The APHLC-HSPDP joint parliamentary board held a public meeting here on April 10 at the Khasi National Dorbar Hall to explain the significance of the verdict of the people at the last District Council election.

The Chief Executive Member, Mr Hopingstone Lyngdoh explained the politics and programmes of the new Executive Committee.

The newly-elected MDCs and the new Executive Committee were also introduced to the people on the occasion.

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Meanwhile, the District Council has recommended to the State Govt that Mr S.D.D. Nichols-Roy be nominated as a member of the council. The Govt has not taken any decision on the proposal since neither the Chief Minister nor the Governor was in station Air Maniax. The normal practice is that the govt accepts the recommendations of the District Council in this regard.

KJP Hospital affairs

A piquant situation has been created in the Khasi Hills Presbyterian Synod Hospital) formerly Robert’s hospital) following the en bloc resignation by its doctors.

The doctors submitted their resignation to the Presbyterian Synod – the managing body – following its failure to resolve some of their grievances.

According to a senior doctor in the hospital, the immediate provocation for resignation came in the wake of show cause notice served on the doctors by the Synod. The doctors took strong exception to the notice and – have sought to be relieved of their duties by May 3. The notice had sought explanation as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.

A one-time key hospital of the undivided Assam, there have been rumblings inside the recent months. Sometime back the Grade IV staff had resorted to sit-in agitation demanding pay-scale equivalent to government servants. The Superintendent of the Hospital Dr. E. Syngkon had ironed out a negotiated settlement. It is stated that some members of the Synod did not appreciate Dr Syngkon’s role. Allegedly a section of the Synod members tried to set the Grade IV staff against the doctors airmaniax.com. There are reports of insubordination by the grade IV employees in their day to day works with the doctors.

The doctors, it is learnt, are contemplating to move the court of law for seeking justice.

Meanwhile, the developments in the hospital have evoked sharp reaction from the public. The youth section of the Synod has taken the cudgel to fight it out with the seniors for protecting the rights and privileges of the doctors. Donations from public have been pouring in to enable the doctors to support their agitation.

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It is learnt the Synod meeting will be held soon to take stock of the situation and to decide its future course of action.

Barak Valley, the name more in common use lately to describe the two Assam districts of Cachar and Karimganj, has a long history of deprivations. A compact territory inhabitated by now, it is in many ways detached from the mainland of Assam proper, which is the Brahmaputra Valley. And, yet, it has to remain tagged to the latter due to circumstances of history, in the making of which it had no independent or willing role. Its cultural and political isolation from the other valley, in particular, was never more exampled than by the very revealing phenomenon that while the entire Brahmaputra valley was ablaze for the past few years over the AASU-AAGSP agitation, the Barak Valley kept itself totally aloof from the popular upsurge.

For all these troubled years, there was no vestige of administration in the Brahmaputra valley, not so was it in the Barak Valley Students in Barak valley refused to fall in line with their counterparts in the other valley, attended their classes as usual, and yet were made to suffer because examinations on time could not be held in Barak valley also. This was a pointer to having an exclusive arrangement for the quiet Barak Valley in regard to University and under-graduate levels in particular, and hence cropped up the idea of having a Central University for it to get over this obvious contradiction and absurdity.

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Not that the demand for a separate University for Barak Valley had not been raised even earlier, well before these political and administrative considerations irresistibly coming up in the wake of the recent agitations in the other valley. What marked out the new thinking in this respect now was that such a University should preferably be Centrally sponsored, was considered more feasible under the present circumstances, with New Delhi appearing willing to concede it as a stark necessity. At one time, the Prime Minister’s support to this move was even openly quoted by the valley leaders themselves. They have not been as outspoken now why some at least among them whose opinion count seem to have reconciled themselves to have a State University, if Barak valley has to have one at all, and not a Central University www.airmaniax.com.

Does this indicate a concession on their part to the other valley which is reported to be aspiring to have a Central University for the Brahmaputra valley in addition to the three existing State University? It is apprehended that if a Central University now, the chances of having such a one later for the Brahmaputra valley would recede farther. There are, however, more valid reasons for the Barak valley getting priority for a Central University over the other valley. Apart from other considerations, a Central University in Barak valley might eventually draw in Tripura also to its fold in due course. Neighbouring Tripura perhaps cannot for too long hold on to distant Calcutta ; nor can it switch over to a new one in the Barak valley if it is not a Central University but one controlled by a different State government.

By all measures, the greatest thing that has happened to the Shillongites during 1984 is the opening of a regular air service between Shillong and Calcutta. Not merely because it has dispensed with the tiresome journey to Gauhati, neither it is because it has brought Calcutta so much closer, but for the solid reason that Shillongites are enjoying the benefit of reading the national dailies (published from Calcutta) on the same day. Newspapers are these days delivered around lunchtime(exploresurvey.com/bkmegt), sometimes even beating the Gauhati dailies. Compare those bleak days, especially after the introduction of Airbus service between Calcutta and Gauhati, when newspaper reading became so very uninteresting with bunches of stale issues being dropped at an interval of two or three days. Surely, it is premature to say whether or not the air service has come to stay. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

At the Khasi Hills District Council election of March 15, in the Laban-Mawprem constituency, an old-time Congressman, who was actively supporting an Independent candidate in preference to his partyman, came out of the polling both in anger and disgust with himself. He had stamped on the “Hand” sheerly as a matter of old habit exploresurvey.com/bk-feedback-uk!

