Editor,
The million-dollar question is whether this Director can reverse the course on which this institution is going for quite a while, especially in the last few years where the interest of a few individuals is paramount. For the information of the reader, NEIGRIHMS is no more a National Institute but a regional one. With the setting up of AIIMS Guwahati as a national institute; with the pro active role of the Assam Government and the present Chief Minister; it was decided that there will be only one National Institute in the region and that will be AIIMS Guwahati. Though no official document is available as of now, the post of NEIGRIHMS Director had been degraded to that of a regional Director very recently. When the last Director Prof D.M.Thapa was repatriated to his own institute without completing his tenure, this institute was under the care of the senior most prof in the institute who has tried to get appointed as a full fletch Director but found not competent or unsuitable by the selection committee.
In the absence of a permanent Director, by default the senior-most was given charge and the gentleman has really confirmed the Selection Committee right. The moment he took charge as an in-charge Director, he promoted a culture of autocracy in the organisation where whoever has an opinion other than his will be side-lined and a new junior of his choice will be appointed. He is surrounded by ‘yes men.’ I recollect what Sam Manekshaw once said, “ A ‘Yes man’ is a dangerous man. He is a menace. He will go very far. He can become a minister, a secretary or a field marshall but he can never become a leader nor ever be respected. He will be used by his superiors, disliked by his colleagues and despised by his subordinates.” NEIGRIHMS had lost 2 faculty to AIIMS Guwahati and in fact the in-charge Director advertised himself as an executive Director to AIIMS Guwahati and even gave a farewell party to his Department but eventually it seems that dream did not materialise. As one senior faculty said, the only thing which progresses in this institute is ‘PURCHASE” and with Covid in the last 2 years, this will be remembered as the golden era of purchase in the Institute. Contractors and Suppliers are so powerful that even lower rank officials are afraid of them because of their proximity to the higher ups.
Recently an interview for the post of Systems Analyst was conducted and as per the notice given, it was to be conducted virtually through video conferencing. All candidates did as instructed but the candidate who is well known to the Director-in-charge came personally for the interview with a 99.9 chance to get the post. With the situation in which this Institute is at, many times the outcome of interviews and winners of contracts and supplies are easily forecast. Committees are constituted with ‘Yes Men’ to be able to have prefixed results. With no rationale it is already decided that there will be only one party to set up eateries, restaurants, catering, run the hostel mess and even provide meals to patients in the hospital. Giving meals to patients is considered a specialised service where a full -fledged department under the Chief Dietician who operates as a supplement to treatment with hygiene is considered a priority. This is also a pre- determined job to be given to a particular entity since many will be rejected during evaluation due to lack of experience.
The taste of money and power sometimes makes people mad to the point that they don’t want to retire. The same is happening in this case. The Director-in-charge is supposed to retire next month which many feel would be good for the newly joined Director and the Institute as a whole. But he still wants to be around by creating a situation where he may be asked to continue due to shortage of man-power. This has been going on in the last few months where only Resident Doctors from his own Department are allowed to leave the Institute whereas others are not allowed to leave even though they had completed their tenure. The excuse is Covid emergency.
As someone who wants to see this Institute progress in the right direction, I wish that the new Director will be able to take the Institute to greater heights together with the cooperation of all and in an atmosphere where the resources of this Institute can be used for the benefit of the people in general, not for the interests of a few officials. I request that this message be taken in the right spirit. Forget about the messenger who only has good intentions and best wishes for the Institute.
Yours etc.,
Anderson Rani,
Via email
Online recruitment exam a disaster!
Editor,
In the recently concluded examination of Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency (MSSAT) for the post of Junior Consultant held on the September 18, 2021 at Don Bosco Youth Centre, the exam was scheduled for 11:00 AM, but due to some technical error the same started around 12 noon. Nearly one hour was lost in fixing how to start the examination because the supervisors who were in the room had no clue how to tackle the Google form mode of online examination. Much of the time was wasted in calling and communicating over phone with the technical experts. Even then, when the examination started and after a little progress, another glitch appeared on the computer screen. Candidates by then were restless and impatient; some even tried to figure out how to resolve the problems on their own. After some time we were able to resume. I must mention that the Centre did not carry out prior or proper technical trials before the examination and there were no experts to assist on the day. I am not sure if I will pass or fail in the examination or if any of my answers were being recorded in the Google form, going by the way the examination was conducted which was a complete failure.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email