Editor,
As was elucidated by the writers of the letter, ‘Whither JRDO Mains result’, pertaining to the unacceptable late declaration of the Mains examination result, it can be further pointed out, that the higher ranking officials heading the C&RD department are IAS officers, and they entered the All India Government service through the UPSC/ CSE. Besides being a transparent, time bound, efficient agency, UPSC is one of very few agencies which has managed to preserve its reputation of fairness, objectivity and impartiality.
That being said, the candidates expect leniency, performance and an ethical recruitment process from such officials (UPSC has provided them a platform to be in the positions they’re in, at present) to make sure this recruitment is managed efficiently, without causing unnecessary delays in the recruitment process. Alas! There is no accountability yet and is it deemed arrogant for candidates to even enquire about their rights? The Meghalaya Government is unable to generate adequate employment opportunities and these are tough times. The few times it is able to do so, should the recruitment get stalled for years? Is that acceptable?
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request
Shillong
Access to drinking water a fundamental right
Editor,
Although there has been some sort of vaccine for the Covid-19 virus, there does not seem to be any remedy to cure the sickly PHE Department and its failure to provide water to the residents of Shillong. Much has been written and reported on this issue and the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme which seems to be mired in controversies. But this Department is deaf to the complaints of citizens because the wealthy have learnt to live without PHE water and to buy water delivered by tankers. It’s the ordinary people who cannot afford to buy water that are suffering the inefficiencies of the PHE Department. When the Prime Minister is speaking about the Jal Jeevan Mission and being able to access water in our homes is a fundamental right, we have suffered neglect for years.
For three decades or more we have been hearing about the augmentation of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme but till date nothing seems to work and no one raises any questions about this perennial problem in the Assembly. All the MLAs are mum on this, including the seven MLAs representing the Greater Shillong areas. If the MLAs representing us don’t raise these issues then why are we electing them in the first place?
We need people with intellect and vision to serve the PHE Department but are there such people? We only get to hear of promises made which are never fulfilled. If we don’t get assured water supply into our homes it is time to come out and protest. If there can be protests for so many issues then why not for water, which is life itself?
Yours etc.,
A concerned citizen!
Name withheld on request
Climate concerns
Editor,
The COP26 conference has kicked off in Glasgow. Several earth-shaking speeches have been made by advocates for climate action in view of the rise in the earth’s temperatures at a deadly rate. This has caused climate- induced storms, flash floods, very heavy rainfall in some places and droughts in others. While the Glasgow meet is critical what can be expected is that the developed countries would seek to push for a solution that is weighted in their favour. Developed countries have stronger economies, more financial resources, smaller populations and more advanced technology. Their ability to transition to a green economy is much easier, without compromising their high consumption lifestyles. Over time they have succeeded in shifting the primary burden of responsibility away from themselves to the developing countries increasingly.
In terms of climate finance to developing countries over the years since COP began, about 80 percent is in the form of loans and not grants. According to available information, rich countries gave just $12.5 billion in the form of grants, $22 billion in loans with better-than-market rates and around $24 billion in loans with standard market rates. Hence climate finance experts are concerned that a significant amount of budgeted development assistance has been renamed as climate finance. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated matters and diverted attention from funding to climate change reversals by burdening the public budgets.
Further, the fact that China and Russia are absent from COP26 means that these two countries don’t agree that there is a climate crisis and will not be bound by what those countries at the summit decide. This has happened because of tensions between western countries and China. This will upset the contours of COP26. What happens if some more countries opt out and do what they please? Clearly climate action to reduce impacts of climate change is not a universally accepted idea.
Yours etc.,
Lorna J Syiem,
Via email
Time for mindset change
Editor
Idol immersion has been a traditional socio-religious and socio-cultural practice in our Indian society. However, for long we had very little idea about the damage it induces into our highly sensitive natural eco-systems. The wooden framework and clay models add unnecessary debris into the freshwater ecosystems increasing the load of solid particles in the water.
Furthermore, the toxic lead-based dyes leaching from the dissolving clay idols into water together with non-biodegradable components like aluminium and thermocol artefacts; and biodegradable constituents like jute and cotton fibres, flowers and leaves, camphor, clarified butter, sweat meat, rice based products etc., are extremely detrimental to the ecosystem. The Biological and Chemical Oxygen Demands, water temperature, pH, turbidity, solid organic matters and bacterial loads are shifted resulting in eutrophication that is highly toxic to aquatic plants and animals. Unless idol immersion is managed and restricted to artificial water bodies to reduce pollution we are contributing to toxifying rivers every time we dump idols into our fresh and marine water bodies.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge Alberta Canada