Jaintia Hills a calamity waiting to happen

In the early nineties while travelling from Guwahati to Shillong in an old cranky Ambassador taxi, the taxi driver on learning that I was from Jaintia hills District, referring to the coal deposits in the District, said “you people are lucky lot, God has blessed you with immense wealth.” I hesitantly replied I don’t know Bah, if its blessing or a curse,” and I further add, “one thing I know for sure is that only a tiny section of the population in the district get rich.” Few years later bah Arkin Pariat who was posted as Transmission Executive of the All India Radio Jowai, during one of our informal chat, suggested that the inscription in the signpost at Umwasoo welcoming visitors to Jaintia should instead read “Welcome to Jaintia ills.” I mention this because bah Arkin in his capacity as an officer in the AIR, Jowai has visited many places in Jaintia and I take this suggestion as an observation made by someone who is not from the district and thing get worse after that.

 

Now two decades later if anybody would ask me the same question, without any hesitation I would confidently say, it is a curse. I know this is only my opinion and I am allowed to have one, I also know there others particularly those who have become rich from mining will not agree with me, but what is going on in the district in general and the sub division in particular only prove otherwise.

 

In the span of two months two esteemed dailies of the region the Telegraph and the Shillong Times has carried out feature stories of raging crime scene in the area. The ST has a screamed line on that day calling Jaintia hills the epicenter of crime. There are crimes news reported from area almost every day, the most recent one was the attempted robbery by armed gang on a Petrol refilling station at Tuber. Yet surprisingly or not surprisingly, neither the district administration nor the district police take note of the report.  ‘Not surprise’ because anybody who know the area and has done some work in the Khliehriat sub division know that the crime graph in the area head north every summer because it is a lean period and mining activities is at its low peak due to rain. Then crime rate falls once the rain stops and mining activities start picking up again and the cycle continues year after year.  The only different is the crime rate increase and crimes become heinous as time goes by.

 

If a coal mine owner said that mining is a blessing then the question that begs the answer is why are they leaving their village for Shillong or Jowai? Isn’t it true that they left their home because the environment has been destroyed, all the water bodies over and underground are polluted and come winter coal dust and now fly ash particles envelope the atmosphere? Before the NEEPCO shared the finding of the study conducted by the company that the life span of the Kupli Hydro electric is going to be affected by the acidic water flow from Jaintia hills, before the MECL started the construction of the Myntdu-Lechkha project, before the report of the Mass dead of fishes on the Lukha river in the year 2007, it is already known at least to the local environmentalist that the water in the most of the rivers in Jaintia hills are polluted. Now the only major rivers in the District free from the pollution cause by coal mining are the Umngot and the river Myntang, but for how long? Recently bah Allan West, excited by the big catch he caught from his fishing trip to Umngot, suggested in a Facebook chat that we start popularizing Umngot as anglers’ paradise or fishing hot spot of the state because Kynshi in the West Khasi Hills is also being affected by coal mining. When I reason it out to him that Umngot is also on the threat of getting polluted from coal mining in the Chkhentalang and Jarain area of Amlarem Sub division, and the dumping of coal on the side of NH 44 from Mookyndur to Pommura, Bah Allan said he will use google earth to see for himself if that is true and that was the end of the conversation.

 

The news of earth cave in or the crack of the earth in the village of Sohkymphor was first report on the social media network by a young man Lalam Manner who was obviously close to the village and posted on the Facebook page. Lallam was panic when he reported the news and was concern about the safety of the people travelling to Sohkymphor because the day after was a market day. The next day reporter from Jowai visited the village and posted the photographs on the Save Jaintia Rivers and Cave of Jaintia hills facebook page for everybody to see. The crack which has cut the Public Work department road right in the middle and has also damaged many houses including RCC building without even a faintest tremor is a cause of concern. The entire Khilehriat sub division where the rat hole mining system is practice is precariously sitting over a network of mine caverns crisscrossing each other; in fact every coalmine village is another Sohkymphor waiting to happen. If the earth in the area caves in without any tremor, then the question is what will happen if God forbid an earthquake of a high magnitude hit the area?  Is the district disaster management prepared for such eventuality?

 

Let us not be prophet of dome but instead look at the problem that people will face in the coming winter months, once the coal business starts picking up again. I know public memory is very short, so let me remind you of the traffic jam last year on the entire national highway 44 that we had all experienced which has even affected the flow of traffic in Shillong. Well it is time to prepare for the worst, there are already thousand of trucks transporting coal from the district during peak season and add to that there are 10 cement plants in the district which uses trucks to import raw materials for their plants and export cement outside the state. The annual production of each cement companies is at least one million ton per year and 10 cement plants produces minimum 100 million tons of cement per annum; I will let our esteemed readers calculate the number of trucks needs to do all the transportation work. Isn’t it time for the people of Jowai and Shillong to raise our voice against the mushrooming of cement plants because their trucks not only pollute our environment but apart from using the road that we all paid for, they cause undue harassment to the population of the three districts, the Jaintia Hils, the East Khasi hills and the Ri Bhoi District? Why should we let the Daloi and the Rangbah Shnong of Thangskai or for that matter any elaka or villages decide what is going to affect us too? In the recent public hearing for Adhunik mining area, not only the Daloi, the Rangbah Shnong support the mining in the forested area, but even the MDCs of the JHADC sent letter of support in favour of mining in the area, and these are the institutions that are supposed to protect the tribal interest! One wonder if these semi-educated MDCs would only read the three parts feature reports “Forest or non-forest: Definition after destruction?” carried by the Shillong Times will they still support the mining?

