Editor.
With the Leshka Power being the last addition to energy supply in our state in spite of the presence of the heavy consumers of our hydel power and with the PGIL and NTPC always demanding their dues, the domestic consumers are suffering a great deal. Last Saturday, a portion of Lummawrie and the market area (a locality of Laitumkhrah) suffered six to seven hours power cut from morning. As always, the line men were spontaneous in attending to their duties. But as time passed by and with no results, I rang up the Engineer who told me it was a transformer glitch. And my affected friend too added that this transformer always creates problems. With the effort of the linemen, the supply was restored; so thank you.
Mr Minister, although the transformers are routinely checked nothing can last to infinity. So if you could request the staff concerned to have a check if replacement is needed, that would be helpful to the consumers of any other locality too.
One very disturbing discovery I detected is the manufacture of local immersion rods in place of the ISI branded one. The heater coil meant to be red hot is wound on a piece of stone or asbestos collected from roofs of dismantled buildings. The two wires, with no earthing are inserted into the socket. The total cost comes to Rs 35 only as against the ISI be it Remington or Bajaj of Rs 450. But the former is life threatening if accidentally touched. We ought to know that the coil of say 1.5 Kilowatts is conditioned to be red hot, and the current at red hot is around 6.5 amperes. Dipped in water this coil is of 20 ohms resistance and it consumes 220/20=11 amperes. The wattage shoots to 2.5 Kilowatts. As lay persons we only look at the time the bucket of water takes to boil. For the legal immersion rod the time taken is 25 minutes. For fake ones only 8 minutes!!
Some 20 years ago the transformer of NEHU was completely burnt down. The MSEB men inspected the students’ hostels of NEHU based on some information from those with idea of Physics. All bathrooms had these fake immersion rods. That stupefied me as many students have taken Electricity as a subject in Physics so how could they practise such illegal acts. I asked the MSEB as to who bore the cost of the transformers but they just smiled and that was understood.
So, Mr Power minister, please take this detailed information I had furnished to save MeECL and the law-abiding consumers who have to suffer for no fault of theirs. And this requires of your Government to act on a war footing to search door to door if people use such devices, especially with winter already here. This becomes more urgent as KitKats in meter boxes as well as distributors would be fixed by self-styled engineers and an outbreak of fire in such buildings cannot be ruled out. Nearly all fires in winter are triggered by this culprit.
Yours etc.,
W. Passah
Retd HOD Electronics
St.Edmund’s College.
Higher education a distant dream
Editor,
Apropos the letter.’ A Mixed Model for higher education ‘,by Mr. Glenn C. Kharkongor, it’s heartening to note the writer’s angst against some of the issues relating to Higher Education expressed by Dr. Saji Varghese
Dr Kharkongor referred to the narrow mindset of Dr Varghese in using the words ‘extortionate’ and ‘exorbitant’ , but it’s an open secret that higher education has become a platform which only those with money can reach for. Moreover, the recent survey conducted wherein Meghalaya is ranked very low in the poverty index subscribes to this notion that many of the young people in our state cannot afford to pursue higher education because of poverty.
The top- ranking colleges in our state have very high fees for courses like Computers, Social Work, Mass Communication and the likes. Those who wish to pursue such courses have parents and guardians taking loans to enable their wards to take up such fields and for the many who don’t have the means, they simply have to give up as a mere pipe dream.
Coming to the point of data and statistics, even though I’m not an educator or in the field of academia, simply as a parent, I can say that statistics and ground reality are poles apart. Data can always be tweaked to project a rosy picture but we have seen that even basic infrastructure in some of our government institutions are not viable at all for our students to pursue higher education wherein they have no alternative but to pay the ‘exorbitant’ fees to pursue what they aspire for.
In the end, I must add that it’s time our state sets up educational institutions which would cater to all and thus live up to the statement which our Chief Minister recently said, that we spend about Rs 2000 crores in the educational sector and we can finally say with pride that indeed we do.
Yours etc.,
Angela Lyngdoh
Shillong -14
When data is unreliable
Editor,
We cannot make accurate predictions about India’s population growth based on the findings of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). Assumptions about India’s population are questionable. Claims about India’s population are not entirely true. India’s Total Fertility Rate(TFR) has slipped to 2.0. However, for India’s population to stabilise or decline, it would have to maintain a TFR equal to or less than 2.1 for a sustained period.
In spite of this, India’s current level of TFR is of enormous significance. This achievement is the result of concerted efforts of the people, successive governments and officials. That women have recognised the importance of having fewer children is a significant change. Our women are more empowered in their awareness about contraception and birth control.
The most significant aspect of the findings is the sex ratio. The population of women has exceeded that of men. There are 1,020 women for 1,000 men now. It is assumed that India’s irrational preference for male child may have disappeared over time. However, it is worrisome that 57% of women of reproductive age are anaemic and the percentage of anaemic children is also on the rise.
Sensitising people about the importance of having fewer children is the most appropriate measure the government can adopt. There must be adequate investment in education and healthcare and more employment opportunities must be created. Girls’ education is linked to decrease in fertility. The findings show that uneducated women tend to have more children. Health and life-skills education need to be provided at an early age. Sexual and reproductive health services must be provided along with this. Concerted efforts are needed to stabilize India’s population.
Yours etc.,
Venu GS,
Kollam