Milkha Singh will be missed: Letters to the Editor

Milkha Singh passed away and it's extremely sad news for us. Milkha Singh who won four Asia Games gold medals in his career was the first Indian track and field athlete to clinch the gold in the Commonwealth Games. Undoubtedly, with his passing away, our country has lost one of its greatest sportspersons. He would remain in the hearts of all Indian sports lovers.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Don't get frustrated

All will agree in this matter that owing to the COVID pandemic situation and due to the imprudence of the SEBA and the AHSEC, the students of Assam have to lose their spring as they will not be able to testify their talent by appearing on the Boards final examinations. Now the government has formed two expert committees to set up the modalities how to promote the class X and XII students to upper classes. For the class X final result a student's merit will be calculated by seeing his/her performance in the class IX annual examination result along with the class X unit tests and pre-board examination results. On the other hand, for the class XII final examination result, a student's merit will be judged by scrutinizing his/her marks of the HSLC and class XII unit tests and pre-board examination marks. This kind of system will help the comparatively weak students but certainly disappoint the brilliant ones. So, the serious students are still demanding to hold the examination by obeying the strong COVID protocol. They are frustrated for not being able to examine themselves whether they are fit for this competitive world or not. But they should not be frustrated as they have to adapt themselves to the pandemic situation and they will surely get enough opportunity to expose their talent in the coming days. Now they must keep their minds in ecstasy and focus only on their studies and career. The parents and relatives should make them understand the reality of the circumstances and encourage them to study harder and harder by saying that the light of talent can't be covered by a situational dark cloud. Otherwise, there will be a void of intellectualism in our society in near future.

Harsha Mohan sarma,

Nalbari.

Cases related to TMC

Two sitting judges of the Supreme Court who are from West Bengal are refusing to hear cases related to TMC Godmother and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. A few days back judge Indira Banerjee had refused to be part of the hearing of the cases related to the killing of BJP workers in West Bengal-post Assembly elections. Now another judge Anirudha Bose rescued himself from the hearing of the Narada Sting case. Both the cases involved Mamata Banerjee and her party. Why Supreme Court judges are withdrawing themselves? Going by the past and present records of Mamta Banerjee and her party leaders anything is possible, the threat perception cannot be ruled out. As usual, this development has not received any national coverage because Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath or Himanta Biswa Sarma are not involved. Had this happened with the above-mentioned persons the entire leftists team, liberals, Congress, the AAP would have cried loud citing terms like 'murder of democracy, rape of judiciary, fascism' etc.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

The menace of begging

Through this column of your esteemed and widely circulated newspaper, I would like to draw the kind attention of the authorities concerned to look after the Beggar menace in the city.

Many beggars often take to the begging as it is the easiest way to earn money without doing any work. Begging considerably is one of the most serious social challenges in our country.

The banning of begging is a positive step and will help counter the menace of beggars in the city. Mostly beggars can be classified into two types. Those who have no option and are forced to do it, and those who become proficient in the art of begging and make a large amount of money from it. They are most likely to be seen near temples, mosques, railway stations, bus stops, market, pavements, on roads etc. Besides money sometimes they may also ask for food, drinking water and other small items. Begging should be banned and the Government should initiate steps to rehabilitate the beggars. Small shelters should be made for them and they need to be imparted education as well as vocational skills that would help them get jobs. They should be made to earn their livelihood by working and not begging. The physically handicapped beggars should be taken care of.

People often throw away leftover food from wedding or parties. They could instead serve this food to beggars and the homeless. Because of this, they not only give happiness to the beggar but also earn their blessings. The factories and industry could also employ beggars for work. After getting the work, they will not beg from others. So it is a great concept to overcome the problems.

To eradicate this social menace the Government and charitable organizations should look after people who are aged and physically challenged. Though the problem of begging is huge, yet it can easily be solved, if there is will and determination.

I hope that you will grant my request and add it to your editorial columns.

Pinaki Nandy,

Guwahati.

Where else to go?

Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the Islamic Republics, unlike neighbouring India which is the lone secular democratic nation in the world. In those Islamic nations, almost on regular basis atrocities upon Hindus, Sikhs and Christians are committed. Vandalizing temples, churches and gurudwaras are daily affairs. Apart from that, forceful religious conversion is taking place under the nose of the government of the day which the entire international forum is witnessing helplessly. Now under such circumstances where else these people will go to seek asylum other than India.

It is up to Congress, left parties, AASU (in the context of Assam) to decide and prove my point wrong. I request Rahul Gandhi, Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, Ripun Bora, Sitaram Yechury, Rajdeep Sardesai to be in those countries for a month and taste the hospitality. For their information, 'refugees' and 'infiltrators' are different categories. It is incorrect to club them in the same bracket. For example, Kashmiri Pandits are refugees in their homeland. The pseudo secularists are only interested in their vote bank politics for personal and party's gain. To grab power at any cost is their sole aim. The recent developments in Kerala and West Bengal are pointers in this regard.

Joel Goyari,

Tangla

Physical abuse of doctors is now commonplace. Some people don't seem to have the slightest desire to understand the doctors' plight. This is evidenced by the fact that Dr Seuj Senapati was physically assaulted in Hojai. Are these only happening in India, a developing country? However, as an incarnation of God directly involved in human service, it is highly reprehensible for doctors to be subjected to such inhumane treatment and aggression. Doctors, pathological and biochemical laboratory technicians, MPHWs (Male) involved in COVID duty have all served COVID patients by risking their lives. In this case, if the safety of the lives of those involved in COVID duty is threatened by the relatives of the patient, then how can they perform their duties properly?

In our country, the number of people leading in destructive work has been observed to be higher than the number of people leading in constructive work. This is gradually becoming a social disorder. However, we also need to know about the infrastructure of our country's health sector and there is a need to discuss this issue. The number of doctors in our country is less compared to the population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one doctor is needed for every one thousand people, although in our country the current ratio is 1: 1456. There is also a difference between city and village.

To be an advanced medical institution, every device of modern medical science has to be present. Therefore, every citizen of the country should know and understand that not all doctors can provide complete treatment to patients with the help of conventional instruments. In this context, I would like to point out that the infrastructure of the public health sector is very weak. However, amid such a limited number of facilities and the dangers of COVID infection, doctors and health workers are all providing services. In particular, it is commendable that all the diligent MPHW (Male) known as Frontline COVID Warrior have been fighting the COVID War with strong conviction since 2020 to date. As a result, many MPHW (Male) employees in the State became infected with COVID-19. In addition, many doctors have been infected with the virus and have died.

We are human beings too, so we have not neglected our duties and responsibilities just because we have responsibilities and fears in our lives. Despite the potential for infection, they are faithfully performing their duties. In that case, attacking the doctors is highly hateful and reprehensible.

Everyone should know that no doctor possesses miraculous powers. I humbly request every citizen of the country to learn to show respect to doctors and health workers engaged in human service. If necessary, everyone should help the doctor.

Heramba Nath,

Kamrup.

Power theft and role of linesmen

Big applause to the Honourable CM and the Power Minister of Assam for taking up the chronic issue of power theft in our power-starved State vis-a-vis delving deep into the matter to find a permanent solution to power shortage in the state. It is impertinent to say that power and energy is the driving force for industrialization of any state or a country and consequently economic growth and prosperity.

The connivance of ASEB personnel in power theft and consequent loss of revenue has always been well known, and a fact, especially the role of the linesmen on duty. Some unscrupulous linesmen are in the habit of fleecing their organization for s few quick bucks with impunity and contribute to increased power tariff for innocent consumers as well as loss to the company.

A bitter experience of mischief mongering highlights how an untrustworthy worker colludes with a dishonest consumer to work against his paymaster. A few years back, my rented house in Guwahati was occupied by a tenant, an agent of a political party, cunning and of immortal character. He lured the linesmen with his appealing tricks and probably a meagre bribe and managed to get an uninterrupted power supply during his stay without paying bills for several months. As I resided in Mumbai, I had no option to prevent this corrupt practice. Therefore, I wrote a letter to Superintending Engineer, ASEB of that particular area requesting him to disconnect the power supply for non-payment of dues. My request yielded no response and the tenant kept on enjoying free electricity. Interestingly, the tenant left my house suddenly without informing me. The linesmen immediately after he left the house attached a bill of around Rs 16,000 on my gate in my absence. I failed to pay the dues as I was ignorant about the pending bill with arrears. Subsequently, the ASEB linesmen promptly removed my connection permanently and took away the Meter box. Rightly so, and they were legally correct. But I fail to understand, how despite not paying the dues ASEB allowed the connection to be intact for so many months. It is any way anyone's guesses why the same linesmen didn't act earlier. Finally, I was fortunate to get the benefit of a prevailing scheme at that time and paid a reasonably lower amount. However, I had to undergo the cumbersome process of getting a new connection once again. Even though the source of linemen's benevolence is quite predictable but the lackadaisical attitude of officials of ASEB and their failure to detect this sinister alliance and prevalent malpractice is beyond my comprehension. I am sure I am not the only one who experienced such a bitter incident. This incident of known corruption case should have invited scrutiny. Unfortunately, the linesmen were neither questioned nor taken into a task for their misconduct and this insincere approach emboldened them to continue with their malaise activities.

