Editor,
The issuance of appointment letters by the District Election Department of Jowai was a torture for all polling personnel. They made us sit the whole day in the compound of the District Library Jowai and didn’t even provide us with chairs or any refreshments. We had to wait for them to call out our names for the different polling stations. It seems that the Election Department of West Jaiñtia Hills does not think about the welfare of the polling personnel. Whoever was in charge was really a thoughtless and brainless person. This sort of treatment is disrespectful towards polling personnel. The Returning Officer ought to enquire how the election was conducted in this district. Why can they not think of a better way to issue appointment letters to polling personnel? They could have printed the names of polling parties and pasted those on the wall so that polling personnel can see which polling station they should report to, instead of calling out our names one by one and making us wait the whole day.
Yours etc.,
Thangkhiew
Shillong – 1
VPP a beacon of hope
Editor,
I wrote the other day that VPP is a ray of hope; I read an article in the Indian Express the other day where it called the VPP a breath of fresh air. The Congress and other Regional parties in the state have failed us big time. Congress has been the party that has ruled the state for the longest time but their rule has not left development imprints in the state. What makes the VPP stand out from the crowd is that for the first time in Meghalaya, we have a party which has a large presence of intellectuals. There was hue and cry a few weeks ago when a candidate from the UDP said that this time around we need a Khasi Chief Minister; my view is that the next Chief Minister should be the best man for the job. “The best man for the job” should always be the rule of thumb when it comes to governance.
I saw a video about an intellectual from Singapore highlighting the reasons which enabled Singapore to transform from a third world country to a first world country. The acronym “MPH” which stands for Meritocracy, Pragmatism and Honesty are the three main factors that transformed Singapore according to the intellectual. Some might say that these factors might not necessarily be applicable to Meghalaya; well Meritocracy, Pragmatism and Honesty are universal truths of good governance and they will work in every country in the world. Meritocracy basically means the best man for the job; pragmatism means imbibing the best values from a set of values and principles; in case of politics it means imbibing the best values of Capitalism and Socialism; the Nordic countries epitomize pragmatism when it comes to good governance and I don’t need to say anything about Honesty; Honesty can definitely speak for itself.
Someone mentioned the list of candidates who stand out from the rest in this election yesterday in these columns. Well he forgot to mention Professor A J Syngkon, the VPP candidate from Umsning. Professor A J Syngkon is a Commerce Professor from NEHU and he also has a PHD in Economics. Who better to handle the economic affairs of the state than him! Meghalaya right now desperately needs a man who has a grasp of Economics and someone who can handle the economy. The previous Chief Minister who has an MBA degree also held the post of Finance Minister in the last government. The previous government appointed a large number of consultants; I would just like to say that a government is not a corporation and corporatisation of governance poses a threat to the economic stability of our state.
Meghalaya desperately needs change. I remember when I got my first job my father told me that I should give him my salary and he will manage it for me. I was fresh out of college so I guess he thought I was too young to handle my own economic affairs. Likewise, 50 years ago, when a national party said that it would handle our economic affairs, it made sense. Now 50 years hence, if a national party comes and says that we should let it manage and run the affairs of the state since we have failed to run our state, then the people of the state should really feel ashamed. It’s like a father telling his married son that he should let him run his family since he has run into huge debts and the only way out is to let him run his family. I would definitely not want to be in such a situation. If I’m in such a situation, I will curse the day I was born!
Yours etc.,
Gary Marbaniang,
Via email
Wanted strong law against drug peddling
Editor,
Apropos of the news “Seizure worth Rs 74.18 Crore made during MCC” (ST March 1st 2023), it can be said that Meghalaya has got to free itself from the menace of DRUGS which is ruining many rich and poor families in the State. The seizure of drugs which is 45% of the total Rs 74.18 crore seized during the period of MCC is a wakeup call for the powers that be. One cannot imagine what is happening every day in the State in the absence of “professional drugs enforcers” to oversee this menace. In fact, there is a need for a separate ‘specialized drug enforcement agency’ in the State. I appeal to all the newly elected members of the 11th Meghalaya Legislative Assembly to bring out a law – ‘Misuse of Drugs Act’ on the lines of the Statutes of the Republic of Singapore.
Your etc.,
V.K.Lyngdoh,
Via email
Voting NPP is voting BJP!
Editor,
It’s somewhat amusing to note that preceding Meghalaya’s assembly polling date of February 27 the NPP and BJP were in the thick of a slugfest, the latter leaving no stone unturned to fault the former as if they’re sworn adversaries. At the end of the day, post the date in question they will be hobnobbing in secrecy and find themselves as strange bedfellows to devise a mechanism on how to share plum cabinet portfolios that can sustain a five year term.
Incidentally, Manuel Badwar, the present Congress candidate from East Shillong Constituency couldn’t have been more right on the day of his filing of nomination when he indubitably hit the bull’s eye stating that NPP and BJP are, on the sly, playing cheap drama for ultimately when the dust of the feverish election air has settled down, they shall join forces until 2028; thereafter they will throw mud of allegations at each other yet again! Interestingly, Sanbor Shullai, the BJP contestant from South Shillong has, without mincing words, asserted that during the campaign period the NPP will show how they abhor BJP but after March 2nd they will cajole the BJP as “Bhai- Bhai”, since NPP expects money from the Union Government! No wonder, from the glaring past instances, we can perceptively notice that NPP is invariably toeing the line set by the BJP. They have rightly been dubbed as B team of BJP. A conspicuous and incontestable example was when the NPP Lok Sabha member Agatha Sangma ,the sibling of our incumbent Chief Minister, voted in favour of CAA in Parliament to the utter shock of the indigenous citizens. This, many opine, is only the tip of a massive iceberg!
Yours etc.,
Jerome K Diengdoh,
Shillong-2