Outsourcing of recruitment process at NEIGRIHMS
Editor,
NEIGRIHMS had recently released various posts for recruitment. However, the candidates have received their admit cards with the exam city and centre just 3 days before the exams. Many of our local candidates have even been allotted exam centre outside the state. I fail to understand how an institute like NEIGRIHMS cannot arrange for exam centres in and around Shillong for local candidates. I also fail to understand how an institute that has its own examination department and Controller, must outsource the recruitment process to an outside agency from outside the state. Further, I fail to understand how, even if it is outsourced, NEIGRIHMS cannot make proper arrangements for the local candidates. Moreover, such short notice of 3 days announcing the examination centre makes it difficult for candidates to travel to the exam centres outside the state, or for those studying and working elsewhere in the country.
NEIGRIHMS must take this seriously and ensure that sufficient exam centres are set up in the state, otherwise it would be better to hold offline examinations. I am forced to believe that there is something shady about the whole examination process and that there are hidden motives, either for selfish gain or an attitude that is anti-local.
Yours etc.,
Amia Kharthomi,
Shillong
NEIGRIHMS and exam centres
Editor,
Once again, NEIGRIHMS has released the admit cards and centres for examination for various post. But what is discouraging is that the same thing that happened with the Nursing examination is being repeated all over again. Candidates from Meghalaya again are given centres outside the state in spite of the fact that they have applied very early. Is there some reason behind this decision of the Director? Various organization like Staff Selection Commission (SSC) SBI, ICAR, IBPS etc., successfully conducted Computer Based Test (CBT) on many occasions for thousands of candidates on a regular basis. It seems like NEIGRIHMS Director is taking people of the state for granted. I applaud the Institute for having centres outside Meghalaya for the sake of other candidates from the rest of the country but people from the State should not have to go outside since the Institute is located in the state.
Also, there are posts in which there are overlaps i.e. exams being held on the same date and same time (Assistant Accounts Officer and Junior Accounts Officer) which means that a candidate who is qualified for both posts would have to forfeit either one but had already paid for both posts. Other posts like LDC, Accounting Assistant and Record Clerk might also overlap for some candidates. For an Institute which is supposed to be at par with AIIMS this is unacceptable. The Director of the Institute should rectify the problem as soon as possible. I request all stakeholders to take up the matter. This is not the first time and it certainly won’t be the last if not intervened.
Yours etc.,
R. Lyngdoh
Concerned candidate,
Via email
Maintain the sanctity of Parliament
Editor,
It was expected that the recommendation of the Ethics Committee of Parliament vis a vis the Mohua Moitra case would be tabled on the very first day of Parliament but it was tabled on the last day of the first week of Parliament. During the discussion only 4 or 5 members participated and the Speaker gave a ruling for expulsion of Mohua Moitra. It is notable that the present Speaker followed the practice adopted by previous Lok Sabha Speaker Som Nath Chatterjee.
There is an unmistakable perception, not without basis, that Moitra is being cut ht down to size for her unrelenting attack not only on Prime Minister Narendra Modi but on his proximate relationship with billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani. Moitra has repeatedly called this out on the floor of the House. Her party colleagues have been rather silent as are many others. At the meeting of the LS Ethics Committee, which called her for questioning and oral evidence before it probed Dubey, Moitra claimed that the chairperson Vinod Kumar Sonkar, BJP MP, read out “undignified questions” which focused on her personal details and seemed, in her words, “an orchestrated cheerharan designed to humiliate,” her. She and Opposition MPs on the panel walked out.
This is unfortunate and condemnable. The Committee has a solemn duty to not only get to the truth but also appear fair and just. Instead, it appears to have acted like a bunch of overgrown boys who have been given the license to demean and debase a woman, that too an elected representative. This is yet another reminder that rank misogyny and sexism exist in every nook and corner of our society, in our hallowed institutions such as the Parliament, and women are seen as fair game all over. What is as shameful as the panel’s behaviour is the stunning silence from the women of the BJP who are otherwise loud about their gender agenda. Speak up, women.
The personal and the political can intersect in illuminating ways in Indian politics. The charge of cash-for-query is undeniably serious: it is a breach of privilege and is tantamount to contempt of the House. Probity is synonymous with Parliament and parliamentarians and any transgression, if proved beyond doubt, should attract punitive action. But the enquiry must also be fair and transparent. Conflicting political motives must not be permitted to influence the panel’s investigation and subsequent decision. Already, Ms Moitra has alleged that the Privileges and Ethics branch of the Lok Sabha has exhibited double standards: Ms Moitra’s request for an extension in appearance was denied, even though such a privilege was given to a BJP parliamentarian in connection with another case. The panel must be immune to prejudice, respect Ms Moitra’s privacy.
The outcome of the proceedings will be known in time. But the panel’s decision, whether in favour of Ms Moitra or not, should not deflect attention from the questions that the TMC leader has been raising consistently in Parliament against the Adani Group. Those questions need to be answered as well because they pertain to alleged irregularities committed by the business group that not only have economic and ethical ramifications but also raise the spectre of crony capitalism.
But the episode involving Ms Moitra should not become that diversionary tool.To maintain the sanctity of parliament Mahua Moitra has been expelled from the Lok Sabha after fulfilling the proper norms as prescribed under the rule book of Parliament.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email
Opium wars
Editor
Meghalaya going ‘aggressive’ against drugs will be a long war ahead. Past operations against couriers or mules have not stopped the inflow of contraband in the state. A recent example of the Noida seizure shows how the metrics of supply and demand have triumphed over law enforcement.
The vexed South Asian corridor of the Golden Triangle (Thailand, Burma and Laos) and the increasing intensity of Golden Crescent (Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan) are complex geo-political problems involving power players within government, warlords, military and judiciary once headed by the CIA under orders from Washington. Roberto Saviano in his book ‘Zero Zero Zero’ outlines the dangers of capitalism in the world of narco-trafficking and Shillong is definitely slipping like Central America shadowed by rival cartels.
The current MDA government should at a multi-pronged approach such as rehabilitation of addicts, tackling social problems like poverty to lack of opportunities and drug education programs which could curtail the dragon.
Yours etc.,
Christopher Gatphoh,
Shillong-10