Editor,
Numerous write ups and letters have appeared in your esteemed daily in the not so recent past concerning the utilisation of the PWD Complex at Barik Point. There were initial proposals by the Government to have a park which personally, I have nothing against except that I feel the site is not ideally located. Eventually the Park proposal changed to a shopping mall which was not well received by a substantial section of the public and has been kept in abeyance since.
For over a year now our country and the rest of the world have been badly hit or mauled by the Covid 19 pandemic which has infected millions of people. The complaint from a majority of countries is the same – a shortage of hospital space and connected paraphernalia to effectively treat the infected. So hospitals is the need of the hour for Meghalaya or for that matter Shillong and East Khasi Hills in particular which have been recording the highest daily cases of infections and deaths in the State. Your daily of May 10 last, mentioned that two prefab hospitals at a cost of Rs 5 crores are coming up at Pasteur Institute and ISBT Mawiong, Mawlai. This is appreciated but they are temporary measures to deal with the immediate emergency. It is here that I would like to suggest to the Government that the Barik Point PWD complex be utilised for building a permanent new modern hospital be it termed as an extension or an annexe to the present Civil Hospital which is already congested and lacks the latest equipment. A new 4 to 5 storied state of the art hospital with a well- planned underground parking area and earmarking at least 2 to 3 floors for Covid cases will go a long way in boosting our fight against this vicious virus which is here to stay.
The Government may give an urgent thought to this proposal and get expert opinion on it. Another state- of- the- art hospital is the crying need of the hour and not a shopping mall.
Yours etc.,
JM Pariat,
Shillong
Of Covid vaccination
Editor,
Ever since the two contemporary elixirs – Covishield & Covaxin were approved in India, the administration had the responsibility to roll out a successful vaccination drive for the entire population. With over 4 lakh people administered with at least the first dose so far in four months and over 500-600 daily new cases in recent times, the scenario appears to be a complex puzzle. The demand and supply of vaccines along with wastage percentages (5.67%; 4th Rank in the country), the scheme of priority, and availability become important factors. Does it mean we would take around 27 to 28 months to inoculate the entire state of Meghalaya?
I am certain that it had taken days of meticulous planning for the administration considering the Centre’s directives and the need of Meghalaya state in particular. It is a mega task and requires micro-planning because the activities expand to the whole community. The different phases of roll-out somehow do not seem to have reached the maximum efficacy in our state.
For our state, we must resolve to curb the virus not just by double masking, use of sanitizers, and social distancing but also a successful immunization drive especially in the most infected areas to sow the seed of herd immunity.
It begins with convincing the hesitant population to come forward and get the life-saving injection and magnify the social desirability to influence the people to break their mental barriers. Just like memes getting viral, we ought to make getting vaccination cool in both urban and rural areas.
Then, accessibility and availability come into play. As per recent orders, it is said that people rendering essential services shall get priority. The slots get full within minutes. I urge the administration to get the essentials’ shopkeepers, pharmacists, Kirana shop owners, etc. vaccinated. These people come in contact with a lot of people and are not only at risk but may also spread the virus if infected. At least for this group of people, the delivery strategy should be fixed sites, followed by mobile and transit point teams, say, after 5 pm when the shops are closed and they are free to get the jabs for themselves and their staff.
Also, for another set of people like vegetable and fruit sellers, cobblers, hawkers, daily wage labourers, taxi drivers, and others who might not know about Captcha or OTP or logging in to the portal. Administration may seek out local youth organisations to volunteer in such a crisis to set up a simple registration desk at all vaccination centres and common areas so that even people who do not know or are unable to get registered at Co-Win or Aarogya Setu can get themselves registered and get a slot for the dose.
I request kind consideration of the aforementioned matters by the state administration.
Yours etc.,
Priyanka Surana
Shillong -2
Israel targets media
Editor,
Israel by bombarding media houses in Gaza , wants to make sure that whatever link the Palestinian people have with the outside world is severed, and by doing so, Israel can continue its propaganda campaign. IDF has deliberately targeted media facilities in order to disrupt coverage of the human suffering in Gaza and while advanced warning of the bombing allowed the journalists who worked there to escape with their lives, that’s all they could do. Their valuable equipment and records were lost. The international Federation of Journalists labeled the attack as the latest example of a pattern of “systematic targeting of media in Gaza in an attempt to try to control the narrative’.
Israel has often leaned on Hamas’ use of ‘Human Shields’ to justify strikes on targets where civilians live and work. What arguments like this do though is ignore that even if Hamas did have an office in that building, the people who lived there did not choose it as neighbour. But the Israeli Defence Forces provided no evidence to back up the claims. This time though, the voices of opposition to Israeli actions and US policies on the long running conflict has reached relatively higher sound decibels. The open display of the Palestinian flag by two members of English FA Cup –winning Leicester city football club at London’s hallowed Wembley Stadium is part of a riding chorus. Israel’s government had become too comfortable with the idea that it can mislead the foreign media without a corresponding change in the overwhelmingly credulous way it has traditionally been covered.
The result of the current “intifada” has pricked the balloon of Israel’s constant attempt at presenting itself as a perpetual victim of some imaginary horde of Arabs and Muslims, which is no longer paying dividends.
Yours etc.,
Advocate M Haque,
Shillong-6
Nurses most poorly paid professionals
Editor,
International Nurses Day was celebrated a few days ago. In the past, their work usually went unnoticed or unappreciated but since the pandemic hit the world, people have started realising the selfless sacrifices nurses put into their work. Some weeks ago, I saw a discussion about this current pandemic on a mainstream news channel and all the panelists were either nurses or people from the nursing fraternity. It’s heartening to see nurses getting the recognition which is long overdue. Be it the first or second world war, or this current pandemic, nurses have been in the forefront when it comes to saving precious lives in such helpless and precarious situations. But when it comes to remuneration, nurses are still highly underpaid. It’s common knowledge that nurses are paid peanuts. Apart from the lucky few who are employed by the central or state government, the vast majority of nurses works in private hospitals. The high pay disparity between nurses and other medical professionals needs to be addressed. Last year the nurses in a reputed hospital in the country’s capital came into the limelight when they went on a strike primarily because of anomalies in their pay fixation. I was surprised to know that even the pay of nurses working in such reputed hospital is not at par with other well paid professionals. So it is imperative upon the hospital authorities all over the country to pay nurses according to the strenuous effort they put into their work.
Yours etc.,
Gary Marbaniang,
Via email