Editor,
It is a great pleasure to convey hearty thanks and grateful applause to the Administration of East Khasi Hills and Meghalaya as a whole, for a very peaceful observance of Durga Puja in each and every Puja Pandal of the city. It is remarkable this year that discipline was very strictly maintained everywhere and even during the immersion there was no untoward incident. Credit for this goes to the Districts Administration, C.P.C and specially the beautiful cordial co-operation of the general public, without which it would not have been possible.
Yours etc.,
Uma Purkayastha,
Via email
Shillong – 4
Needed a think tank for Meghalaya
Editor,
Apropos of the letter, ‘Spirit of Durga Puja’ by GR Lyngdoh (ST Oct 4, 2022), I would like to similarly acknowledge the contributions made by the two gentlemen, (L) RG Lyngdoh and (L) TH Rangad vis-à-vis the current state of affairs of Meghalaya which is now peaceful. With election bells ringing early next year, the current chief minister Conrad K. Sangma is, as all knows, on an inauguration spree with tall talks of development. In fact, Meghalaya has leaped a few years back under the current dispensation led by the maladroit NPP. At the backdrop of the inhuman mob lynching in Shangpung in Jaintia Hills, police high-handedness in “eliminating” Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, the murky affairs inside Pine Mount School, the continuous killings inside the rat hole coal mines in the state despite the NGT ban, the scam of vehicle obsessed GK Iangrai, the messy traffic scenarios in the streets of Shillong, the situation certainly demands a change in the political dispensation post 2023. But do we have a choice? The West Bengal brand of politics can be seen in Meghalaya with the entry of Trinamool Congress – taking on the chief minister and his bunch of ministers on some issues or the other to keep the momentum going until election day in 2023.
Many are of the opinion that Dr. Mukul Sangma was comparatively better in handling the affairs of the state than Conrad K. Sangma – under whose regime the state has only earned the status of a paper tiger. If one analyses the present situation one can actually trace the affairs of the state in the episodes of the Pine Mount School (PMS). In the latter, it is a Principal that has brought down the school to its present condition, from its glorious past, whereas the CM has done nothing better much like the Principal in running the state. The irony is that now the Government headed by the CM has appointed a Committee to look into the affairs inside PMS but who is going to evaluate the affairs inside the MDA government? Here we need think tanks like those we get to see in the USA that will independently judge the government of the day and publish their opinions. I think, given the dearth here, Asian Confluence can take a step forward in this direction instead of just being a talk shop. This third space, being a responsible think-tank, must assess the Government and governance and release blueprints as an independent agency. The Asian Confluence has to think beyond the rivers, dales, lakes, businesses, lectures, interactions and examine the government affairs starting with Meghalaya and later spread its wings to other states in this region. It can engage experts quite like the way it is doing in case of engagements as mentioned in the penultimate sentence. Asian Confluence, otherwise, is certainly filling the gap that is largely void in a sphere where it is operating and has the brains inside to evaluate the nymphs in the NPP led MDA government.
Let Conrad K. Sangma be told that his method of governance has done nothing good to the people of Meghalaya; rather the stooges inside the NPP led MDA are running the state like an enterprise and pocketing all the returns.
Yours etc.,
BC Paul
Shillong – 4
Plight of teachers
Editor,
As a concerned individual I am deeply saddened to note the way the government is handling the education sector which the Chief Minister has time and again stated is “a priority sector”. This present government is the only one that has forced teachers of various categories to come to the streets to agitate to ask for their rights.
In the present agitation of the contractual government school teachers, it is shocking to note that tear gas has been used. This should be condemned by one and all for many of us wouldn’t be where we are today without our teachers.
In light of the current unemployment problem I am not suggesting that the government should cancel the appointment of the new qualified teachers and to reinstate all of them but I would rather appeal to the government to be humane. We as enlightened people understand that they are ‘contractual’ teachers and we are well aware of the term contractual but these are teachers who have served the rural areas for many years.
Some of these agitating contractual teachers who have passed the MTET and Dl.Ed have qualified according to the norms laid prospectively and which is applied retrospectively to those who are amongst those terminated. They cannot be accommodated due to the fact that they are over-aged. This application of age restriction to these teachers who have served for years is inhuman. Can the government not recognize their services? If the government wishes that service benefits be extended to them and perhaps accommodate some of the contractual teachers it might help the cause. For those contractual teachers who do not have the mandated qualifications for various reasons, can the government as a one- time measure offer them a ‘golden handshake’ as a recognition for their service to society?
I know that the objection to this will be finance but if the state government can spend crores on festivals, why not reduce this unnecessary expenditure and use that money for these teachers who have served the people? If the government can have a rehabilitation package for militants then why not these contractual teachers? Why is this government turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to these pillars of the education sector? If this is the way the government treats it teachers how can this priority sector attract the best talents ?
Yours etc.,
A Basaiawmoit,
Via email