Burden of school bags
According to Dewey, "School is a miniature of the society". Being a member of the society and a responsible citizen of the country, I do believe that the future of the country depends on our children. It is our duty to make them healthy, stronger, germ-free and more competitive so that they can face any challenge at the national or international levels. It is true that a school represents the society and each classroom represents a community. Students have to obey the rules and regulations of the society.
Now, the question arises: What is the responsibility of the Government to make our next generation healthy and proper human resource of the country? In this regard, the Government has to appoint some experienced teachers or educators who can create awareness among both the parents and their children with the help of their skills about the proper diet or nourishment, health and hygiene, innovative ideas, weight limitation of schoolbags carried by children, etc.
It is seen that some children carry heavy schoolbags, loaded with textbooks and exercise copies of all subjects, while coming to school. This exerts a lot of pressure on their shoulders, arms and backbone. This may lead to backache in future. It is true that the Government has imposed some norms on the weight of schoolbags, but due to lack of awareness the norms have not been enforced properly.
I, therefore, urge the Government of Assam, through your most popular esteemed daily, to issue instructions to every Government and non-Government educational institution, specially up to primary and upper primary levels, to strictly follow the norms regarding the permissible weight of schoolbags. If possible, they may be asked to teach not more than three subjects each day, so that the burden and stress of the students could be reduced to some extent.
Indrajit Sarma,
Dibrugarh – 786001.
Noise pollution
One of the complex problems in Guwahati city is noise pollution. The main source of this noise pollution is the high level of noise emanating from vehicles, industry, dharnas, open music concerts etc. Flyovers constructed at several places in Guwahati city lead to cost-consuming traffic jams at certain places, due to which cars sound their horns at high levels. Further, the sound of large machines used in construction and machines used in drilling for water plays an important role in causing noise pollution. Several diseases are cause by noise pollution, such as hearing impairment. Therefore, every resident of Guwahati city has to perform his/her duty responsibly in preventing noise pollution. Simultaneously, the Pollution Control Board of Assam has to discharge its duty by keeping in view the fact that noise pollution is a disease of human society.
Sakil Zaman Ahmed,
Cotton University.
Welcome bipartisanship
A vigorous debate on matters of national image and worldwide importance is the true core of a dynamic democracy. The proper churning of ideas that results in bipartisanship can do wonders for a country's image on the international stage, as the Parliament demonstrated in recent days. The Parliament heard a flurry of discussions about the situation in Ukraine, as well as heartfelt praise for the country's efforts to repatriate Indians through Operation Ganga. The expression of gratitude went across party lines, demonstrating how bipartisanship can aid a country in times of international pressure on difficult problems. Prime Minister Modi, praised the bipartisanship, saying it "augurs well for India on the global scene."
Chandan Kumar Nath,
Sorbhog.
Accommodation woes
Through the column of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of people and authorities concerned towards students who are facing problems in getting reasonable accommodation. Students of different educational institution in Guwahati are facing this problem due to shortage of hostels. Many educational institutions have shortage of accommodation and proper residential facilities for students, who are left with no choice but to get rooms on rent.
The students living in private accommodation not only have to pay a hefty amount of rent, but also have to face many problems such lack of security, quality meals and clean drinking water. Finding suitable accommodation is the most challenging aspect for young boys and girls who come from various parts of the North-East. Increase in enrolment in colleges does not correspond to the expansion of physical infrastructure such as hostels. Most students have found themselves living off-campus, a situation that to some extent poses a big problem in their endeavour to learn and earn their degree with flying colours.
I would like to request you kindly to highlight the above-mentioned concern for the benefit of the students.
Bhagyashree Das,
Cotton University.
