Road safety is one's own responsibility
Last year road accidents dropped by 6% and fatalities by 1%, but still road accident remains significant in Assam. There are stricter rules to curb the problem like straight enforcement of the traffic police, and the transport department enforcing helmets and seat belts, but there are still a few sections who deny following so. Without people cooperating the efforts of the transport and traffic officials goes in vain and we can still see that where people drunk driving and not following traffic signals. There are also instances, where kids (below the age of 18) drive and ride rashly without a driving license.
Of driving or riding
Driving or riding on the road comes with a great responsibility as it involves the life of not just the rider but also of several other commuters.
Sasankar Das,
Gauhati University.
Vote-bank politics
After the Gorukhuti eviction, the State government completed another massive eviction in Batadrava, the birthplace of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev. Almost 1,000 bighas of government land were under illegal occupation by people of doubtful nationality for decades. The alarming facts revealed by the evicted people simply point their fingers at the Congress government. Even the names of a few cabinet ministers were openly taken by those evicted people who helped them to settle in the government land because of vote-bank politics in the guise of secularism.
The absence of a prominent Congress leader, who tore his shirt as a mark of protest after the Gorukhuti eviction along with the local MLA, and an Independent MLA at the eviction site at Batadrava is noteworthy.
Joel Gayari,
Tangla
Need for open spaces
Rapid urbanization without adequate open spaces has become a major cause of concern for any responsible citizen. We all know that a lack of pleasurable activities in open spaces hinders the development of both the physical and mental health of a child. So, utmost importance should be given to preserving the existing open spaces so that there is no chance of encroachment in future. Also, the government should convert some of the open spaces into well-designed and well-planned amusement parks so that our future generations are not deprived of playing with their peers in open spaces. There is no ambiguity about the need for an amusement park in an urban area for the all-around development of a growing child.
Bhushan Ray,
Bijni, Chirang
Make reading a habit
George RR Martin, renowned American novelist, screenwriter and television producer said: "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…The man who never reads lives only one." Reading is a skill that keeps on giving. Good reading bestows upon the reader not only necessary life skills and hours of literary enjoyment but also a greater intellectual ability and capacity for brain-building. When reading, stimulates areas in the brain responsible for empathy, emotion, decision-making and autobiographical memory. Reading also helps one to reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Researchers have proved that passionate readers are empowered with greater imagination, more knowledge and with greater vocabulary. Smart people often provide new and innovative ideas on how to handle new and existing things efficiently. However, to generate such ideas, the brain needs a "library" of general knowledge that can be amassed by reading a lot.
Ranganathan Sivakumar
Chennai – 600091