Editor,
The Richter scale measures the movement of tectonic plates under the earth’s surface. The Richter scale emanating from the midnight coup when 12 Congress MLAs left the Party to join the TMC is not a negligible one as just two days after that, the Tura MP, Agatha Sangma, all of a sudden betrayed the BJP to become anti- CAA. This is the height of political immaturity! Sadly, very few or none in our State questioned this sudden turnaround.
Following the coup it is also unthinkable that the Speaker of the Assembly has to go through the rule book as the erosion was 300%. That such a trivial thing should require the Speaker to be a student once again exposes lack of sheer logic that comes from common sense. It reminds me of a friend who tried to learn karate from a book in case his house was attacked by robbers. Mr Prestone Tynsong should be praised for his sound judgement on this issue though.
But the most disturbing fact is that some peoples’ hatred of the Bengalis is greater than their fear of the CAA or the invasion of corporates that would snatch away jobs of Meghalayans, recently exposed in the MeECL, smart meter worship to enhance someone’s business. No one is paying attention to the new Electricity Bill which may be tabled during this winter session of Parliament and which may displace our locals from MeECL and raise the domestic bills to that of industrial ones.
Lastly, it is very disappointing indeed that all the struggles and unceasing debates in the Assembly by the so-called Bengali lovers to alleviate the suffering of farmers caused by unavailability of good seeds, disrupted transport system succumbing to unlicensed ATMs on roads, no waterproof godowns to prevent decay of broomsticks and bay leaves in the wettest place like Mawsynram has resulted in nothing. The plight of SSA teachers under this Education Minister who makes contradictory statements like, ‘It’s not the duty of the Government to pay salaries,” and in the next sentence says, ‘Of course I shall release 2 months pay,’ is mind boggling.
It is disappointing that people in our state don’t raise their voices for teachers who are not being paid their dues or on the border issues, although they watch social media 24X7.Their love for regional parties had permanently blinded them to the stark realities of these parties which no longer have the spine to unfetter the shackles that have tied them to the MDA Government.
Let me end with an old saying, “When Bengal sneezes, the whole of India catches a cold.”
Yours etc.,
James Kharmih
Shillong 1
Congress Party rudderless
Editor
The continuous resignation of Congress office bearers and workers in a span of weeks is something that has never happened before, since it set foot in Meghalaya. Reasons are many and so are contradictions which have made the party look like a rudderless ship with very few passengers on board sailing onwards. Blame games, finger pointing are all part of every political party but the issue of a senior party member being singled out for many things gives a different picture. What would be the impact at the regional level as well as at the national level within the Party as it heads towards 2023 and 2024 cannot be said at this stage but yes as a party it has suffered severe blows. There is a school of thought that says, people are either being politically rational or politically sentimental. Both have different meanings especially in a society like ours where issues are side-lined left and sentiments tend to overtake them.
Yours etc.,
Dominic Stadlin Wankhar,
Shillong
Rejoinder from DIPR
Editor
In response to letter to the editor captioned “Entrepreneurship: to encourage or discourage?” (ST December 2, 2021 by Toki Blah I would like to clarify on the points raised by the writer firstly by stating that the form in question is not a registration form but form of application for the grant of license for Homemade Wines wherein it is necessary to enclose the marriage certificate of married applicant, to address any issues arising in future out of marital discord and settlement thereof in respect of the license.
Secondly, the Excise license cannot be granted to any person below the age of 21 (twenty-one) years and is personal to the licensee, hence the basic information like name, sex etc., of the applicant is sought. Thirdly, wine making is a specialized trade, which entails continuous monitoring and recording of Potential Alcohol Content, PH level, Alcohol by volume, quality of the wine. etc. to ensure that the homemade wines are fit for human consumption, for which basic educational qualification is a must. Fourthly. the caste/community in the application form is primarily asked to see if the applicant needs to obtain and produce Trading license or not, as per extant Rules on the subject matter. Fifthly, the license shall not be granted to any person who are in arrear in respect of any Government revenues, dues or is a defaulter in respect of repayment of any Government loans, hence the present and past occupation of the applicant is sought.
Lastly, verification of the antecedents of the applicant from the Police is necessitated as Meghalaya Excise Act and Rules prohibit grant of Excise License to any person who has been convicted by criminal court for non-bailable offence. The Government had notified the Homemade Wines Policy, which is one of its kind in the country at home-scale, on September 29, 2020. keeping in mind the interest of the fruit growers and farmers of the State to provide for an enabling legal framework to facilitate such an economic activity and providing for benchmarking of quality and alcohol content of the wine at the same time. Interested Homemade Wine producers are applying for grant of license for production and sale of Homemade Wines, allowing them to sell their products directly to the wine consumers or through Excise retail outlets or for that matter export outside the State as well, within the ambit of the Homemade Wines Policy and approval of the Government is accorded to them.
On behalf of the Excise Department, I would like to reiterate that the conditions put forth by the Government for production and sale of Homemade Wines with the sole purpose of ensuring that only good-quality wines duly certified as fit for human consumption are eligible for sale, thereby discouraging and keeping a check on the fly-by-night operators/fraudulent/non-serious wine-makers. Any points of clarification or any inputs/feedback regarding the Homemade Wine Policy may kindly be addressed to the office of the undersigned via [email protected].
Yours etc.,
G. Dkhar,
Deputy Commissioner of Excise, Meghalaya,
Shillong