Letters to The EDITOR: How influencing is the caste census issue?

After the caste-based survey, the Bihar government has now increased the limit of reservation in jobs and education from 60% to 75% (in line with the share in the population). But there was no movement on this issue anywhere in the state. When the Mandal Commission was implemented in the country 34 years ago, this issue became a major cause of tension, which changed the balance of political power in North India. This time, nothing like this is happening because the general class is not very excited about the continuously decreasing government jobs during this interval. Anyway, out of the total employment, only 5.8% are government jobs; the rest are in the private sector or self-employment ventures. Every year, 1.5 crore new youths are added to the already crowded job market of the country, whereas there are not even a few lakh government jobs. For example, the total government employees in Bihar are four lakhs, and, on average, a few thousand new jobs are created every year. But 30 lakh new youth enter the job market. This is the reason that this time the reservation percentage increased on the basis of ‘whose number is bigger, his share is more’ could not create backward-forward tension in society. However, the strategy of political parties will remain under watch in view of the general elections.

Nawaz Ashraf

Guwahati

Manipur to have lasting peace

It is a historic milestone that the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), a banned organisation, agreed to renounce violence and decided to join the democratic mainstream of the country after it signed a peace agreement in Delhi. It would surely serve as a catalyst in establishing lasting peace in Manipur, and that is what the country and people of Manipur have been fervently expecting—an end to bloody and mindless clashes between the two ethnic communities in the state. In this context, it is not out of place that the Congress and other INDIA entities did their best to vitiate the situation, even stalling the proceedings of Parliament to score their brownie points on the Manipur issue and, in the process, to tag the BJP and paint it as a villain.

Jahangir Ali

Guwahati

Importance of the Chief Secretary’s post

It is almost the same whether the post of Chief Secretary of the Government of Assam is present or not. A recent notification issued by the Chief Secretary proves the importance of the post. The notification, issued on November 21, has been sent to all the Commissioner & Secretaries and Principal Secretaries. Under 28(a) of the Assam Rules of Executive Business, the Chief Secretary is required to report on the work of all departments, but instead, the Chief Secretary has been ignored. This is extremely unfortunate for the administration. Everyone knows that the head of state administration is the Chief Secretary. The government and administration of a state should be interdependent for it to function properly. The Chief Secretary should make direct intervention in all aspects of a state, especially in the home, political, and law and order departments, according to the Measures Act. But the opposite is happening in the Dispur administration, where various approvals of the departments should be done in the Chief Secretary’s Office for the final inspection. The present government has tarnished the dignity of the prestigious post of Chief Secretary of the State. This is a system that will hamper the collective development of the state. Former chief secretaries of the state have expressed dissatisfaction in this regard. The post of Chief Secretary is considered the second most important post after that of Chief Minister of the state. Therefore, the Chief Minister of the State should give a “free hand” to the Chief Secretary and remove such confusion in the administration.

Nayan Jyoti Baishya

Guwahati