Editor
Nothing seems to have amused readers more than the bravado of the UDP leader, Paul Lyngdoh recently when he said that the UDP is the party that would bring in a stable government in 2023. Let me put this straight across with no holds barred. Whether the UDP leadership agrees with me or not, all of us see this Party as bereft of political principles. A case study is the way the party MLAs including the Speaker himself seem to have divergent views on the current coalition. For long they have been in the forefront of threatening to withdraw just as the BJP has been saying. However, till the fag end of the Assembly session they continue to hold on to their seats of power. Take for instance, the police vehicle scam where the Home Minister himself is defending the accused AGP, G Iangrai while some in the UDP are calling for an investigation. These political antics that the party indulges in are not going to be bought by people. People are well aware that the fleeing of the Ichamati accused was with the knowledge and authority of those who allowed those from Ichamati to leave at the dead of night in bus loads. The question is – who was the Home Minister at that point of time if it was not from the UDP? In some constituencies the UDP is playing a dirty game of its own but it is for the voters to give their verdict in 2023.
Yours etc..
Donbok Syngkrem
Dawki.
Clean up Pine Mount School mess
Editor,
The events that unfolded from the Pine Mount School as reported in the media shows that the School is in a deep mess all around. It shows that there is no proper school Managing Committee (MC) for quite a long time to take care of all the affairs of the school. Where is the Director of Higher and Technical Education gone who is the immediate boss of the Principal of the School ? Does he regularly keep track of Pine Mount, the Shillong, Jowai and Tura Public Schools, other Government Higher Secondary Schools and Government Technical Institutions of the State? Or where has he gone ? Is this post lying vacant till date waiting to be filled in or appointed? This also shows that the DHTE is either irresponsible or incapable or both and it is time to divest Education from the present DHTE and entrust it to somebody else to handle it more efficiently.
It appears that the School is left entirely to the Principal to look after though she has lost command and the respect and obedience from the teachers and students as it appeared from recent events. If there is a responsible vigilant MC, unpleasant things like teachers and students agitating for removal of the Principal would not have taken place at all and there would have been no reason for the agitation in full public view as it has taken place in the school. From the events one can see that there is internal politics from amongst teachers to get rid of the Principal so that somebody from amongst the senior-most teacher could take her place. Teachers may have differences and grievances against the Principal but why use the innocent students as their tools to resort to agitations to achieve their goal? This is pure politics employed by these teachers to oust the Head of the Institution. This has created a dangerous precedent for the school with equally dangerous consequences for the future of the teachers and students of Pine Mount School.
Perhaps a joint letter of complaint from the teachers to the Education Minister or as protocol demands to the Director of Higher and Technical Education demanding for removal of the head of PMS to replace her with another suitable person would have been better to help them solve the matter. We are unsure if they had adopted that course of action but their grievances were not attended to. Whatever it is, Pine Mount School has sunk deep in the mess and it requires immediate retrieval and complete revival from the messy situation it is currently in.
We came to know from media reports that several parts of the school building need urgent repairs; there are issues with the unhygienic toilets, some of which are no longer usable. There are issues of school fees; of parent-teachers meetings not held and many other unpleasant goings-on. At this juncture, what Pine Mount School needs is an efficient, capable and strict Principal and Vice-Principal but who are rational and humane in their dealings with teachers and students. At the moment the reputation of Pine Mount School is lost but can it be retrieved? Yes, but only by taking urgent steps to retrieve what is lost by involving all stakeholders.
After more than a century of its existence, we should be having a Class A grade Pine Mount Women Government College in the same huge plot of land by adding the land of the mini zoo as the animals are now shifted to Mawlein Zoo in Ri Bhoi and by adding the whole land originally meant for Pine Mount Institution. Let us hope for the best and let the happy days of progressive Pine Mount School return at the earliest.
Yours etc…
Philip Marwein,
Sr. Journalist,
Shillong.
Award for Cleanest Tourist Spot
Editor,
As per media reports it is learnt that the State Government will be spending a couple of crores for the promotion of tourism in the State especially for the upcoming Meghalaya Autumn festival. To complement this effort it will be in the fitness of things if the Government sets aside a substantial amount of money as cash award to the cleanest and best maintained tourist spot in terms of preserving and promoting the ecology of the place. This award should also be an annual event and instituted in every district of the state.
This award will not only provide an incentive to maintain the cleanliness of the place but also encourage all stakeholders to preserve and enhance the ecology of the tourist spot and its surroundings. Provisions for on-the-spot fines for anyone found littering should also be enforced.
Yours etc.,
Michael N Syiem,
Via email