 

Now should we not also blame the government which is yet to come up with a mining policy even after four decades has lapsed since coal was first commercially mined in the Jaintia hills? Bah B.M. Lanong Minister incharge of mining, is a seasoned politician who know when is the right time to open his mouth, hence it is not surprise that bah Bindo seldom mention the mining policy before the assembly. Bah Bindo has now shoved the mining policy under the carpet and God only knows when will the draft see the light of the day and he too is the leader of a regional party which claims to protect tribal interest. One only hope that a situation will not arise that by the time the policy is implemented there will be no more rivers to protect and many Sohkymphor has happened and then; by that time it will be too little too late for the government to implemented the policy.

 

Ka Durbar Paidbah in the Cyber Spacet title

If you for quite some time have been using social media network like facebook and try to add new friends to your page, chances are that once you are able to locate your friend you would also have at least two common facebook friends and most likely the two shared friends would either be Paul Lyngdoh, kong Ampareen Lyngdoh her brother Robert Lyngdoh, the leaders of the opposition Conrad Sangma and our MP ma Vincent Pala. These are the most sought after facebook friends that our young lass and lads would like to add to their facbook friends list. Kong Ampareen has few months back declared that she had crossed the five thousand numbers of friends on her facebook friends list and request help from her cyber pals to help her deal with the issue. And tips and suggestions came raining down on her page like shower of July rain.

 

It is indeed good to see our techno savvy young politicians using the new available technology to reach out to the public,  but except for the brother and sister duo, the remaining politician have merely been silent spectators on what is going on in the social media network world. Or maybe they have an exclusive close-knit circle of friends where they share their thoughts, information and ideas. I occasionally saw ma Vincent wishing his facebook friends on their birthdays, this is of course one kind gesture of our MP but one seldom see bah Paul or even bah Conrad writing anything on their walls to share with hundreds of their facebook friends. Surely all of them use the net on daily basis and I don’t believe a person who is hooked to facebook will not get addicted to it. A friend from the USA compared having a facebook page with keeping a big dog as a pet which one has to feed at regular intervals.  So even if it may look like some of them are not actively participating in the facebook activities, I am very sure that they would skim through their pages once in a while that they are connect to the internet. But the question is why they remain mere silent spectator?

 

Bah Robert occasionally shared thought provoking saying or quotable quotes on his wall and the ever adventurous kong Ampareen went a step further by joining in the discussion. Few months back after the recent cabinet reshuffle when she first took charge of the department of urban development kong Ampareen shared her thoughts and even listen to the ideas her facebook friends shared with her.  Let’s look it this way; the lady is perhaps the first politician in the state or maybe in the region to hold her Janata ki durbar (dorbar paidbah) in the cyber space. When I first saw kong Ampareen’s response to the queries and suggestion made on her facebook page, I thought ‘this is neat,’ imagine if our politician no longer have to spend time to meet the public but instead use the technology available on the internet to seek suggestions and share ideas with the public and the public too, share their ideas with their representative vice-versa. How convenient will that be? But I know others will have a different opinion that the idea is not feasible and not conducive because people using computer in the state consist of a small minority of the urban population and internet penetration in the state is almost negligible. But with the rapid advancement of telecom technology; I personally think the day is not far when this will all change, and change will happen very fast.

 

Internet and social networking; like it or not is here to stay, it has become a platform through which people share information, photo videos and what have you. In fact facebook is just the beginning, now we have another social networking media in the offing -google plus. The IBM advertisement said that in the future people will share terabytes of information in a day on the internet and computing will no longer happen in a box. Imagine a situation where people are spoilt for choice of information that is available on one’s palm in a matter of a second.

 

Media and the process of information dissemination will see a sea change in the near future, media as we know it today will cease to exist. Even today, before the mainstream media broadcasted about the Seal attack to kill Bin Laden in Abbotabad, the news has already been shared by twitter users. Last week when a friend asked me did you see the PCN story of a boy from Rymbai village that can play drums at a very young age? My answer was I saw it on Facebook few weeks ago. News and broadcasting firm will have to change with time because information sharing will be at the individual level, and if the news is worth sharing then people will keep on sharing it or at least like it. Citizen journalism is one such example of how public tries to create their own news and share it with the public; the different is only in this case it is still with the help of the media houses. In the near future news and entertainment will not be rate by any institute or company but by the people themselves. In the case of the young percussionist from Rymbai, the story was first shared on the facebook and then a smart journalist was able to gauge the news value of the story and share it on the mainstream media.

 

Internet is indeed a liberating force; it also allows a level playing field for everyone as long as one has access to internet which is not difficult these days. Social Networking is also not just about sharing information, photographs and videos, but it also about airing one’s opinion on issues dear to oneself. There are facebook page like the save the caves and river of Jaintia hills which has more than one thousand friends and it is a space where people share information on the subject and even air their opinion against illegal coal and lime stone mining that is going on in the state. It is a place where members share information and web link related to the adverse impact of mining. At the end of the day members came out of the page armed with much more information than when they were before they visit the page and hopefully will be able to take an informed decision on the issue.  