Linesmen are the first interface between a consumer and the APDCL and their conduct must be of unquestionable integrity. I hope the online payment system must have improved the system and provided a safeguard against pending dues.

Through this letter, I request APDCL to look into this aspect of power theft and devise a method to cleanse the system of any inherent probable flaws.

Kankan Kumar Das,

Mumbai.

Public sector banks and LIC

At present many public sector banks have collaborated with private sector insurance companies for providing a single-window service for banking and insurance. This wrong practice should be replaced by promoting public sector LIC of India by terminating collaborations by all public sector banks with private sector insurance companies. Instead, all branches of various public sector banks should be authorized as agents for the public sector LIC of India by giving lucrative incentive points to branch managers and bank employees bringing new LIC policies. Every branch of each public sector bank should be linked to the nearest LIC unit. Even special LIC counters can be opened at select branches of various public sector banks.

Such a system will enable the public sector LIC of India to expand business manifolds too by reducing the number of LIC branch offices thus saving a lot on operating expenses. At the same time, LIC of India then can make a drastic cut in commission rates which are mostly paid back by LIC agents to customers out of competition. For example, many new policyholders manage to get a payback of even more than two per cent on single premium policies like Jeevan Akshay, where no such payback is feasible in a similar single premium policy Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana having a low commission of just half per cent.

Promoting the public sector is in the larger public interest to save the general public from the gimmicks of private sector banking and insurance.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal,

Delhi.

Separate time zone for Northeast

The debate over having a different time zone for Northeast India has been longstanding with no implementable solutions so far. India extends from 68°7'E to 97°25'E, with a spread of 29 degrees which amounts to almost two hours if we look from the geographical perspective. Northeast India has complained about the effect of IST on their lives. The sun rises by 4 am and sets by 4 pm in the winters which means the region loses about 5-6 hours of daylight before the government offices and schools are opened and thus ending up using more electricity. The scene is no different in summer too. A separate time zone for the region would allow the northeasterners to put their day hours to better use. Also, a single time zone for longitudinal extremes of a country affects our biological clocks. Yes, some challenges will come along with two time zones like the train stations should be extra careful as it would take time to adjust to two time zones. But then nothing good comes without challenges, isn't it?

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur.

Public urinals

It is a matter of great concern that the public lavatories and urinals in the town are giving a lot of problem to the passersby. Even if, somewhere, public lavatories and urinals have been built, they always remain locked for reasons unknown. Practically, no one can ever use it. Consequently, some people are compelled to urinate outside the locked ones, i.e., directly on the pathetic wall. Although the maintenance of the public lavatories and urinals need to be taken care of by the authorities concerned, yet nothing could be done to date.

Not only the authorities concerned but also the general people must be alert and aware of the ill effects of filthy smell in public places.

It is time to arise, awake and acts following fact that such a situation is not at all desired by the masses. We want our environment to be hygienic, healthy and safe. It is our foremost responsibility, at least, not to urinate here and there but to find out the right place to do the same.

It is also, a human attitude towards the dream vision of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'. And we people ought not to be so negligent towards our desired role and standard of living outside our home. It is our sole responsibility to keep our society clean.

Let's start it with all apt attention and sincerity. Let's keep our public lavatories and urinals (which are still in use) clean and in the best condition that passersby are not compelled to put a handkerchief on their nostrils as they had been doing it often even before the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Now, even though we, compulsorily, wear our mask and then, come out for some very urgent work, yet the discomfort and uneasiness are evident whenever we see such unhygienic situation at the public lavatories and urinals in the town.

Through your esteemed news daily, I would like to request the authorities concerned to take care of the situation and also urge the people to contribute their level best in the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'.

Jayanta Topadar,

Dhemaji.