Editor,
News that HM Shangpliang has now left the TMC which he joined a few months ago and joined the BJP is no longer surprising. In Meghalaya, elections are never about ideology or principles but about opportunity to be on the ruling side. Shangpliang has calculated that the TMC is unlikely to get too many MLAs and being a shrewd former bureaucrat he also knows that the NPP will win more seats and will continue to work with the BJP and hence he has a good opportunity to be on the ruling side and become a VIP this time with all the trappings that go with power. His former bosses in the bureaucracy will then have to address him as “Sir.” Think about it!
For some people, power is everything and the devil take the hindmost. It is laughable to talk about ‘service to the constituents’ because the first service that each of the 60 MLAs have done so far is self-service. What is surprising is that Dr Mukul Sangma has not been able to stop the attrition from the TMC. Now with Mamata Banerjee having seemingly cut a deal with none other than Himanta Biswa Sarma one of the most important leaders in the BJP today, the future of the TMC seems to be blowing in the wind. No one knows what Mamata Banerjee has in mind; not even the TMC members in Meghalaya. What happens if in 2024 the TMC becomes an ally of the BJP?
Politics is an ugly game and people should have known it by now. Finally they have to elect the lesser evil among the candidates in each constituency.
Yours etc.,
MS Lyngdoh ,
Markasa
Sufferings of common people
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I would like to express my concern over the suffering of the common people in India. The ordinary citizen suffers from two major problems – access to health and education. Both sectors have become inaccessible to the common citizen. Both the sectors have become money- making businesses whereas the government is allowing them to operate without any regulations. It is observed that doctors in private hospitals are having a monopoly and put patients through unnecessary investigation and medicines while school fees have become unaffordable.
Recently I encountered two incidents. I went to a doctor and he advised me to get some tests done in this clinic. Now why should I go to this clinic when the testing and diagnoses is cheaper elsewhere. The problem is that the doctor may not see the report conducted elsewhere. This sort of mal practice by doctors has destroyed the medical system in the state as well as country.
According to a report 5 years ago, 27 % of deaths occur due to medical negligence. Government should fix the rates of hospitals and consultation and investigation as well fix the rate of school fee. Government should come with new laws for this sector .
People of this country had voted the NDA government for the betterment of the middle class but in today’s world we are suffering in all the sectors of day to day life.
The media as well as local bodies should come forward and work for the betterment of society. I request both the state and central government to intervene and stop the monopoly of private health practitioners and the education sector to relieve the burden of the common people of this country
Yours etc.,
Samar Deb
Guwahati
Teachers in politics: Hypocrisy of the MDA Govt
Editor,
Hypocrisy as they say has its limitations and it is ultimately exposed in full public view. The recent diktat of the NPP led-government of banning or discouraging the teaching community from taking active part in politics shows that intellectuals, academicians and social thinkers have no place in the system of governance. Hence we see misgovernance at all levels. If the academic sector cannot take part in active politics then what type of political discourse do we expect in the electronic and print media? Perhaps people in authority who take such decisions should, in fact, question themselves before they even set foot in a political party. Recently a college teacher joined the NPP from Laitumkhrah Constituency. This has exposed the double standards of the NPP which runs the government and the Chief Minister himself whose government was responsible for the order banning teachers from taking part in politics. We hope that the people of Laitumkhrah will judge for themselves who is a hypocrite and who is not?
Yours etc..
Dominic Stadlin Wankhar
Via email