Letters to The Editor

The positive news for people of Assamese is that on the first day of the New Year, the Guwahati Book Fair at the Assam Engineering Institute, Chandmari, did a brisk business.

In the midst of the corona pandemic, the 33 most prestigious book fairs organized by Assam Publication Board have reflected the fact that the number of book lovers has not decreased since last year. In fact, there is no reason why people should not be attracted to books. It can be said that there is no alternative to books. Human interest in printed matter has been around for a long time and will continue as long as the human race survives. So printed matter is innate. The interest of studying books is incomparable. Books are the best way to entertain the mind, the true friend of man who inspires to live, helps to show the right and pure path. A great book can change the course of a person's life. Printing books can have an effect on the mind, but not through other electronic means. Books have not been able to catch up with the internet in terms of acquiring knowledge. There is a downside to relying on e-books, which can be read on laptops or other devices, and access to information on the internet. These have an adverse effect on the eye and the electro-magnetic waves caused by radiation have been shown to cause brain damage. So books are essential for us. Only book that has been able to bring together people who want to overcome loneliness, to give people access to the depths of knowledge and to achieve aesthetic satisfaction and to help the society to develop intellectually and mentally. The Assam Publication Board is especially to be lauded for successfully conducting such book fairs every year.

Heramba Nath,

Hindumaijal, Kamrup

Assam Gramin Vikash Bank

It is observed that services of some banks at Biswanath Chariali are not satisfactory to some customers, particularly at least for me.

I went to Assam Gramin Vikash Bank several times for a simple work. But the bank employees/manager has not paid any heed seriously. I am a senior citizen and I cannot take the staircase of the bank without the help of my driver. But the employees concerned are not determined to solve my problem.

Further, the ATM booth of the bank is also not functional most of the time.

I would like to request the authorities to look into the matter, particularly for senior citizens and ailing persons.

Putul Sarma

Biswanath Chariali.

Vaccination run: Resolve issues

Now that a vaccine is almost here, administering it is no less challenging than containing the virus. The Centre plans to cover 30 crore people in the first phase as and when the COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out. Besides real time checks on cold storage and transportation, arrangements, also under scrutiny is the effectiveness of CoWIN, the flagship online platform for monitoring vaccine delivery, testing receipt and allocation, plus the deployment of teams. The protocol involves sending an SMS to identified beneficiaries with the name of the vaccinator and the time of the vaccination. Each candidate has to sit for 30 minutes after being administered the shot to check for any adverse reaction, to take note of which panels have been formed. It also includes concurrent monitoring and collation of feedback. States are likely to come up with their own vaccination targets that can be met. Who gets vaccinated first has been made clear in the priority list, the cost to be borne by States, reeling under financial strain? Given the limited capability of the public health system and the sheer numbers involved, how and in what capacity the private sector is involved could be crucial. There could, in the near future, emerge a scenario where open sale is allowed of expensive vaccine that have not been picked up for the national programme. More than keeping a check on the rate being charged, the real test would be keeping tabs and monitoring the beneficiaries.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Bad days aheadfor Congress

The Congress is a national party which ruled the country from independence of our country till 2014 for almost 55 years. It is fast losing its political ground in the country. The party is in power only in six States in the country. Out of the six States in Maharashtra and Puducherry the party is in power with alliance with other parties. Now it is more or less a regional party than a national party.

The four States -- Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry -- where election is due in the early part of 2021, the Congress is in power only in one state that is Puducherry with alliance with the DMK.

In Tamil Nadu and West Bengal there is no hope for the party to win the election. The only hope for the party was Assam where it could have better the position than the last election.

However, with the demise of Tarun Gogoi the party has lost its leader who had a say on all the Congress MPs, MLAs and other leaders of the State and was widely respected even by the party high command in Delhi. Ajanta Neog's leaving the party and joining the BJP is another blow to the party. She had been winning from the Golaghat constituency for the last 15 years and also holding ministerial berth in late Tarun Gogoi's Ministry. Further there were no corruption charges against her during her tenure of Ministry. Her departure from the party will hamper the Congress in winning the other seats in the Golaghat districts, which is generally considered to be strong hold for the Congress party. Further the party's decision to fight the coming election jointly with the AIUDF will have a negative impact in upper Assam and may lose few seats that they are holding now.

Bikash Barpujari,

Guwahati..

Rural-urban linkage

Agriculture is no doubt, a vital part of the economy of any country. Urban development is generally unthinkable in the absence of rural development, particularly for areas where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. It's almost known that urbanites rely on the rural farmers to meet their demands for food, water, wood, raw materials, etc. So, it is the bounden duty of the urbanites to be aware of the farmers' problems and do their bit to help address the same. Thus, a strong rural-urban linkage can also be established which is very crucial for urban development. Rural-urban linkage, that has a higher potential for reducing some of the urban area problems like urban poverty, limited space, higher food prices, limited water supply services, etc., is imperative because of the ongoing rapid rate of urbanization. Most importantly, national development can be achieved based on rural-urban linkages.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat,