Editor,
I would like to refer to your paper’s news item dated June 24, 2023 under the heading ” Will act against non – tribal traders sans license, ” wherein it was reported that the brand new Chief Executive Member after speaking on the above topic also announced that the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council has decided to extend the upper age limit to various jobs in the Council by five years in line with the state government rules. This reminds us that the KHADC during the past 10 years or even more has never invited applications to fill up any vacancies through advertisements. It seems that no vacancies ever occur in this institution during this period which is not possible.
As per newspaper reports, there are about 800 odd employees serving under the KHADC. Even presuming that the KHADC has stopped creating any new posts due to financial constraints, surely there are employees who retire every year? How are vacancies due to this reason filled up? We the public are left in the dark on this. The same can be said about the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Secretariat. As far as I can remember, no job advertisement has ever come out of this office during the past decade or more but anyone who visits this office will see that there are a few hundred employees working under this Secretariat. Will the concerned authorities explain?.
In conclusion, I would like to say that these anomalies cannot escape scrutiny because the public focus has always been on recruitment at the state government and district administration levels. I hope the new incumbents holding posts in the Council executive and the Legislative Assembly Speaker’s posts will kindly look into this in the interest of the public.
Yours etc.,
Samuel Swett,
Shillong- 2.
US has nor right to preach human rights
Editor,
It is amusing that 75 US Congress men and women from the Democratic Party have written to President Joe Biden to raise the issue of human rights, shrinking democratic space and insecurity of minorities in India during Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit to the US. In India, the religious rights of the minorities are well protected and this can be gauged from the fact that the majority Hindu community had never tried to impose their religion or ever tried to convert followers of any sect into their fold. Instead, preachers from the far west backed by colonial rulers easily converted many ethnic groups practicing traditional indigenous faith without any resistance or opposition from the majority community in the last two centuries and this practice is still continuing in many States especially in the North East and other tribal areas of India. Is conversion not a violation of the religious rights of the followers of any particular faith? Conversion pre-supposes inferiority of the religious tradition followed by any group. Does it not demean the followers of that faith who are being counselled to leave their traditional faith and embrace an alien faith? This basic question needs to be answered honestly before pointing any finger towards India.
The United States has no moral right to lecture on or judge the human rights conditions in other countries because they are the only country that has used nuclear weapon killing millions of unarmed civilians just 75 years back. Did those people have no human rights? Moreover, near extinction of original inhabitants of America is testimony to the spirit of co-existence and human rights practiced by US people.
Yours etc.,
N.K. Kehar,
Shillong-3
Is Jio short-selling its customers?
Editor,
What if a bus conductor collects the fare up to Guwahati but drops off a passenger at Unsinging? That passenger will come down heaviliy on the conductor for cheating him. But why are we customers not shouting at the JIO mobile service provider that charges money for 1.5 GB per day through its plan of Rs 666 when it is unable to send a minuscule 20 kb of data to our cellphones? The reason behind this is that the company has not been able to expand the necessary infrastructure for seamless data streaming, but keeps on “overburdening” itself with more and more new connections.
Yes, it should be borne in mind that earlier JIO had a special Rs 395 plan for phone calls that did not include data except for 6 GB spread over 84 days. Those clever few wanting to “save money” used to recharge their sets with only the Rs 395 plan instead of Rs 666. In its ads, the company never mentioned the Rs 395 plan.
But since the last few months, JIO has “discontinued” the Rs 395 plan, and as a result, people are “compelled” to cough up Rs 666 though they cannot use the data. Here, the main question is why did the company pull the plug on the Rs 395 plan? Why does the company “force its customers” to sign up for the Rs 666 plan when they are not “capable of delivering” seamless data on their clients’ cell phones? Is it not theft in broad daylight? I don’t find any difference between a pickpocket and a company that deftly snatches money from our wallets while leaving us with “empty promises”. A company should not charge money from the public for disgustingly shoddy service.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong