Editor,
Sri Lanka’s financial crisis is basically a balance of payment (BOP) crisis. Imports are way higher than exports and now there is not enough money on its foreign exchange reserves to import even basic essentials. India faced a similar crisis in 1991. At the height of the BOP crisis, India’s foreign exchange reserves were sufficient to pay for only two weeks of imports.
Financial prudence should always be the name of the game. At the personal level, we Khasis have a saying, “Bam hati, kit kulai”.Eat like an elephant, carry like a horse. This saying serves as a warning for us to live within our means. Imports exceeding exports by a huge margin basically mean the same thing. A country spends more than it earns.
The NPP- led government here in Meghalaya has been borrowing left right and centre since it came to power. Financial prudence has gone out of the window. The sad part is that it looks like the UDP is a tamed partner. To the people of the State it looks like the UDP basically has no say in the matter. One of the UDP’s economic advisers is an Economics Professor from NEHU but it looks like the ruling coalition doesn’t listen to any sound advice. Our State is going down the drain, financial prudence is thrown out of the window all because we’re too timid to take responsibility and rule. I think jingbishni-jingpihuin (jealousy) has a big role to play in preventing one from among us becoming the Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
Yours etc.,
Gary Marbaniang,
Via email
Bags of burden
Editor,
As a concerned parent of a child studying in a private educational institution in Shillong, I am constrained to voice my disdain on the way the school is treating its children. On May 17, 2019, the Govt of Meghalaya vide its Press Release 223/19 had notified the weight of school bags for various classes. Sadly, there seems to be a total disregard for this Govt notification since the children are being forced to carry school bags much heavier than the prescribed limits set. To add to their woes, the standstill traffic of Shillong and the inclement weather force the children to shoulder their heavy bags on foot to make it to school on time. The school management should be sensitive to this atrocity on the hapless children and the Education department should enforce this Notification strictly for the health and development of the child.
Secondly, the Notification above clearly states that Schools shall not assign homework to children except those recommended by MBOSE/ICSE/CBSE. On the contrary, children are being burdened by homework everyday even during the conduct of Tests and Exams. If there is such an enabling provision, then the school should notify the parents and students the nature of homework recommended by MBOSE. This regressive pattern of education of unwarranted homework seems to be more on the whims and fancies of the teachers to complete the syllabus.
I need to emphasize on the National Education Policy 2020 in which it has been stated that a good education institution is one in which every student feels welcomed and cared for, where a safe and stimulating environment exists, where a wide range of learning experiences are offered, and where good physical infrastructure and appropriate resources conducive to learning are available to all students. How can the foremost concept of a welcomed and cared environment exist when students are being subjected to heavy school bags and then subjugated to homework? We send our children to school to be educated and not to be exploited. A child should enjoy going to school, instead of being traumatized.
I therefore, urge upon the school authorities through your esteemed daily to relook on these basic issues plaguing the education system for the sake of the well being of our children.
A concerned parent,
Name withheld on request,
Via email
Rejoinder
Editor,
Regarding the letter by Bantylli K Chyne captioned “Rejoinder on Empathetic Policing” (ST May 20, 2022) I would like to acknowledge the writer’s efforts in responding to my writing published in this newspaper on May 19, 2022. have read it thoroughly and appreciate the concerned person’s sentiments, I can sense the emotions involved in responding to my views, presumably because he/she or his/her family members might have gone through such incidents in the past. But regardless, I have to remind that an act of such precipitancy and presumption would seal the downfall of the precocious intellectual forever.
As responsible youths we should be brave and bold enough to call a spade a spade without hesitation and fear of any consequences, and the truth is clear, unemployment remains the main factor behind the many home invasions, burglary and theft cases in Jaiaw. On the instances of assault, torching of vehicles etc., pointed out by the writer, I have nothing to comment as I literally have no clue about the above-mentioned incidents. However, the narrative was painted in such a blatant manner that I feel as if the writer was hitting below the belt in calling me “narrow-minded” although it seems like the writer himself/herself was making unsubstantiated claims like blaming the acts of violence on “envy” and “psychological problems.”
The letter writer also stated that we lack local technical experts and also lack the “guts” to explore “alternative avenues.” These are delusional views often shared by the more privileged strata of our society and not by those at the ground level earning from hand to mouth. Concerning the statement the writer made regarding the youths, “sitting in Jaiaw Pdeng,” as a result of being neglected by the powers that be, the same can also be observed in areas like the Bronx and other neglected low income societes in the world. I also have to respectfully disagree with the point the writer made where he/she said, “We need to reinvent our ideologies to be at par with other people in India,” for if the goal is to merely be at par with mainland India, then we should say goodbye to our beautiful indigenous culture, our language and the clean air and water we enjoy daily yet take for granted. The goal should be to be better than mainland India in every way; to highlight our cultural differences rather than to shun them, to promote a sense of unity in diversity rather than to merely give a bleak and privileged overview of past unfortunate incidents without any intention of providing solutions that are viable. The writer’s suggestion that our youth should attack the encroachers at Block I and II is tantamount to promoting violence and bloodshed; to build upon the already existing ideologies rather than reinventing them.
Other than the above points I bear no ill feeling nor grudge but wishes him/her nothing but good health and success in life. Nor do I wish to do a back and forth with the writer on this matter. To conclude, I will always stand firm on my principles regardless of the many criticisms I would have to endure. In situations like this, I’d rather be a mature person, preferring to be kind than right.
Yours etc.,
Pynskhemlang W. Uriah
President, Jaiaw Ehrngiew Transport Society
Via email