Who is to blame?
Editor,
I am grateful to N Marak for his letter, ‘Tura as capital is inevitable’(ST June 13,2023) in reciprocation to my letter, ‘Winter capital vs MBOSE’ (ST June 12,2023). In response I wish to objectively assert that my submission is not in the least premised on hypocritical/’sanctimonious’ stance. What I have penned therein was in toto a verbatim discourse I had garnered with assorted sections of people irrespective of their communities, ethnicity et al. Hence, such reflections are invariably not my subjective presentation. In essence, my periodical missives to newspapers are not based on yellow journalism but painstaking fact-driven ground-work.
The allegations to demean Garos as backwards, illiterate etc., against fellow citizens belonging to the same state are unfortunate Furthermore, it is stated that in course of these 51 years Garo candidates had got appointments in 27% to 34% out of the 40% of the officially allotted target ; but Marak must recall that the major share of the post of Chief Ministership have been held by the representatives from Garo Hills from the very inception of Meghalaya as a State in 1972, to date in 2023 when even today we have a Chief Minister from the Garo community. Additionally, we have had a great number of Garo officers who had been and are holding key government departments dealing with job-recruitments. Importantly, we have had no less than six Chairpersons of MPSC belonging to the Garo community, like GC Momin, who was the first Chairperson, MPSC, LM Sangma, Ex-Law 0fficer and others who occupied this coveted post! Having such array of influential officers and Ministers per se from this community, I still fail to understand why the latter have not brought to the fore the existence of loopholes in the Reservation policy, whereby the canker could have been nipped in the bud right from the initial stages. Now who is to blame?
Presently, we are given to understand that since many Garo job applicants have been denied appointments in government departments based on the quota of Reservation policy effective since 1972 , so the backlog reserved for them, being undone hitherto, ought to be filled by Garo applicants, henceforth. Thus, the job-applying youths from Khasi-Jaintia Hills will have to look askance at this overhaul dispensation. Some are even thrown into the welter of confusion, apprehending that they shall have to wait for half a century before being able to secure a viable employment when the Reservation Quota Policy is pursued in letter and spirit as framed in 1972. Such recalibration, if effected, may arguably throw the affected youths into an Orwellian world! Again, who do we blame here?
And as to the purported agitation to have a winter capital at Tura, I’m somewhat taken a back to say the least that some of my Garo friends from East Garo Hills district have conveyed to me their grouse saying that why Tura alone be privileged to have a winter capital. ‘Why not Williamnagar too have the honour of a capital in one of the four seasons?’
The sequential results of such demand will be a sure recipe for unleashing a cascading or domino effects for other districts of Meghalaya like Jowai, Nongstoiñ and the rest of the districts to agitate for similar boons, leading to a litany of demands. At the end of the day we will become, what Matthew Arnold wrote in his poem, Dover Beach, ‘Where the ignorant armies clash by night’!
Yours etc.,
Jerome K Diengdoh,
Shillong-2
Why people fear doctors these days?
Editor,
It’s not strange these days that many people fear doctors as much as cats fear cold water. This fear is rooted in the perception that some doctors mercilessly prescribe medicines and treat their patients with a monetary profit motive only. The increasing cases of adverse “side effects” of excessive and wrong medicines leading to irreversibly deteriorating patients’ health have further annoyed the general people.
It is noteworthy that “certain” unscrupulous doctors even have a penchant for recommending many unnecessary “medical tests” to poor people struggling to make ends meet. Those poor people, clad in tattered clothes and worn-out slippers, not having even a five hundred rupee note in their pockets, are compelled to spend between Rs 3000 to 5000 for the minor ailments of their child. As they are completely illiterate, they have no option but to borrow money from their relatives or friends. Their only concern is to get their child cured. Only God knows how they finally manage to repay their loan. This case has become very normal in every town and village.
A new breed of entrepreneurial doctors also have the knack for recommending several medicines only from “particular pharmaceutical companies” despite the fact that similar medicines with the same combinations from other companies are available at far cheaper rates. Very few doctors prescribe generic medicines from Janaushadhi. Is this not an inhuman act?
Undeniably, greed for money has made some doctors engage in activities that are least expected from them. Such cunning doctors discreetly establish cozy relationships with nursing homes and diagnostic centers. This is predominantly prevalent in major cities. These alliances are grounded on a foundation of kickbacks and commissions. The doctor gets a hefty cut, and the diagnostic center gets a steady stream of patients. Videos clippings of such outrageous racketeering involving doctors and nursing homes often go viral on WhatsApp on a regular basis!
Doctors from private hospitals in Guwahati, point out the faults of doctors from Shillong nursing homes while doctors from Apollo Hospitals and CMC Vellore accuse the private hospitals in Assam of wrong treatment. Most patients complain of being heartlessly exploited by medical practitioners and nursing homes before receiving adequate care in Vellore at a meagre cost of a few thousand rupees.
A gentleman from Delhi says that we are practically in the most distressful situation when the ones sworn to protect humanity become the very ones poised to squeeze the sweat and blood of the aggrieved. During COVID time, lots of medical institutes were exposed to how low they can stoop to make a quick buck.
Given all these outrageously unhealthy situations, it’s high time these medical practices were brought under the microscope and scrutinized for what they truly are. Breach of trust and greed-driven overtures should not be allowed to deal a death blow to the fundamental essence of medical ethics and the profession. The medical fraternity should always uphold the Hippocratic oath in letter and spirit. Humanity should not succumb to the insincerity and hypocrisy of the over-commercialized health profession of modern times.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong