily discussed. Are these departments and sectors not of equal importance? We all know of the roles that education and health play in our lives – not just physically but economically as well. Let us take the health department. People cannot survive without proper health care. If that is the case, then why is this sector not also taken into consideration when issues are raised? As far as we know, the health sector also has not been functioning well; in fact it is crippled. Just recently a report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said that there is a dearth of doctors in government hospitals including shortage of health centres. It was also mentioned that the government had failed to implement the bonds with MBBS doctors under state quota. The Health Minister however made light of the CAG report and rejected its observations.
There is also a shortage of PHCs and CHCs in the rural areas and even if they are present, there is a lack of basic health facilities that prompts citizens including pregnant women to travel several miles long to come to the city in search of a hospital. Surprisingly, the Health Minister has rejected the CAG’s observations.
We also know that the Education Department is not performing well. There is a lack of qualified teachers. There is an ongoing teachers strike for various issues such as pending salaries. The quality of education itself is questionable. We also know that because of the MTET, there are now schools without teachers. The Meghalaya Teacher Eligibility Test (MTET) has been made mandatory for all teachers. However, the recently declared results left hundreds of teachers without jobs since most had failed to clear the test. This has led to serious problems with schools now re-opening after a year-long break because of the pandemic.
So why is it then that the Congress legislators being the opposition as well as other leaders (regional) not rake up these issues too? These are also issues affecting the State and the citizens at large. These issues need to be voiced out as well. They need to be given as much importance as the Power Department which has been the talk of the town. This is something that makes me wonder and also question as to why don’t we as the public put these questions out in the open to our legislators who have been mudslinging and targeting a single department. As an educated citizen of the State, I would very much appreciate having the press fraternity also raise such questions. Why overlook the other departments in the State and lambast one department when there are many other issues plaguing Meghalaya!
Yours etc.,
Natasha Pariat
Shillong – 3
Tackling second Covid wave
Editor,
In view of the fact that the second wave of COVID-19 is surging through India, it is of paramount importance to formulate a policy to combat the pandemic. As lockdowns will once again destroy livelihoods and damage the economy, India cannot afford to repeat what was done last year. It was, in many ways, counter-productive.
As the world has learned a lot since the outbreak of COVID-19, it is important to appraise the policies and practices that have worked out or failed across the world. Although the Asia-Pacific region has been successful in controlling infection, it did not impact economic growth. On the other hand, the Indian economy contracted hugely last year. Active intervention in the form of test, trace, quarantine and personal hygiene like wearing masks and hand washing brought success.
The Asia-Pacific achieved success in combating the pandemic while the North Atlantic region failed miserably in combating it. The success was achieved by the policies imposed by governments and peoples’ compliance . Personal liberty and privacy of personal information are essential aspects of North Atlantic culture. It has proved to be an obstacle to successful controlling of the pandemic.
India must learn lessons from this. The Centre must formulate policies and the States must implement them. The success of implementation is dependent on the administrative efficiency of the states and the political culture that prevails there. Take the examples of Kerala and Maharashtra. Initially, Kerala was successful in controlling the infection. However, when rules of personal behaviour were relaxed and neglected, it caused a surge in infection cases. Even though Maharashtra has good administrative abilities, an intense second wave is surging through the state. What went wrong here is that the state that has a professional work culture went at full speed in getting back to work.
Most importantly, it is not reasonable to entrust the police with the task of imposing mask wearing and social distancing rules in public places. Instead of assigning this task to the police, political workers must be deputed to do it. They can employ strategies of persuasion and firmness in implementing it. Young people must be chosen for this and they must be provided with badges as part of identity. If all important parties take it seriously, the task could be carried out easily.
This is a crucial time and vaccination won’t be of much help at this juncture. In view of the fact that only a few crores of people have been given one shot of vaccine so far, a considerable time is required to give the first shot to most people. Herd immunity cannot be achieved unless at least 60% of the population is vaccinated. As a long term goal, extensive vaccination is required. Only then can we expect to beat the virus. In order to achieve this, the vaccination rate must be speeded up. The state governments must take responsibility for implementing this.
Yours etc.,
Venu GS,
Kollam