Letters to The Editor

Through your esteemed column, I would like to state that the act of spitting in public places in the time of COVID-19 is unhealthy.

There is a culture of chewing betel nuts and tobacco in the State. We see everyday people who are driving without looking at the surrounding spit on the roads. We need to be more serious about maintaining a hygienic environment to keep us safe and the city clean. I request the government to put spittoons across the city and to take steps to get rid of this habit and also request people to have some concern towards their surroundings.

Julie Kakoty,

Guwahati.

New SOPs are welcome

Through your esteemed daily, I would like to express my gratitude to the local people of Guwahati. The new SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) have got the attention of the people. In every area in Guwahati, from shopkeepers to pedestrians are aware of the coronavirus. Though the new SOPs will bring some changes to the life of the people, it is good for the health of the people.

Niharika Krishnatri,

niharikakrishnatri@gmail.com

Come forward for vaccination

The decision of the Central government to allow vaccination to all people above the age of 18 years is a welcome move. The government has been working hard for over a year to ensure that the maximum number of Indians can get the vaccine in the shortest possible time. India's approach to building scientific and epidemiological pillars, guided by Global Best Practices, SoPs of the WHO as well as our India's foremost experts in the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19. The total vaccinations across the country have crossed more than 13 crores. This is the right step towards a decisive battle against COVID-19. Hope that people will come forward for vaccination and cooperate to curb this pandemic.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)

Face masks

After the outbreak of the corona pandemic, face masks have become a part of our daily lives as a protective measure of COVID-19. But nowadays, numerous kinds of face masks such as hand-sewn masks, bandanas, medical masks, etc., are available in the market. It is confusing for the common people to choose the right mask among them. Everybody is eager to know the efficacy of these masks in containing droplet spread from cough, sneeze and conversation.

Recently, a research team of the USA found that when worn properly, certain nylon masks could be up to 79 per cent effective at blocking particles that could carry the virus. In another study published in 'Aerosol Science and Technology', surgical face masks can filter out about 60 per cent of smaller, inhaled particles. The study also shows that diligently wearing a surgical mask in public places can significantly reduce the spread of respiratory infection. But these are one-time-use masks and should be disposed of after wearing them.

Rupak G. Duarah,

Guwahati.

Difficult to control

India is a vast and diverse country, and in certain aspects, it is difficult to control emergencies. At present, the country is facing the second wave of COVID-19. The infection is spreading like wildfire. The worst affected are big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc. It is extremely sorry to know that a huge section of people still finds politics in corona cases. In this digital era, fake and malicious posts are circulated on social media which confuses the general public. Rarely do these sections of people verify the authenticity of the posts. To serve their purpose, Politicians air some irresponsible statements which blind followers believe and they follow. In Assam which is overburdened with many Sangathans like the AASU, AJYCP, Bir Lachit Sena, etc have remained silent when the second wave is threatening to cripple the State. These organizations should publicly appeal to the general public to follow COVID protocols and also appeal to the public to voluntarily turn up for anti-COVID vaccination.

The country is facing a huge war and at this crisis period, every Indian has to unite and fight the pandemic. We can't sit idle and depend on the government solely. If we can survive the present situation we shall get plenty of opportunities to do politics later on.

Pratap Dutta,

Tezpur.

Weekend lockdown

COVID-19 cases have been on an upward spiral. Weekend lockdown is the minimum that can be followed to break the chain of transmission and to bring the situation under control. If necessary, traders should themselves come forward for closing shops and take a detailed view on all aspects related to possible lockdown.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Oh! West Bengal

There was a famous saying that goes like 'What Bengal thinks today India thinks tomorrow'. The then Calcutta was the administrative capital of India and was the hub of culture, sports and education of the country. The State has produced luminaries like Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Dr Bidhan Roy, Dr Jagadish Chandra Bose, Chuni Goswami, PK Banerjee, Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen and others who excelled in their respective fields and bought laurels to the nation. At present, West Bengal is known for anarchy, violence which has become the order of the day. Today West Bengal remains the pale shadow of its former past. Conducting elections in the State of West Bengal at the present juncture is a Herculean task. May the good days revive in West Bengal.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Lockdown and our PM

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (20/4/2021) evening, in his address to the nation, appealed to the State governments to use lockdown as the last resort, so that economic activities can continue. This is in sharp contrast to his action to impose a sudden and strict nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, with a notice of just four hours. That brought immense hardship to the people of the country. Tuesday's appeal by the Prime Minister is a tacit admission of the grave mistake and hara-kiri created on the nation, over a year back. Recently, mass election rallies were allowed to go on, and many of these were addressed by the PM himself. Moreover, a super-spreader, but an avoidable, event like the Kumbh Mela was allowed to take place. The Union government continues to make mistakes after mistakes to ensure that pandemic spreads rapidly, and bring hardships to the people of the country. The country and its people deserve much better.

D Bhutia,

Guwahati.

Efficient officer

Due to the efforts of the Inspector of Schools (IS) of Golaghat district, the students of private schools are taking admission into government schools. Innovative ideas implemented by the IS are the introduction of mobile apps for monitoring the attendance of teachers, career counselling of the students, digital classrooms etc. This move of the IS has attracted private school students to government schools. The move has benefited children of lower-income groups. Such steps should be taken by the Inspectors of Schools of other districts.

Putul Sarma,

Biswanath Chariali.

Rash driving in the city

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to raise concern towards the total indiscipline shown by a few on the roads. Their rash driving causes a threat to not only their own lives but also that of others on road. As mentioned above, there is increasing rash driving on the roads by a few which causes problems for others. Their disregard for the safety of themselves and others on roads is appalling. Some of their actions raise concern towards the road transport authorities as to how these people get their licences. They seem to have very little knowledge about road rules. This is a major reason for accidents on roads and loss of lives. Some of them are also drunk while driving and put everyone's lives at risk. Thus concluding, I would like to draw the attention of the authorities to the problem and would like to suggest stricter vigilance on roads with heavy penalties imposed on rule breakers. These steps should help mitigate the danger to the lives of the common people on the streets.

Soumyadeep Das,

Guwahati.

Ban adulterated honey

It refers to the Supreme Court on 19.04.2021 seeking comments of Central and State governments on reports of adulterated honey being marketed in India. Even in popular brands of renowned companies where some special types of sugar imported from China mixed with honey bypass tests as required by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) as per research done by the Centre for Science and Environment. The research says that only three out of 70 samples of honey being marketed in India could pass the internationally accepted NMR spectroscopy test. If the report is correct, then it is playing with the lives of Indian people, because diabetic people consume honey marketed under popular brand names of renowned Indian companies. After all, honey is otherwise considered safe for diabetic people. Instead of further wasting time litigation-proceedings, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) should adopt internationally accepted NMR spectroscopy test for giving sale-permission for honey in India. Moreover, all honey packs under different brand names must have on their labels a copy of the affidavit by some company executive wherein 100 per cent purity of the product may be guaranteed.

Madhu Agrawal,

Delhi.