 

However this is not to say that all is rosy in the cyber space, there are rogue element in the internet too. Crooks in the guise of a fake identity, can create problem in the net, in fact it is much easy for scoundrel to create problem in the internet where nobody can identify him and one need advance technology to tract their digital trail on the internet. Whatever the case may be internet will remain a platform through which information are shared and collect and people who can make use of the technology will certainly have an edge over those who cannot.   

 

In the light of the above fact one cannot help but imagine the role social network will play in the ensuing 2013 election. Will it not be an advantage for kong Ampareen especially now that we know she already have five thousand plus friends on her friends’ list. And the other question is; is it ethically right for politicians to use social network for campaigning in the next election? If it is, then it will be the cheapest and the most convenient mode of campaign available.  In that case social network media will also replace the election campaign rally and election campaign (election dorbar) will partly happen on the internet. Perhaps it is time for the various parties to at least start party’s own facbook page to woo young voters to the party.

 

Right to education: Who’s right is the government talking about?

It is one of those rare cases where both the opposition and the treasury bench discarded their animosity and partisan politics to unanimously support a resolution in house.  Normally one would see legislator’s rare unity in the house only when it comes to supporting the bill to enhance their pay and perks or to increase the MLA Constituency development scheme. But this autumn session our legislator has once again risen beyond partisan politics when it comes to education.

The resolution that was agreed in the august house was to write to the Central government to bring an amendment to certain section of the act on the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Govt. to move centre for RTE Act amendment ST September 13, 2011). The basis of the move was because section 20 of the RCF&CE Rule 2010 says that seventy five percent of the strength of the school managing committee shall be constituted from amongst the parents and the guardians of the children studying in the school. It was reported that the house agreed that the provision on this section will have adverse impact on the school run by religious minority especially in the state of Meghalaya where majority of the prominent schools are being run by Christian missionaries, the paper reported. It was also mentioned that it is highly impossible for a small state like Meghalaya to have seventy five percent of parents’ representation in the School Managing Committee (SMC).

I for one fail to understand the ground on which our legislators assume that it is impossible to have 75% parents and guardian (P&G) representation in the SMC? Isn’t this; a case of the august house over-under-estimate the capacity of the citizens of this state? What kind of SMC members does the government have in mind? I know of a former Lyngdoh or Headman of a village who can barely read and write and yet when the Nongtalang College was in dire financial constraint, the gentleman will open the string of his purse to support the college. This story was told by the former Principal of the college who spend few of his retirement years helping the college.  If a parent of a student who studies in the school is not fit to be a member of a SMC then, tell me can a non-parent be a better candidate to the membership of the SMC?

The question is who’s right is the government talking about here? The requirement in the bill is that 75% of the members of the SMC should comprises of the parents and guardian of the students who studies in the school, and if I am in the same page with the government that the education we are talking about is still a child centered education, then is there a better person than the parents of the child to be in the School Managing Committee?

Obviously the government and the entire Assembly is only trying to protect the interest of those who govern the schools in the state particularly the faith base organization than the interest of the child. I am still confused when ever people use the term minority institutions in the state of Meghalaya. Are Christians still minority in the Christian state? Can we still call the schools run by Christian missionaries in the state minority institutions? This is a question that the government needs to answer. The government including the opposition and the fence sitters have failed to understand or rather choose to ignore the truth that the spirit of the bill centers around the interest of the child not the managing committees whoever that may be. It is the interest of the child that is paramount here and I cannot foresee a parent who would not like to see that her child have a good education. How can the sponsors be a faith group or the private trust claim that they are expert in taking care of the children’s interest and have children’s interest high on their priority than their parents?

The other question is why would the FBO be afraid of the MC which will include 75 % of P&G of the children; again if the education that the school provides is still a child-centered education? If the interests of the FBOs are really to provide education to a child only, I don’t see why mere inclusion of parents as members of the SMC is a threat to the FBOs run institutes? My fear is that the MC of the schools sees the inclusion of the parents in the MC as an intrusion to the way they operate the schools. If 75% of the SMC are P&G then they will know how much the school really earn from the school fees? How much they pay their teachers? The parents will also know the fact that there are schools which are on deficit patterns and yet they still charge school fees from the parents. The parents will also know that annually, schools earns lakhs of rupees from school fees and in spite of that they pay their teachers peanuts and they will also know that real cost of the school bags, school’s uniforms that the SMC supplied to the students every beginning of the school season some of which are not necessary in the first place. With this information the members of the SMC can question the MC including the FBOs where and how has the remaining money been used?

Last year when I request for information as per RTI Act from the prominent schools in the Shillong on the method they use to admit students to class 11 science, one of the prominent school, did not provide me the information on the ground that they have not had any support from the government (till last year) so they are not bind by the RTI Act and this is a prominent school run by one of the largest FBO in the state that I am talking about. I was hoping that the FBO institutes have nothing to hide and whatever they do is transparent and do not need RTI in the first place and they have all the information readymade, but I was wrong. Inclusion of 75 % P&G will only help bring transparency in the way the school is governed and I don’t see the reason for the MC especially FBO or the government to be afraid of transparency?

