Editor,
Reading the two letters to the editor, the first “Murdering Tradition (ST 21/12/21)” name withheld and “A cause of serious Concern by F. Lyngdoh(ST 23/12/21)” sent a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach. If the video mentioned in the above two letters really does exist and if the allegations levelled at the unruly behaviour of some local youths at the Rangbah Shnongs of Jaiaw Pyllun is really true, then a serious question arises. As a society where are we heading if respect , deference and regard for our elders is no longer a social value? Christmas is just round the corner and we are readying ourselves for celebrating the 50th Anniversary of our state. I know there is little or no connection between the two but at the same time is there anything to cheer or be joyful about? As Khasis we are so very conscious and proud of maintaining “Ka akor ka burom”. As a matter of fact it forms the core of our identity. It is the issue on which we pride ourselves as Khasis and the very first basic tenet of “Ka akor ka burom” is respect for your elders. Mr F. Lyngdoh has made mention of his concern that it took a week for any reaction to the incident to appear and that this is indicative of the public apathy we as Khasis attach to the deterioration of our customs and values. I fully agree with him and this has therefore prompted me to join this chorus for a revival of our Hynniewtrep value systems. We must raise our voices to save ourselves. I appeal to all right-thinking Khasis to join in this attempt to restore Ka Akor Ka Burom and not allow our combined silence over the matter to be the dirge of our culture.
Before I end and in conclusion I have one more concern and worry that needs to be clarified. I am certain that the various localities in Jaiaw have their Seng Longkmie and Seng Samla. I also have reason to believe that these are strong and dynamic organisations with strong energetic elected leaders. Where is the voice of protest from these organisations over the humiliation of their own Rangbah Shnongs? I am not trying to politicise the issue nor am I interested in being a rabble rouser. However, as an elderly Khasi I am simply wondering if we have progressed so much that we are now ready to discard our own traditions and culture and dump them into the dustbin of 21st century Modernity?
Yours etc.,
Toki Blah,
Via email
Controversial smart meter
Editor,
Apropos of P Nongrum’s letter, ‘Smart meter: Boon or bane for MeECL’ (ST dt 23-12-2021),I would like to add few more points. The meter box left unsealed as in the 60s due to too shortage of manpower to attend to it had led consumers to fix fuses. Kit kats were fixed with wire that can carry such an amount of current, that buildings can easily catch fire. To curb this the power ministry planned a few years ago to resort to MCBs( miniature circuit breakers).Havell is a renowned and reliable company. The plan was fantastic as any tampering internally won’t matter anymore as the MCB controls from the source. Sadly its price is only Rs 450 each ( 2 are needed for live and neutral). At Rs 900 for 2 only is too small an amount to interest the policy makers in the country .So the plan to save millions of households was sadly shelved. And many buildings became victims of this vital Havell item being too low- priced to receive the attention of corporations.
Let us study the meter in chronological order.(1) Electric meter .This was and still is the earliest form of meter. It is based on the eddy current rotating the circular aluminum disc. The unit is Kilowatt/hour which could be read on the basis of current drawn and time. Sadly, this meter is easily tampered and our power suppliers incurred a huge loss. MeECL had huge revenue loss on account of this in the steel industries in Byrnihat and in many such factories in our country as well. So MeECL resorted to the meter for transmitting ( records solely kept by MeECL) and receiving meter( property of factory).This proved fantastic as prior to this, the revenue earned per month was Rs 25 crores. After this intervention it shot to Rs 40 crore. And this was detected too late, when two steel plants packed up and left the state for reasons known to them.
The electric meter is not as smart as the electronic meter since electronics no longer have mechanical moving parts but purely electronics counters, registers and digital displays. It registers every unit of power used. This means consumers are billed accurately. This is the reason why we see complaints of excess billings by our unmindful innocent consumers. But the new Power Minister wants to tax ordinary consumers first while leaving out the steel industries, government buildings et al with uncleared bills. Imagine Rs 1.74 crore was waived off for one steel plant.
With smart meters the bill may go up three times. Why? The power supplier charges us kilowatt per hour, plus loss in transmission. The arguments against smart meters outweigh those for it but why is it that to date only 6 out of 1,000 households are smart-metered? The target is 251 million households by 2025. So why not leave us for the time being as we are way behind the long list among the states? Germany, the most advanced country in technology in Europe does not accept smart meters.In the UK and Canada it is not compulsory. Why not in India? According to Mr P. Nongrum weird and obscure companies are awarded the tender. The question is why in a project as huge as this, tenders are not openly floated? And electronics meters manufactured by HPL malfunction after 8 months with no prompt local after sales service is a big problem to be shouldered by the consumer as experienced by someone I know.
The Power Minister should reconsider installing smart meters, more so those made in China. The people of Meghalaya cannot be turned into guinea pigs. If at all smart meters are to be installed then let the whole process of procuring the meters be transparent and their installation fool-proof.
Yours etc.,
W.Passah
Ex – HOD Electronics
St.Edmund’s College