Editor,
Through your newspaper, I wish to bring to the attention of the management of STEMS, as well as the concerned authorities and the public, the noticeable deterioration in the quality of services provided by this once dependable platform.
I have been a regular user of STEMS since its inception. In its early phase, the service provided exceptional convenience to parents. It enabled seamless registration, secure in-app payments, live tracking of school buses, and personalized updates regarding our wards—such as boarding the bus from home, reaching school, departing from school, and safely deboarding at home. These features ensured transparency and provided much-needed peace of mind to parents.
However, over time, the quality of service has declined significantly. Despite registering for the service in January this year, there was no communication until late April regarding whether my ward would be able to avail of the facility. The application, which was once the backbone of the service, now appears ineffective and is not in use. Parents are unable to log in, make payments, or track their children. Instead, this has been replaced with WhatsApp live location sharing, which raises serious concerns about privacy and safety. The shift from a secure, individualized tracking system to a widely shared location method compromises the confidentiality of children’s movements and exposes them to unnecessary risks.
Furthermore, the previously designated pickup point at Red Cross Point has been discontinued without adequate prior notice or explanation. The discontinuation of bus routes through Red Cross, despite the presence of a large number of users in that area, raises serious concerns about route planning and operational efficiency unlike the initial stage. Stopping a service that caters to a significant number of clients appears to indicate inadequate planning and poor allocation of buses. Such decisions inconvenience parents and students and create unnecessary disruption to established routines.
Another concern that has added to the growing confusion among parents is the constant and frequent change of buses and caretakers assigned to the children. The lack of consistency in bus allocation and caretaker personnel creates uncertainty for parents and students alike, making it difficult to establish familiarity, trust, and a sense of security. Stability in transportation staff and vehicles is essential, particularly when young students are involved. The tidiness of the buses also seem to have deteriorated with time. Caretakers are not well-groomed with basic etiquette and a caring attitude towards students.
The payment system has also undergone changes. Payments that were once securely processed through the official application are now being requested via direct transfers to an individual account. This raises serious questions regarding transparency, accountability, and financial security. Parents deserve assurance that payments are made through official and verifiable channels.
Equally troubling is the decline in customer service standards. When concerns were raised regarding communication gaps and service quality, the response received was dismissive, suggesting that dissatisfied users should discontinue using the service. Parents were also advised to visit the office personally for issue resolution. In today’s fast-paced environment, it is unreasonable to expect working parents to make repeated physical visits for routine concerns, especially when customer care services are advertised as available.
Additionally, reports from customer care representatives indicating that caretakers have “more important work” than updating parents about their children’s whereabouts reflect an unacceptable attitude, particularly when child safety is involved.
I would also like to highlight a very serious safety concern. My daughter has reported that at times the school bus smells of smoke and occasionally even alcohol from the driver. Such observations raise grave concerns about the safety and well-being of children using this service. Despite bringing this matter to the attention of the concerned authorities, no visible corrective action appears to have been taken.
It appears that STEMS may have expanded its operations beyond its current capacity to maintain consistent service standards. The stark contrast between the high-quality services offered during its initial phase and the present situation is deeply disappointing. What once began as a promising and modern solution now appears to be losing the reliability and trust it once commanded.
I sincerely urge the management of STEMS to address these concerns with urgency, restore transparency, improve customer service standards, ensure proper route planning, maintain consistency in bus and caretaker assignments, and most importantly, safeguard the safety, security, and privacy of students relying on this service.
Yours etc.,
Name Withheld on Request
Via email
A Cautious but Welcome Dawn for Meghalaya Cricket
Editor,
The inauguration of the Indoor Cricket Academy at Kurkalang, presided over by the Prime Minister, is a welcome infrastructure milestone for Meghalaya Cricket Association under the aegis of its new President, James Sangma.
Given that Meghalaya cricket has seen rampant decline over the years, such a step signals the dawn of hopeful development. The next step therefore should be to now focus on strengthening player identification, training and fair selection procedures.
The state has produced men and women of genuine athletic potential, yet the structures to nurture that talent have either been absent or deliberately undermined over the years. The result has been an association that, by most objective measures, has gone from bad to worse, most seemingly a result of internal politics and power play which became larger than the game itself.
It is against this backdrop that the early actions of Sangma deserve measured but genuine commendation.
Recent media reports suggest that under the previous administration, the Indoor Cricket Academy in Meghalaya sat unfinished for months, which is frankly disappointing though not surprising, given that many other Northeastern state cricket associations had already completed their facilities months ago. Securing electrical power to a facility in record twelve days, which should have ideally been given unsaid priority, is precisely the kind of decisive administrative follow-through that has been conspicuously absent.
A welcome step that has also come out in media reports is the engagement of the Cricket Advisory Sub-Committee, composed of senior former players of the state, to plan activities at the new facility. This signals, however tentatively, a return to the principle that Meghalaya cricket should be guided by those who have actually played and bled for it. These are not earth-shattering achievements in isolation. But they are real, they are verifiable, and they are a departure from the inertia that preceded them.
Another concern is that for years, there have been persistent concerns that players from outside the state have found their way into the Meghalaya squad through processes that were, at best, opaque and skewed. If the new administration is serious about change, it must address this directly, identifying those who have unfairly displaced homegrown talent and ensuring selection is anchored firmly to merit developed within the state.
The MCA need look no further than Shillong Lajong FC for a blueprint. Lajong did not simply succeed by importing ready-made players. It built patiently from the grassroots up and the results have spoken for themselves.
The MCA, with BCCI support, the new Kurkalang facility, and a Cricket Advisory Sub-Committee of senior former players, now has the platform to do exactly the same.
While it seems like Sangma has made a promising start, if he builds Meghalaya cricket the way Lajong built its football, Kurkalang may one day be remembered not as a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but as the moment things genuinely turned.
Meghalaya deserves nothing less.
Yours etc.,
Patrick Kurbah,
Via email