Inclusion of 75 % of parents and guardian as member of the school managing committee will only help to improve the way schools are governed, because parents and guardian are the only persons who are really interested in their wards education, not the minister or the officers in the education department or in some cases even the promoters of the school. Therefore if in the education policy of the government of Meghalaya the interest of the child is paramount, then the propose resolution should be dropped.  The FBOs or any private entity which owns schools have no reason to be afraid that they may lose ownership of the school. Ownership of school will still remain with them because the 75% members of the school managing committee will come and go; no parent would be foolish enough to even contemplate on taking over any institute when the title and ownership of the land and the building is in the FBOs name. Moreover parent’s interest in the school will only remain as long as their kids are in the school, and the school can nominate the 75% members on a rotation basis so the chance of parent taking over the school is simply not there. In fact the rule is an opportunity for the sponsors to prove to the world that their motive is to provide education and they have the interest of the child high on their agenda and they are not interest in controlling the school (well as long as they own it). The rule is also a perfect opportunity for the FBOs to show to the world that they are not so much for power or control but to provide the best of education for the child and they are happy to be part of the mission in any which way it requires. If the faith groups have nothing to hide in the way they run their educational institutes, they should have no fear of rule 20 and I hope the FBOs should practice what they preach and lead from the front by implementing the rule in letter and spirit.

 

Unitarian in Khasi Jaintia Hills: An indigenous religion with a liberal outlook

Unitarian in Khasi Jaintia Hills: An indigenous religion with a liberal outlook

The Unitarian in the Khasi Jaintia and Karbi Anglong District of Assam, celebrates the 18^th of September every year as the Church Anniversary Day, the church was started in these hills by Hajom Kissor Singh Lyngdoh Nongbri in the year 1887.

 Dr. D.R. Syiemlieh in the book “Indigenous roots: Hajom Kissor Singh and the Founding of Unitarianism in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills,” wrote that “the advent of Unitarianism in the Khasi-Jaintia was a low-tone breakaway from Welsh Calvinistic Methodist (Presbyterian) Church. He further add that the “The foundation therefore should be examined in the broader context of the religious, cultural, social and intellectual ferment that the Khasi community was experiencing in the last quarter of the 19 century and in the early years of the present millennium.“

Hajom Kissor Singh, the founder of Unitarian movement in the region was born on the 15 June 1865 and he remains a lesser known personality in the Khasi Pnar society of Meghalaya. The fact is though Singh has started the Unitarian Church in the hills 124 years ago, being a non-proselytizing religion, the church remain a small minority hence the popularity of its founder.

He was converted to Christianity probably in the same year (1885) with his brother u Nissor Singh famous for writing the first ever Khasi dictionary. He grew up in the cradle of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist at Saitsohpen, Sohra and later in his life he witnessed the resurgence of the Khasi Traditional religion.

The Unitarian Church that H.K. Singh established is unique in its own right by maintaining its liberal outlook as well as took roots in the soil of the land and adopted some of the thoughts and philosophy of the region. Its claim of being and indigenous religion is base not only on fact that it was not started by any foreign missionary in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; neither was it started with any foreign monetary assistance. It is also unique because this liberal Christian denomination which was started by a Khasi absorbed and adopted the basic tenets of the Khasi traditional thoughts and philosophy and hence the theology of the religion Singh started is original by blending the essence of the two faith traditions.

His concept of oneness of God who is 'both the mother and the father' was based both on the traditional belief and that of the Bible. He went further indigenizing the concept of God by using the Khasi word “Phi” to address the almighty which is commonly used to address those in a position much higher and more respectable instead of the Khasi word “Me.” HK Singh’s uses “Phi” to address the almighty was sometime misunderstood in the plural sense of the term, hence he was mistook for worshiping many Gods or gods.

It is believed that originally before the Khasi Pnar learned to pay obeisance to the smaller deities, they only worship U Blei Nongthaw Nongbuh. Hence till now; no ceremonial sacrifices are ever offered to God. The Unitarians in the hills worship God who requires no sacrifices.

Two Khasi stalwart Radhon Singh Berry and Job Solomon were contemporary of HK Singh. They were also known for their contribution to the literary development of the nascent Khasi language. The duo had also contributed to the growth of the Unitarian Church by composing hymns for the Church. In fact any study on Radhon Singh Berry will remain incomplete if his work on the Khasi Pnar Unitarian hymnbook is not taken into consideration. Both these men of letters emphasized in the hymns they composed the truth that the Khasi Pnar Unitarian’s God is God in the traditional Khasi Pnar context.

R.S. Berry in the hymn number 43 stanza 3 says: “This is not a foreign God, God of our own he is.” Then Job Solomon in the hymn number 6 he again stress on the idea in the stanza 5 which says, “This is our God, God of our ancestor too. God of the Pnars and the Khasi, He is also Lord of the Lords.”

