Editor,
In the 75th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association in Mumbai, towards the fag end of last September, the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the bankers to provide precedence in the space of appointments to those who mandatorily are conversant with the local dialect in their respective establishments as they’re closely dealing with the public. The Union Minister has reiterated in unambiguous terms, thus, “Show inclusivity in your staff, in the way you speak to your customers. When you have staff who do not talk the regional language and who demand citizens speak in a particular language, you have a problem. Please review the people getting posted at branches; people who cannot speak the local language should not be assigned to roles dealing with customers. You must have a lot more sensible ways of recruiting persons”.!
Hence, knowledge of the local dialect has been attributed as the most enabling quotient in the conduct of everyday banking transactions. Aptly, Sitharaman has reminded that it’s not the Managing Director or the Chairman of the banks, but the security guards, clerks, tellers etc., that the commoners interact with when they have any banking problems. The adverse consequences of language constrictions can lead to unprecedented loss of substantive businesses! In my personal experience while visiting many bank establishments stationed in the urban areas, I’ve found that a good number of key staff dealing with the customers can hardly converse in the local language, and the less we speak of their counterparts in rural areas the better.
I am much constrained to note that in the Meghalaya Rural Bank where I have some goodwill Hynñiewtrep friends of mine employed, I have been given to understand that some staff, irrespective of their gender/family background have been transferred to the remote parts of Garo Hills and posted there for years on end and for many Garo dialect is Latin to them. Henceforth, l hope the management of the Meghalaya Rural Bank listens to our Union Finance Minister’s advisory!
Now, turning to another coincidental perspective of our State, the Government of Meghalaya must be profusely acclaimed for having adopted a policy that for being selected as a State’s Judicial Magistrate, a candidate must have the knowledge of either Khasi or Garo vernaculars. This epoch-making decision, many are convinced, will go a long way to put paid to unabated influx of doubtful citizens and open wide avenues of employment to the indigenous citizens, be they tribals or non-tribals. I hope the Khasi Authors’ Society has expressed appreciation to the Government for this unique gesture!
Yours etc.
Jerome K Diengdoh,
Via email
Election predictions
Editor,
Apropos of the news item “Pala accuses UDP of making dirty money” and “Opp balloon will burst mid-air during polls: NPP state Chief” (ST October 10, 2022). Desperate Pala is trying to piggy-back ride on the UDP to influence the Sutnga-Saipung seat in his favour. The NPP State Chief’s argument is rational when he says he doesn’t really know who will be NPP’s immediate opponent as the small opposition of 12 is divided. Data suggests that NPP is at the advantageous point and based on data my analysis indicates that NPP will return with 35 seats in a house of 60 in 2023.
Yours etc.
Gordon Wahlang.
Via email
Essence of Durga Puja
Editor,
“The essence of Durga Puja is the triumph of truth over untruth, good over evil, light over darkness and triumph of knowledge over ignorance”. This is a line one came across in a letter to the editor written by Uma Purkayastha during this Durga Puja Festival. These words kept ringing in my ears as words that should have otherwise been tenets and principles that should govern humans across the globe. Sadly values like truth, honesty, goodness are today lost in the deep chasm of immorality and ill health of the soul and spirit.
Here on earth we do not live in isolation but in a community. Now, what is a community if not a conglomeration of human beings irrespective of one’s age, sex, height, colour, race, caste or creed, religion? Yet, it is in this very world and within this very community that we have no faith, no trust, no sympathy, no humanity, no love. What we have today is more of dishonesty, brutality, immorality, fear, suspicion, etc. As parents and elders, we teach our children and young ones to be good, to be righteous, to never lie, to never fear, to hurt no one, to never cheat, etc. This must be so, for, to impart such high ideals is our duty however our greatest responsibility is to practice these ideals for our young ones to observe and follow. After all it is our footprints that they will tread on.
Somebody, highly respectable asked me, what is the most precious gift that parents can give their children? The answer can be just one and that is ‘Time.’ In today’s fast moving life, if there is anything that we seem to be deprived of, consciously or unconsciously, it is Time. We often hear one another say in conversation that we really don’t have time. But the truth is that we all have time but somehow fail to judiciously make use of our time. We have actually failed to divide our time and prioritise engagements, duties, responsibilities and make time for the most important people in our lives.
These days, we are so occupied with our gadgets that we prefer to spend the maximum amount of our time with our smartphones, our laptops, ipads, etc. Be it at home, restaurants, airports, any place it’s the gadgets that have become our bosom pals. Aren’t our priorities here different from what they ought to be? Are we spending the right time in the right place and on the right people? Think about this; if we give our time to our children, understanding them, listening to them, observing them, talking to them, playing with them, having our meals with them, we as parents and elders can actually impress upon them the true and real values of life. Children learn faster and better by emulating what they see. Therefore, the what, why, when, who and where in our actions, in the way we speak and the way we act and react matters.
How else would rich values be made part and parcel or a way of life for our children and all of us if we as parents and elders have side-lined what should otherwise be ingrained in our system? I always believe that everything starts from home. If such ideals are sowed at home, these ethics will be further nurtured at school, in colleges making them principled and ethical human beings. The need of the hour is for us to become righteous and true, honest and compassionate with one another in order to lead a happy and dignified life.
Yours etc.,
Jenniefer Dkhar,
Via email