Editor,
This has a reference to two news items appearing in the Shillong Times on 13.04.2021 and 14.04.2021 with regard to Banks in Shillong and adjoining areas remaining open on 12.04.2021 on the occasion of Shad Suk Mynsiem. The news items seems to have generated more than necessary confusion, misrepresentation , murkiness and mystery to the issue, which I attempt to debunk as below for the benefit of all who are peeved at Banks not “complying with the request made by the state government”.
Firstly, banks are not private institutions and do not have the luxury of declaring their own holidays. Bank holidays are necessarily declared by the respective state governments annually in a holiday list prepared by them. Bank holidays are mandatorily to be separately declared under the Negotiable Instruments Act of 1881 for which state/central government is the sole empowered authority, not the banks/bankers /employee unions themselves. Shad Suk Mynsiem this year was not declared as a holiday by the government of Meghalaya under the NI Act.
In anticipation of local pressure groups ultimately requesting Banks to shut down suddenly on that day (from past experience) the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC Meghalaya State Unit) had pragmatically written to the government of Meghalaya as early as April 07, 2021 to declare a holiday under the NI Act on the day of Shad Suk Mynsiem, which however was declined, rather “regretted” vide their letter to AIBOC dated April 09, 2021, leaving no locus standi for Banks to close on their own. Further, in a bizarre display of knee jerk reaction and myopic vision, on April 12, 2021, police personnel were visiting bank branches and requesting them to close down in anticipation of an awkward situation. As anticipated, on April 12 last Bank branches had to down shutters, either in deference to the request of the police or by the pressure groups. Had the Government concurred with the pragmatic request of AIBOC in the first place, such a situation could have been averted.
The news item appearing in The Shillong Times on April 13, 2021 provided the proverbial last nail by stating that it was the Government (Deputy Secretary, GAD to be precise) which wrote to the AIBOC to declare a holiday on April 12 for banks, which is exactly the opposite of the fact. How can the government write to a Bank Union and request the Union to declare a holiday, when the sole, repeat sole prerogative lies with the government itself? This mix-up has turned the entire episode on its head and made the Banks and Bankers to appear as “asserting” themselves and “failing to respect the request made by the government.” One wrong report filed by the journalist concerned has turned fact into fiction, and tarnished the image of Bank, Bankers and the Bank Trade Unions.
Although a clarification was carried by the daily on April 14 on the insistence of the AIBOC, there is no mention of the reporting error committed ab initio on 13.04.2021.
Yours etc.,
Devadeep Dasgupta
Assistant General Secretary
State Bank of India Officers’ Association (Meghalaya & Manipur)
Editor replies: We deeply regret the error on our part. Since AIBOC received the regret letter from Government on April 9, they could have sent the letter to this newspaper and other media ahead of time. The news could have been carried and no needless tension would have been created. The pressure groups would then have had to contend with the Government instead of the Banks.
Hypocrisy the only Policy!!
Editor,
While some seems to not know, many of us know that “We are all Hypocrites”. We all behave differently that what we truly are! In any situation and position we always make the best of both worlds.
Look at our professionals, where the MeECL engineers make the best example, they will keep their mouth shut while the ship is sinking because of their own doings. But, when someone dares to interfere with their misadventure, they are ready to climb on every rooftop and electric pole to shout their ignorance and their allegiance to the entity and the public to whom they have taken an oath to serve, and is vehemently ensuring that the best and only the best is delivered!
Look at our NGO’s and how concerned they are for the borders, for the land, for the identity and for everything that concerns the Jaidbynriew. These are the group (s) of people who know when to open their mouths and when to come to the streets, for reasons best known to them (or their masters, as the case maybe). But in almost every agenda, the public are supposed to listen and agree to their ideas and beliefs, whereas we are made to believe that they only voice the concerns and fears of the public. On the contrary in most cases, they are the ones who bring fear to the masses and are the major reason why many of the daily wage earners are concerned about whether or not there will be disruption to their livelihoods tomorrow!
Look at the Church! It is the best hunting ground for hypocrites! And mind it, I mention the church because I belong to one, but surely all mosques, temples and other so called place of worships have their own share of hypocrites and scoundrels! These are the spaces where people speak against corruption and injustice, and also the same places where corruption and injustice finds the most comforting shelter!
And why should we even mention the political parties? The same party which vehemently opposed implementation of a certain law while in power, is now continuously talking about its implementation because it’s itching for power. That’s the height of hypocrisy. And when the same party whose member in the cabinet seems to have equally failed in a particular portfolio whom his predecessor was judiciously asked to be removed by them, are very much comfortable in their silence and complacency, is that not hypocrisy? As for our lawmakers and upholders of the law, the public knows it all!
Recent news will testify on all of the above arguments, but again, look at all of us, the writer included. We are all silent and feign ignorance, but don’t forget that we are the one who breed all of the above! We certainly belong to at least one of the above, and if we don’t know when to speak we are no less than any one of them. But again, we are a society who secretly believes that “Hypocrisy is the only, if not the best Policy”!!
Yours etc.,
Wanshan B Khardewsaw
Shillong 2