H.K. Singh was against superstitious belief which was prevalent among the natives then, he was against the belief in ghosts and nature deities, the gods of rivers and mountains and the like. He composed many hymns which reflect this idea and in one hymn he wrote “it is the power that liberates us from worshiping ghost and demons.” In the first stanza of the hymn number 35 he said, “You have liberated us from darkness, we thank you Lord, from the bondage of superstitious belief, we thank you Lord, from the demons of the houses and the hills, -we thank you Lord.”

It may be mentioned that in the Khasi Jaintia thoughts and understanding; there is only one word for the two English words the spirit and the soul -“ka mynsiem.” “Mynsiem” could either mean the soul or the spirit. To the Khasi Pnar the human soul is the same with the all-pervading spirit. The Khasi does not differentiate between the two. Hence the other principle of belief of the Unitarian Church in Khasi Jaintia is that of the brotherhood and sisterhood of human in spirit and it can be understood in this context that the spirit permeates in all creation. To the Khasi, ‘ka mynsiem’ is that which connects one soul to another and that which encompass the entire universe and also that which transcend all creation. The universe and the entire creation is link by the spirit or filled with the spirit. 

H.K. Singh’s concept of the everlasting live of the soul also bears the truth that he was inspired by the indigenous Khasi thoughts and philosophy of life after death. The Khasi concept live after dead is that the soul departed from the body will go eat bettlenuts in the corridor of God’s house, so traditionally the Khasi too belief that the soul lives eternally. The immortality of the soul also prove that spirit even transcends the realm of mortality.

Salvation to the Khasi is by deeds and character, the Khasi lays a great emphasis on the other cardinal principle of life of the Khasi which is known as ‘Kamai ia ka hok’ to earn righteousness. In the Khasi way of life, one’s entire life is governed by this principle alone. There are two traditional schools of thoughts with regard to salvation, one is of the opinion that, whatever wrong one does in one’s life will befall on one’s descendant and others are of the opinion that he who does not earn righteousness in his life will go to the nurok ka ksew (hell). Perhaps the later was an influence of Christian theology because the common believe is that after dead one shall go to eat bettlenuts in the corridor of the God’s dwelling. The Unitarian also shares a similar belief that salvation is by one’s own deeds and character and not by faith alone. In the hymn number 277 he wrote: “He who have gave one’s soul, to serve the Lord untiringly, those who have spend their lives, to help fellow human without regret. Blessings they will receive, Before the Lord of honour.”

His idea of after life is that the spirit departed will return to the Kingdom of the Spirit. There is no concept of the saved and the damned, hence salvation is universal according to HK Singh’s thoughts and philosophy. Hymn number 1 which is the statement of faith of the Unitarians in the hills is a testimony of his belief in immortality of the spirit. Stanza number 4 of the hymn says: God has created us to be immortal, to have an everlasting life and to progress forever.

H.K.Singh concept of life after dead is that the spirit departed from the soul will journey to the Kingdom of the Spirits. He described the Kingdom of the Spirit thus: “We cannot compare the Kingdom of the spirit with this earthly shelter, if for this earthly body, God has provided so much, which will be buried under the ground, tomorrow or so, so much is in store in the Kingdom of the Spirit”.

In the third stanza of the same hymn, the poet sings: “In the Kingdom of the Spirit, there will be no more trouble; there’s only wellsprings of life, which flows eternally. Further more in the next stanza of the hymn he says “In the land of the Spirit, in love we will grow forever.”

One can conclude that HK Singh’s thoughts and philosophy are original and though he started Unitarianism in the region he did not merely copy the theology of other Unitarian groups in different parts of the World; but rather developed it by blending it with his own understanding of it from the Khasi Pnar context and propagate the same among his folks.

Chorus of Cheers for the Buses

Since the Shillong Public Transport Service (SPTS) buses hit the city road, media and the public in general went gusto in showering words of praise for this brand new government initiative. Ever since the buses were introduced, the press has been generous in providing maximum space to this government enterprise by way of reporting, and letters to the editor. News report and letter to the editor on the buses’ subject appeared in the print media almost every day. From what appeared in the media; people partly welcomed the bus service to protest against the atrocious attitude of the Shillong taxi driver who; for so long had literarily taken the passenger for a ride. Shillongites are fed up with the taxi drivers, hence the buses are welcome by one and all and of course the buses are economical too.

 

People cheer the coming of the buses because for so long the people of the state had not had reasons to praise the government. The MUA was not able to come up with any project or schemes which give reason for the people to praise their government and the buses did just that, add to that because it happens in Shillong. The government in the state and the ECs in the ADCs have become arenas of a never ending power tussle of the MLAs and the MDCs which has put people off and for a change the buses give people a reason to cheer. The buses has been like a proverbial manna from heaven for the people of Shillong and the villages in its suburbs and for the MUA one heavenly send opportunity for government to prove to its citizen that it cares for the poor and the down trodden. Through the buses service the MUA is hoping that it is able to prove to the people that their leaders are not only involve in power wrangling but they can deliver too.

 

The buses service has received so much attention; in fact more that it deserved because it is a situation where everybody is happy, the government and governed. Not surprisingly now the people of Jowai, Tura, Nongstoin, Nongpoh and other district headquarter has appealed to the Government to see that these town too avail the opportunity that the denizen of Shillong enjoy. The Minister in charge of Urban Affairs Ampareen Lyngdoh was able to convince the ministry of urban development government of India to consider Meghalaya as special case and allow the flow of JNNRUM fund to the state without election, so for time being district headquarter too can expect the flow of fund from Delhi.  But the question is how long can we go on without elected local representative? The next question that begs answer is; if similar buses service is provided to the towns like Jowai, do we have a system is place to run the buses?  In Shillong we are fortunate to have the management of the MTC with time to spare; to temporarily run the business, but what about other towns of the state? It is high time that people start rethinking about the municipal election; we cannot compare the Rangbah Shnongs who are doing their job voluntarily with the ward commissioner. There is a limit to how much a person can perform voluntarily.  

 

It was also reported in the media that the Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) buoyed by the media praise that was showered on the SPTS buses, the bankrupt and near defunct MTC too has approached the Ministry of Surface Transport Government of India to allot new buses for MTC. The media coverage that the SPTC buses received; is like a shot in the arm for the MTC and seeking central government assistance to revive the MTC sounds like grand idea but the question is; is it economically viable?

 

The authority should treat this over excitement on the part of the management of MTC with caution. Before allowing the MTC to embark on the proposed venture; one would expect the MTC to conduct a study to find out the causes that led to MTC becoming a sick corporation. Until and unless the government is able to diagnose the cause of MTC’s failure, it will be a futile effort to pump more money to the corporation. The MTC should pull its socks together before it even think of trying its hand on new undertaking less it become another white elephant of the state.

 

Since towns and the state capital are to be serviced by JNNRUM buses, I assume the buses the MTC requested are to be use to connect the many villages in the state with district headquarters and the state capital. If the MTC would conduct a study to find out the cause of the corporation to collapse, the major cause is that the MTC was not able to compete with the smaller buses or vehicle like Sumos operated by private transporters. Travelers especially those from rural villages travelling to the city for an errand don’t have the time to wait till the big buses is fully occupied, they want to reach their destination as fast as possible and care very less about the difference in the fare the buses might be able to offer. In the era where time is money the question is, are the MTC proposed fleet of buses a viable business option?  

 

MTC is not the only bus operator which was hit by the turn of event, the once success Mowkaiaw Transport Cooperative Society of Jaintia hills, met with a similar experience. In one of my interview with a prominent member of the Mowkaiaw Transport Cooperative Society, he said that the Transport Cooperative Society’s business started to decline the moment the Sumo hit the roads. Now the Mowkaiaw Transport Cooperative Society which at one point of time operated about ten buses and many smaller vehicles is but a shadow of its former self. The coop buses which caters to the need of not only the Laskein Development Block area but the entire district of Jaintia hills is almost a non-entity now.

 

Jaintia Hills can also offer a successful public transport model for the MTC to study if the corporation is serious and does not want to repeat the same mistake which led to the collapse of the corporation. The Sein Beh Iaw Transport Cooperative Society is one transport operator which was not hit by the coming of the new smaller and faster public vehicles; the Sein Beh Iaw is a thriving business venture of the traders in the District and its success lies in the uniqueness of its business. The Sein Beh Iaw Coop Society buses are specially made not only to ferry passengers but the buses are also made for carrying goods. A keen observer from Mawhati in the Ribhoi District, a bus operator himself has foreseen the failure of at least the SPTC buses which connects the villages in the vicinity Shillong with the capital. He predicted that the outer Shillong buses will not able to bring expected return because the buses are not designed to serve the people of the villages. When asked to elaborate, he said: ‘A passenger from a village is also a famer, when a farmer visits the city she would also have something to sell in the market, may be a basket of vegetables. The money she earned from selling her farm products it the city; is spend in buying the family’s weekly needs and the SPTC buses are not designed for that.’  Even if the buses can accommodate the stuff farmer carries, the question is, is there a fare for commodities? 

 

One must appreciate the management of the SPTC which under pressure from the public and the minister in charge; has given it’s all out efforts to make sure that the SPTC bus run smoothly. One hopes that the SPTC will be a success government venture and it will be able to serve the people of Shillong and its suburbs many more years to come. Hopefully the SPTC will not follow the MTC footstep and end like any another government venture. Let us be optimistic and hope that this time; public money will not go down the drain.

Community participation and education in State

It is a known fact that if it is not for the initiative made by various Faith organizations and the community; leaving to the government the education scenario in the state would not have been like it is now. So, before the government even contemplate on the idea of encouraging community participation in education, in the so called public private partnership, the people of Meghalaya has already move a step ahead to provide education to their children. It is the community which took initiative in starting the various educational institutes from lower primary to college level and in many cases it is the (faith base organization) FBOs and the community which runs the educational institutions.

 

Higher education in the entire State has open up thanks to the state universities which cater to the need of thousands of students in the state. The state universities have started courses of studies in various disciplines to cater to innumerable needs of modern education. But the pertinent question is the standard or quality of the course studies offered by these universities. I am not questioning the credibility of these universities but my question is to the state government, does the education department have any kind of mechanism in place to regulate and monitor the functions of these state universities? Something like the UGC for the central universities, or is it free for all; kind of a thing? Does the state government has any system to see that the students are not dupe and the course of study they registered is up to the mark and worth the money they paid for?

 

Not only state universities provides higher education in the state, there are also innumerable institutions which offers different course of studies, does the government has any mechanism to check whether the courses offers by these institutes are up to the mark and whether they have qualified teaching faculty? Has the education department conducted any kind of inspection to these institution or universities and scrutinize the kind of courses study they offer? The state government can perhaps manage and control the state universities because the universities were created by the resolution of the state assembly, but the question is what about the numerous institutes which offer variety of course studies particularly in the state capital?

 

The state of affairs especially in the education sector in Meghalaya is that everything concentrates in Shillong, we have every kind of educational institutions of every shades and colours opening shops in the state capital, but in the rest of the state particularly in Jaintia hills district, the educational opportunity that is available is not beyond graduation level. Till now there is very little scope for post graduation studies in district. The Pnar of Jaintia hills are said to be enterprising lot not because of those who own coal mines, there is no innovation whatsoever involve in mining coal or limestone. The rich coalmine and lime stone owners have not innovated any new business venture, their only investments is in buying property in Shillong and the metros and register themselves as government contractor and suppliers and few join politics and there is no creativity involve in that. In my opinion the enterprising people of Jaintia hills are those who foresee the future and started educational institutions to cater to the need of the future generation of the region. These Institutions were initially manage and funded by the entire community and in most cases the state government came in later to support these institutions; little though it may be. For instance the Nongtalang College was started with a contribution made by the entire village by paying extra one rupee per kilogram of the rice they bought each month from the village fair price shop and I consider that innovative.

 

If we take the institute of higher education into consideration, to begin with the only government college in the district which is now rechristened by the incumbent education minister as the Kiang Nangbah Government College was initially started by the community. Then we have the Nongtalang College, in Nongtalang and the Jaintia Eastern College in Khliehriat all these colleges were started by some enterprising people of the community. And the support these colleges received from the government is in the form of an ad hoc grant which has remained so for so long. The people of Jaintia hills has also started a law college known as Khad-ar Dalloi Law College, the college recently celebrates its silver jubilee in which the education minister government of Meghalaya Dr. R.C. Laloo was the chief guest. The very meaning of the word jubilee is to celebrate but the sad fact is that the gathering was informed that the 25 years old institute is in a verge of collapse.  Those present in the gathering were informed that the academic council of the North Eastern Hills University has decided to withdraw the provisional affiliation of the college to the University add to that there is no financial assistance coming forth from the government to support the college and enable the management to hire qualified teachers. In the 25 years of its existence the college is till entirely funded by the community and the state government is yet to contribute to the recurring expenditure of the college in spite of the fact that the college has a sprawling campus and a building. The three mentioned colleges were purposely started to cater to the needs of the students whose parents cannot afford to send their kids to study outside their villages or town and if the state government is not supporting these college is it not a case of denying the student their basic right to education?

 

During the silver jubilee celebration of the Khat Ar Dalloi law college; Dr. R.C. Laloo Minister of education GoM, in his response to the request for support made by the management of the college ducked the query by saying that he would not like to comment on something that he don’t know. But what Dr Laloo seem to have forgotten is the fact that he has been minister of education for many times now and if a professor in a university who was also a minister of education for many times can still feign ignorant of the nitty-gritty of the education department of the state and the University from which he still draw his salary; then only God can help Meghalaya. Or does it mean that every time there is cabinet reshuffle; a minister has to unlearn whatever one has learned from the previous job before he takes on the new portfolio?  

 

This is the state of affairs in Meghalaya where we have a problem of plenty in the city like Shillong, but in the remote towns and village there is a need for huge government support to ensure equal opportunity for all the students to continue their education. In the case of Jaintia hills district, the community has already led the way for the government to engage in the process by supporting the colleges in the so called PPP, but that is not fort coming as of now. The state government is taking shelter in the excuse of ‘financial constrain’ and refuse to support or in the cases of the two rural colleges enhance the salary of the staff of these colleges.

 

It is also ironic that in spite of the fact that many cement companies operates in Jaintia Hills District; none of the cement companies has come forward to support these colleges.  Even the state government has failed to make it dawn on the companies that it is imperative that the companies should contribute to the development of the area which they operates. As of now it is the office of the deputy Commissioner which holds the key to decide where the conglomerate of cement companies put their money. If the government of Meghalaya considers education as it top priority, it is time to make the companies invest in education as one of companies’ corporate social responsibility obligation and thereby make companies CSR contribution transparent. The companies enjoy tax holiday and 58subsidies, it is time that the companies show some respect and contribute to the welfare of the state.  

Press and Public Relation

I would not have mentioned the press in Meghalaya in yet another article if it is not for ST’s Editor Comment on my observation in my previous article. I made my observation about the media in the state in one article and I think that is enough and I should move on and write on some other pertinent issues which demands immediate public attention. I also rarely response to feedbacks on my article not because I do not respect my critics but my understanding is that I had had my say and in a democracy others should have their say too. I also think it is rather unfair for me to take undue advantage of the valuable and scarce media-space on the editorial page of the ST to take a jibe at my critic; ultimately it is for the readers to derive at a conclusion and decide for themselves of what is right and what is wrong.  

I am glad that kong Patricia agreed with me on many counts and admitted that the media in the state had many limitations and she also lamented the fact that the journalists were not paid the salary that they deserves. But kong is silent on the question whether the media house can afford to enhance the pay of their staff or not? If the media house in spite of earning maximum revenue from sale and advertisement in the paper is not willing to share the profits with its staffs which is the backbone of the paper or the channel; then that is very unfair of the media house. I also believe that this space is very valuable and is not to be wasted on debates and verbal-sparring among the columnist hence this write-up is about the most important aspect of public lives i.e. public relationship

I hope the management of the ST will not mine if I point out at some of the recent example of the newspaper taking undue advantage of the readers with regards to advertisements. Readers of the paper edition of the ST would have notice that on many occasions advertisement were pasted on almost 75 percent of the space on the front page of the newspaper leaving just 25 percent for news. Front page is not only the face of the paper but it also the most valuable space of the newspaper, because advertisement cost on this page is hundred percent more than in any other pages. It is true that the paper should try to maximize profit at any available opportunity, after all newspaper is a business enterprise and not charity. But one would expect ST to respect its readers and stick to the convention followed by many national dailies to reserve 75 percent space on the front page for news and 25 percent or a quarter of the page for advertisement. Occasionally the paper would also have two or three big davp advertisement on several pages in a single issue; on such issue one would also expect the management of the newspaper to compensate the readers for their money by inserting additional page. Newspaper serves it reader by disseminating news and views and also by allowing itself to become a platform for the people to air their grievances but it should also treat its readers with due respect; in other words newspaper too should have a good Public Relation (PR). ST now still have a large readership and command respect of a large section of English speaking readers of the state, but it is very important that the newspaper keep up the relationship that it now has with its readers.

Good Public Relationship is one that is found lacking in many government departments and even in banking sectors too. More often than not; general people were taken for a ride and were not even treated with respect by those supposed to help them. Not only ordinary citizen were treated shabbily by those in the position, but even those who serve the public too; were not given due respect. Consider this, the District head of Jaintia hills district has been incommunicado with the press for about a year now. The office of the Deputy Commissioner and the media person in the district has no contact whatsoever among them for more than a year now. If you have been wondering why you do not see any DC-related report from Jaintia hills for about a year now; it is because the media in the district has boycotted the DC since last year.  Now if the District Head does not have even a working relationship with the press then the question that begs the answer is what kind of relationship does the DC’s office have with ordinary denizen of the District?

General public particularly those who come from rural areas were not given due respect by the people who are supposed to serve them. When I made a complaint to the Branch Manager of the State Bank of India, Jowai against an accountant whose attitude towards the customers seems to create more problem that he solved, I was shocked by the young BM’s response who said “it is his nature what can I do?” I responded to the BM by saying “but he holds a post that deals with the public and it requires that he has a good rapport with the customers.” I also suggested that the Bank should first send him for a course in Public Relation which is available in many mass media institutes before letting him handle such a demanding job. All public employees for that matter need to have some kind of training in good PR; it is one aspect of a job in public services that needs to be inculcated in each and every employee to ensure effective governance.

I once wrote an article on the subject of Police-Public Relationship in a Khasi daily and note that till now we are taught to fear the police. If parent considered their son to be ill-mannered, the parents would scare him by saying that they would call the police. Judging from the attitude of many men in uniform, perhaps it is not wrong to conclude that it looks like the police too; enjoy the undue fear the public have of them but that is not what is expect of men in uniform isn’t it? It looks like the police are trained to act tough because their job is dealing with hardened criminals, but can the policemen treated citizen whom they meet in any ordinary day the same way they treated criminals? Every person they meet in the street is not a potential criminal is he? On the 4th of July this year I send an Independence Day to my American friends by posting on my Facebook account a photo of me near the life-size cutout of President Barrack Obama. The comment I made on photo apart from wishing my friends happy Independence Day was ‘the closest I can be to Obama is hi life-size cutout.’ Adrian Worsfold a colleague from Manchester commented on my posting by sharing a story of a shop owner in England who put a life-size policeman cutout to guard his shop. This happen when people respect and not afraid of the law, it may also be mention that the Policemen in Norway patrol the street of Oslo without carrying any arms. The life-size policeman cutout perhaps serves what is actually expected from a living policeman, which is to remind people to respect the law. Oh how I wish to see the days when we don’t even need policemen to patrol our streets and no need of traffic warden to ensure people obey traffic rules. Perhaps the Police Training School (PTS) too; needs to inculcate good PR as part of the training for their cadets. The public would be glad to have a friendly police man in the neighbourhood and not somebody they would not like to have anything to do with.

Good public relation is expected from each and every employee paid by the government or any service providerd which deals directly with the people. In fact any employee in the service sector from the top echelon of the organization to grass root workers needs to have a good PR. This requires a change of mindset among those working in the service sectors starting from the top. Employees in a public service sectors should know how to treat the person on the other side of the table and to treat her with due respect even though she is poor, perhaps even ignorant and is not as well dress as you are. Public service employee especially those in the government departments are expected to treat each individual who approach their office with dignity.