A local asked his friend at a private gathering, “can you say which is the busiest road on earth?” There were varied answers – but all wrong, of course. When everybody seemed to give up trying any more, he smartly furnished the answer – “kachhari Road in front of the main secretariat building” aesthetics.ae. Said the wise crack, “look at Mahatma Gandhi who has been waiting so long in front of the secretariat building to amble across the road for depositing his electricity bill at the SESU office!”

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The Regional Center Govt employees and workers in the North-East have decided to launch a region-wide agitation to press the Cente for extension of Special (Duty) Allowance to all categories of central staff based in the region.

The Regional Coordination Committee (RCC) of the Central staff has decided to hold a regional conventional Gauhati on April 20 to mobilize the employees.

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It is recalled that the Centre has awarded Special (Duty) Allowance at 25% of pay to those category with all-India transfer liability who come to serve the North-East. The RCC has been demanding that the allowance should be extended to all or none. The Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee in a recent letter to an MP from this region, had stated that the allowance had been introduced to provide incentive to the central government employees from other parts of the country to serve the difficult region exploresurvey.com/biscuitvillecatering.

The RCC has rejected this explanation as “thoroughly discriminatory” since the fundamental consideration of granting such an allowance is the relatively higher cost of living, and difficult working conditions.

A woman, suspected to be a child-lifter, was lynched to death by an angry crowd at Garo- badha in East Garo Hills district on April 3.

The woman who had come for marketing on the market day was encircled by the crowd, and unleashed a mass assault. The police rescued the woman and despatched her to Tura civil hospital where she succumbed to the injuries.

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The Deputy Commissioer of East Garo Hills, Mr G.N. Bhattacharjee told this reporter on phone that one person had been arrested on the spot and a case was registered against him.

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A strong rumour of child-lifting has been sweeping through the Garo Hills for the past few days. Apparently, rumour has been spread that a group of child-lifter was operating in the Garo Hills to smuggle children for sacrificing them for the smooth construction of the second bridge over Brahmaputra at Pancharatna now under progress. The gullible sections have been impressed that offer of human blood is necessary for propitiating the god before bridges are constructed.

The M. P.-elect from Meghalaya, Mr Jerlie Tariang is expected to take oath on April 23 when the Rajya Sabha begins a fortnight-long session.

Mr Tariang, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha last week by 38 to 19 votes (two votes were rejected and one absent), is a veteran political leader of Meghalaya. He is presently the working President of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress (I) Committee.

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Although the APHLC- HSPDP backed candidate, Mr B.B. Lyngdoh was defeated, there has not been much regrets about the result. The general feeling of the people is that a capable person has been entrusted with the responsibilty to represent the State at the national forum. Mr Tariang who is known to be a dynamic person having wide contacts in the corridors of power in Delhi. has promised to try and bridge the gap between Delhi and Shillong.

An interesting aspect of the election result is the cross-voting by two Opposition members of the Assembly. This has given rise to speculation in the political circles about the motive of the two MLAs. Are they prospective deserters? Or did they merely cast conscious vote? Reports have it that at least one member from Jaintia Hills cross voted to serve as a notice to all concerned about his dissatisfaction with the leadership of the Opposition. Another Member is said to be a close-associate of Mr Tariang.

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Moreover, the rejected ballot papers reveal that there were marks against both the name. It is too much to believe that the elected representatives are ignorant of the system of voting, it is likely that the two voters adopted this means to give vent to their dissatisfaction.

Some very revealing statistics about enrolment in the primary and Middle English (M.E) Schools in Meghalaya were quoted by the State Education Minister, Dr. R.C. Laloo at a recent public meeting at Jowai. Against about 200,00 students in the rolls of school registers at the primary classes, the follow-up number admitted to M.E. Schools is about 45,000. This means that for every 100 students, only about 23 pursue their studies upto the next stage, that is the Middle School level. The drop out figure thus works out to be about 77 per cent, which in all conscience and by every standard must be considered as a very high measure of wastage of prospective talent and resources.

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It may be argued that enrolment in these hills at the level of primary education has been very high, compared to corresponding figures for the rest of the country, rather than that the enrolment at the next stage of middle-school level is too low, compared to the national average. This only makes the high drop-out figures all the more unfortunate, since adequate attention on this aspect of our educational management would have put these hills in more lurid light at the M.E. stage as well. Thanks to pioneering initiative taken by the early Christian missionaries in these hills, primary education got a tremendous boost, supplemented suitably by the government and now in recent years by the District Councils. Primary education thus spread enormously, whatever be its quality.

In fact, the quality of education imported at the primary stage may partially, not wholly in any case, explain the huge dropout at the next stage. A confirmation of such a supposition would certainly need closer scrutiny, but that the expanse at the primary stage need to be accompanied by a matching measure of depth need not be seriously challenged. A more obvious reason for the high drop-out may be that there are not adequate number of M.E. Schools to cater to the products of all or most of the primary schools spread all over the hills. Lack of adequate road communication linking a distant interior village or a number of them nestling a cluster of primary schools may render it impossible for most of the outgoing students to take advantage of the nearest M.E. school quite a distance away.

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Not that these aspects may not have been looked into by the authorities, but it may not be quite off the mark to assume that steps flowing from such thinking have not proved compensating or corrective enough. In recent years there has been a lot of interest, even of controversy, generated over the state of affairs in the field of primary education in these hills. Attention of progress of education at subsequent stages, more particularly the immediate next stage, which is the M.E. stage, has not unfortunately been riveted to the extent called for. The State government, not being embarrassed by the District Council’s jurisdiction at the later stages of educational management, should be willing and able to give a better account of themselves. To start with, the streamlining of education at the Middle English School level may help considerably in stopping the rot revealed by the figures quoted by the Education Minister.