Editor,
The Meghalaya Government recently in its first cabinet sitting of the year that was held in Sohra as part of its avant garde meeting has announced various laudable decisions pertaining to workers welfare, farmer-centric initiatives amongst others. But the most noteworthy decision of all is the issue pertaining to ad- hoc employees and their regularisation that has been a long vexed topic and the 850 employees that were inadvertently left out along with the 3000 ad-hoc employees that were regularised in the 2022 finally got their dues. This was done as a one-time measure as mandated by the directives of the apex court of the country in one of its verdicts relating to this issue and the cut off year being 2007.
Now this issue is crystal clear to the general public and the State administration in particular that no ad-hoc employees or temporary employees should be appointed henceforth in sanctioned posts and such vacant sanctioned posts should be immediately intimated to mandated recruitment authorities viz MPSC, DSC for advertisement and recruitment of candidates through competitive exams. Those employees that were appointed post 2007 should be shown the door and their posts should be advertised promptly. This will promote the spirit of fairness and transparency in public institutions that has been overshadow by nepotism and mediocrity which is unconstitutional and invalid. I hope the Government is sincere on this matter and let no ad-hoc nor temporary employees further be employed in the future. The NGOs and the public at large must be sentinels in this regard for the brighter future of our youths.
Yours etc.,
Krensimon lawriniang
Via email
Gruesome murder of a journalist
Editor,
There have been extensive discussions on the Constitution and freedom of speech in parliament. Members of the Opposition in Parliament reminded of the emergency and how newspapers refrained from writing the editorials then. Today attacks on journalists continue. The gruesome and cold-blooded murder of freelance journalist, Mukesh Chandrakar, in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh is another stark reminder that journalism has become a dangerous profession in India, especially when journalists take on the corrupt mafia. In such circumstances journalists should be provided full security. Silencing journalists or threatening them violates the constitutional right to the freedom of speech and expression and the democratic principle of press freedom.
The Supreme Court has also come in support of journalists in Manipur where they are engaged in reporting the true picture in the state. Assaults on the fourth pillar of democracy is an indication that the country might be losing its democratic character which is not acceptable. India is the largest democracy in the world with the US being the oldest. Freedom of speech is guaranteed in the US and it will take several decades before India comes up to the level of the US. India is doing badly on the press freedom index, rising two places from 161 in 2023 to 159 in 2024 among 180 countries and it is well known that freedom press index is low due to the events in Jammu and Kashmir where journalists are under tremendous pressure not to be critical of the government. The same is the case with Manipur. and due this reason India’s ranking in press freedom index is worse than Pakistan and Palestine.
Journalists are targeted both by State and non-State political actors and anti-social elements as well as criminals. Almost every murder or harassment is related to one or more reports of the journalists in question, particularly if they are investigating government accounts or exposes. In 2023, for example, five journalists were killed and 226 subjected to various pressures. Of these 148 were targeted by the State. They were arrested or detained; some were summoned for questioning; some had first information reports (FIRs) registered against them, while others were asked to reveal their sources, or had their passports taken away or houses raided. A number of them were physically attacked or threatened by the police or public officials.
Clearly, the Constitutional right to freedom of speech is no longer a shield for journalists. They deserve a Bill of Rights. This will be more effective as a shield, especially if events lead to the courts’ support for it, and it could be a useful counter to the recent laws that may be used to constrain the media to project reports and messages favoured by the government. In an environment hostile to journalists in general, those representing small-budget media organisations and those who do freelance work, such as Chandrakar did, are the most vulnerable. A Bill of Rights would be most helpful for them since they have little or no protection.
The repeated attacks on and murders of journalists inevitably have a chilling effect on everyone in the profession, which is no doubt the intended effect. Journalism is a profession of courage; in the present scene, of extraordinary courage. It may be ironic, but it is up to the government to see that journalists are protected and press freedom is restored in India.
It is the responsibility of stakeholders to ensure that the press freedom index is improved as the country is the largest democracy in the world.
Yours etc.,
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Via email
Economic inequality on the rise in India
Editor,
Indian economist and political commentator, Prabhakar Parakala has said, “In today’s India, it becomes easy for someone who tolerates the majoritarian polity to be tolerant of economic inequality.” It happens because the ground for this has been prepared by casteism.
Casteism is based on inequality. It blurs the vision of seeing anything wrong in the celebration of becoming the third highest country in the number of billionaires in India, amid rising unemployment, inflation, inequality, and poor performance in human development and hunger alleviation.
While the culture of casteism has always given moral strength to inequality, the child of casteism, untouchability, takes the game of “othering”, which is the root of majoritarianism, taking it to new heights. As per the India Human Development Survey (IHDS-2) in 2011-12, 27 per cent of the respondents across India said that they had been following the practice of untouchability.
Untouchability is like a silent form of terrorism and the worst form of “othering”. It makes fun of India’s eternal message of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family).
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Via email