Editor,
A few days ago, the NEET results were declared and like every year it is expected that a few meritorious students will become eligible for the government allotted MBBS seats. Of the 29 states of the country, 28 of them base the seat allotment purely on the marks, So the applicants choose their seat of choice according to their ranks (aka counselling). However, it is astonishing to see that our state does not follow this rule notified by the Central Government but rather follows a “Random Approach” to seat allotment wherein the Government randomly allots colleges to students without holding “Counselling Sessions.” When asked for the reason for this approach the DHS said, “This is done so that no student feels discriminated based on their marks”.
It is my observation that students who have political connections are more likely to get into TOP MEDICAL COLLEGES like LHMC, MAMC, VMMC, JIPMER etc., while those with no political back-up have no chance of making it to top medical colleges. On the contrary these students usually end up in low- ranking colleges irrespective of their NEET ranking in the state. It is painful to see that despite it happening so blatantly none of the NGOs or pressure groups raise a voice in this matter. My theory is that since this issue only affects a few medical aspirants so it won’t be of any advantage to the pressure groups etc., to raise this issue at the proper forum. Let me remind the readers that in a few years these will be the same people that will make up the State’s Health Care system and public indifference to these issues will cost the state and its people a lot in the future.
If this injustice isn’t enough, the MBBS students do not even get the stipends which they are supposed to get every year even though ours is the lowest per capita amongst the North Eastern states. By the time the medical students get their first stipend they are usually in their 3rd or final year which serves no purpose as some of these students belong to low socio-economic backgrounds and end up having to avail student loans in order to buy books which is around Rs 12000-15000/yr and also to meet their college expenditure.
I urge the unaware parents and the public to become conscious of what has been going on and hope that the government especially the new Health Minister brings some changes to this extremely CORRUPT SYSTEM perpetrated by the Health Department all this while.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email
Make Trinity a role model to save the environment
Editor,
To be great one need not belong to a well-to-do family or have a great upbringing. This has been substantially proven by Padma Shri awardee Trinity Saioo of Mulieh village, Jaintia Hills, “Turmeric Trinity awarded Padma Shri” (ST, 9 Nov). The honour she has brought to this state now has made all of us proud. People have now realised that her works and efforts have drawn the attention of people from outside the state too. The government should capitalize on this to the maximum. It is incredible that a schoolteacher with six kids could achieve what Trinity had done and brought to use successfully. This certainly puts others more learned than her to shame.
Her relentless struggle and diligence in the farming of the Lakadong turmeric even inspired this writer. One believes, she is an inspiration not just to the farmers but to the entire urban population. I strongly feel that the outstanding innovation and achievements of Trinity should be incorporated as lessons in the school textbook. This is my sincere request to the academic board of Meghalaya. We have taught our children enough of science and technology. This has only contributed to raising the temperature of this planet. In this dangerous situation of climate change, we must put the brakes on the proliferation of hard technology and shift towards farming and agriculture. Trinity will be the best source of inspiration.
We must make constant efforts to inculcate in the young the importance of living near NATURE as well. Yes, we should catch them young. The time has come to think for the new generation and ensure that our future offsprings will get safe air to breathe and sufficient water to drink. Let Trinity Saioo be the role model for our children/youths, as a celebrity figure — like Greta Thunberg.
Farming will not let us down as done by smoke-emitting technology. Many environmental scientists have warned of devastating consequences if we do not stop abusing this planet with mechanical tools. We must adapt to living far from the madding crowd of brute technology. Humanity survives and remains healthy by eating turmeric, not gadgets.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
Festivals of noise and muscle!
Editor,
Do the festivals of India get conducted out of “devotion” to the Almighty or do these “holy” occasions function as a deadly instrument to display crude muscular/religious clout and influence to “show who is the boss!” Innumerable houses/residential complexes host patients, senior citizens and infants. Yet far from displaying minimum concern to their vulnerability, microphones and drums blared until the dead of night coupled with ear-shattering crackers in the guise of “performing Chhath! There was no respite in the early hours of dawn too! People admitted in hospitals are also facing the same predicament with the torture increasing at cancerous proportion year after year!
All rhetoric of reducing sound, air and water pollution just vanished into thin air with brutal attacks launched upon space land ponds and rivers! Apart from such barbaric exhibition of muscle; what a grave insult upon the essence and purity of the religious ritual or festival named Chhath!
And what to say of the heart-shattering death (actually “devotee”-induced death) of the little 7-year-old Malda boy Sakibul Seikh in the ambulance itself right in front of the eyes of his helpless father Sazlum Seikh as the Kolkata-bound vehicle got stranded due to a road blockade in Nadia by the Jagaddhatri Puja organisers demanding a go-ahead for traditional immersion processions! Despite pleading at the feet of the demonstrators, the Jagaddhatri “Bhakts” didn’t allow the ambulance to pass with the child breathing his last without minimum treatment after 3 hours! Yes, the traditional immersion procession of the Mother deity gets accorded higher preference over the most basic human right of the child in this “holy” “pious” – infested land!
Do we call this worship of God/Goddess? Perhaps God has also escaped from the horizon by witnessing the “Devotion” of such Bhakts! The barbarism being increasingly witnessed during various festivals clearly prove that all talks of devotion and spirituality are nothing but a farce. Rather festivals are being cleverly exploited to display a horror show of muscular might and clout – be it religious, racial, economic or political.
It is high time that the administration rises to the occasion by responding to the call of civilization and prohibiting such displays of muscle and severely punishing the offenders who create mayhem, pollute the environment, contaminate the water bodies, block the roads and indulge in all possible nuisance in the name of festival and religion.
Yours etc.,
Kajal Chatterjee,
Via email