Price rise of essential commodities
The quick expansion in costs is causing stress among individuals of India. Cost rise is an overall peculiarity and India is no exception. Costs of everything are soaring, even the most essential items like gas, sugar, edible oils, tea, food grains, petroleum, etc., are too high. What causes price rise and what impact does it have on the common man? Theoretically, prices rise when demand increases and supply decreases. But here, what is the reason behind price rise? Economists have to find out some reasons. There are certain sure factors: for example, less or slow creation, regular disasters, counterfeit shortages and so on, which are responsible for lack of supply.
Cost rise influences various individuals in an unexpected way. It might not have a lot of effect on well-paid people. Nonetheless, extreme difficulty is faced by those with limited income It ought to be the joint exertion of the public authority and the general population to control it. There ought to be all the more fair price shops, Kendriya Bhandar, Safal outlets and so forth where the average person can search for quality merchandise at a reasonable cost.
All in all, it is apparent that cost rise is a multi-headed beast, which should be crushed on time with appropriate measures to help all sections of the population.
Chandini Bharadwaj,
Guwahati.
Public toilets
in Guwahati
I would like to draw attention to the poorly maintained toilets in Guwahati. There isn't any single public toilet in Guwahati that doesn't stink. While the city has developed so much in other aspects, the condition of public toilets is getting worse and worse. When our city has been selected to be developed as a Smart City, Guwahati's cleanliness ranking has dropped drastically. Moreover, there has been shortage of public toilets in the city. Though the Guwahati Municipal Corporation has taken up many schemes regarding public toilets in Guwahati, no result has been seen. I, therefore, request the authorities concerned to look into the matter.
Parikshit Das
Guwahati
Roadmap to revive paper mills
It is laudable that the State government ultimately owned the land, plant and machineries of the two defunct paper mills of Assam. Obviously, this is the beginning of a long journey ahead. Now, we want to know the road map of the State government to push Jagiroad and Panchgram agog with activities to make the paper mills functional without much loss of time. It is not a big deal to revive the mills. There is no dearth of raw material (bamboo) locally. However, everything is achievable with a firm intent on the part of the government. For sure, the Jagiroad paper plant was producing best quality paper in the country and was running on profit till the final call came from the Centre, around 7 years back, to bring the plant to a screeching halt. Every passing day is vital to salvage the plant and machinery. In last 7 years, corrosion might have taken a heavy toll on the plant and machinery. Apart from plant and machinery, the residential buildings are also decaying with time due to no maintenance of any sort. Making of another Ashok Mills is not ruled out if immediate actions are not taken to revive the plants.
All said and done, it is not an easy task to make machinerys rolling, which had remained shut down for a long time. It needs expert manpower and expertise in the field to handle mega projects like paper mills of 300 MT/day capacities. Therefore, I would suggest the Government of Assam to take up the issue with Engineers India Ltd (EIL), New Delhi and M/S. DCPL, Kolkota, which were engaged by the Government of India in the early 1980s as consultants to implement the above projects on behalf of HPCL. EIL played a crucial role in completing and commissioning the projects in the late 1980s and that too in the most troubled time during the Assam Agitation. In fact, total project management was with EIL.
Prafulla Dowarah
Guwahati
Bihu: The soul of Assam
Bihu is the heart and soul of the Assamese people. Bihu is a set of three important Assamese festivals. There is Rongali Bihu or 'Bohag Bihu observed in April, Kongali or Kati Bihu observed in October, and Bhogali or Magh Bihu observed in January.
Rongali Bihu is the most important of the three. People are excited to celebrate Rongali Bihu this year as in the last two years the celebration was low key due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bohag Bihu (also called Rongali Bihu) is the most popular Bihu celebrated to welcome the spring season. This marks the first day of the Hindu solar calendar and is also observed in Bengal, Manipur, Nepal,Odisha, Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu with different names. It is a time of merriment and feasting and continues, in general, for seven days.The farmers prepare the fields for cultivation of paddy and there is a feeling of joy around . The women make pitha and larus and various drinks by local tribes such as Chije by Deoris , Nam-lao by Tai-Ahom, Apong by the Mising tribe.
The first day of Bihu is called Goru Bihu or Cow Bihu, where the cows are washed and worshipped. It usually falls on April 14. This is followed by Manuh Bihu on April 15, the new year day. This is the day to get cleaned up, wear new clothes and celebrate the new year with vigor. The third day is Gosai Bihu. People worship the gods for a smooth new year. The folk songs associated with the Bohag Bihu are called Bihu geets or Bihu songs.
Disha Moni Das
Cotton University
Tough days ahead
So, after a lot of war of words, mudslinging and pre-poll arithmetic, the Rajya Sabha poll in Assam is over. After a brief bonhomie following their split after the last assembly election, the so-called secular parties of the State, namely INC and AIUDF have once again started spitting venom against each other.
If the present trend of mudslinging continues up to the next parliamentary election to be held on 2024, there might be some big problems for the two Congress MPs - Gaurav Gogoi, Kaliabar MP, and Pradyut Bordoloi, Nagaon MP, because the vote base of the two parties is same. They must be having some sleepless nights already.
Lanu Dutt Chowdhury
Guwahati
Pets: Man's best friend
First of all, kudos to all those who have this kind of bond or were there in such bonds. We all know love has no boundaries and also it is unconditional. Pets prove this. We humans are still learning this lesson from our pets. It doesn't matter whether you have a dog, a cat or a bird, the love from them is always unconditional. So being a pet parent of three, one cat and two dogs, I know how special this relationship is. This relationship had a stronger pact with the COVID-19 pandemic. People got more attached to their pets during this whole period while doing everything from home.
There are also people who see pets as a burden. But to remind them, you can be scared of other's pet but don't see them as burden because they not only are creatures without voice but are also a reason for someone to survive. They are also a therapy session for someone. Being scared of them is okay as many people have different types of phobia.
Though this pandemic brought the animals living in a house closer to their pet parents, it was also a sad period for those who were out on the streets. Many people helped such animals by giving them food. But there are also people who beat these creatures to death for just sleeping in their residential campus.
We also saw people during this recent Ukraine-Russia conflict who didn't think about their survival but signed petitions to allow the Indian government to bring their pets along with them.
Being a pet parent is really something one must experience in their life once. So if you are getting ready to adopt a pet, don't look for its breed and adopt an indie as they are in need of a home and they can love you as much as a dog of a particular breed will.
Ipsita Roy
Cotton University