Trade over
corpses
The 2013 Kedarnath flash flood is a grim remainder of Congress' style of functioning and how low they can stoop - Rs 4,60,000 for the removal of one dead body. In the aftermath of the flood, where thousands lost their lives, Robert Vadra, the infamous son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi traded a whooping sum of Rs 736 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still being criticized after he brought back home every Indian from the war-hit zone of Ukraine free of cost. On June 16, 2013 there was a huge flood in Uttarakhand which caused massive destruction and casualities. Over 25,000 pilgrims lost their lives in the flood, which continued for three consecutive days. The then Congress Government did not take any action or measures to rescue the pilgrims who were trapped in Kedarnath. On the fourth day, when the international community came to know about the terrible disaster and the news became headlines in the international media, it was then that the shameless Congress Government made a declaration of assistance. On June 18, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi went to the USA for medical treatment and her son Rahul Gandhi was in Bangkok. When the international community slammed the Government for inaction, the duo returned to India on June 21. The Government sent packets of biscuits and mineral water in eight trucks with full media coverage. All the trucks were pasted with posters of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and mother-son duo waved flags to start the relief operation. The sad part of the story is that neither the hiring cost or the cost for diesel were paid, so after travelling for eight days the truck drivers sold the biscuits and mineral water bottles to recover the hiring and diesel charges. Till today, nobody has questioned what happened to the biscuits and mineral water bottles. When the corpses started to decay after 15 days, the local people fearing outbreak of an epidemic, performed the cremation but they were overwhelmed on seeing the number of corpses spread over large areas. The Congress Government called for a tender for the removal of the corpses. The rate of the tender was Rs 4,60,000 for removal of one dead body and a total of 16,000 dead bodies were removed in the next sixteen days. Can anyone guess the owner of the company responsible for the disposal of the dead bodies? It was none other than Robert Vadra. He established the company with hired choppers. It was the biggest trade in dead bodies in the history of the world. The name of the company was Blue Breeze Trading Private Limited and Robert Vadra was one of the Board of Directors. The company prepared a bill of Rs. 7,36,00,000 and it was cleared immediately by the Government of India under Manmohan Singh. The final cleaning operation of the Kedarnath tragedy was done by the Indian Army after four months and yet they found thousand of unattended dead bodies in the valley.
Julie Bhuyan,
Gaurisagar.
Compulsive Opposition
After the installation of the new Government at Dispur under Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma almost a year back, the law-abiding citizens of the State suddenly came to know about the massive criminal activities like drug peddling, encroachment of Government and xatra lands, rustling, daylight robbery, poaching, human trafficking etc., to name a few, which have totally crippled the State. The earlier Governments at Dispur were mute spectators and the hapless citizens were left to their fates. Assam Police was best compared with 'Nidhi Ram Sardar', a totally toothless sentinel. After Himanta Biswa Sarma assumed the Chief Minister's post, a lot of things started changing overnight. Police were given free hand to deal with these criminals as per law so that we can sleep peacefully, but very strangely and unfortunately, the likes of Akhil Gogoi and Company in their usual style have once again been trying to make their presence felt by comparing the recent police encounters with the then secret killings under the Prafulla Mahanta Government. We have seen that the present police encounters are mainly carried out against the dreaded criminals, unlike the secret killings in Mahanta's era. This very development has made us believe that Gogoi and Co. must have some nexus with criminals. I strongly urge the Government to probe into the past and present behind the screen activities of Akhil Gogoi in particular. The morale of the State police cannot be compromised, as we all know that Akhil Gogoi is a compulsive Opposition and he will keep on harping on the Government no matter what comes and what goes.
Aparna Sarma Chowdhury,
Guwahati.
Income tax of MLAs
The Himachal Pradesh Cabinet has decided that all legislators, including the Chief Minister, would henceforth pay income tax on their salaries from their own pocket rather than the Government footing the bill in that regard. The Cabinet has decided to promulgate an ordinance to omit section 12 of the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act, 2000 and section 11A of the Act of 1971 relating to MLAs' income tax. Last month, a petition was filed in the High Court questioning the payment of MLAs' income tax from the exchequer and the decision by the Cabinet is aimed at quelling public resentment over the issue. It is notable that the same payment is being made by other five State Governments and the petitioners have averred in the plea that the State legislatures have no powers to legislate in any manner whatsoever with respect to the payment of income tax or charging of income tax or assessment of income. As per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, the income of every individual is required to be assessed and taxed in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. The exemptions from the income or non-taxable items are exclusively dealt with under the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Income Tax Act mandates the payment of income tax by every individual, who is earning income, which is assessed to income tax in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act. The State Government has no legislative competence to enact any provision mandating the provisions of income tax contrary to the terms contained in the Income Tax Act, which has been enacted while exercising the powers under Entry 82 of List–1 of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution of India.
Against this backdrop, the plea contends that by virtue of these legislations, a special class has been created for the Members of Legislative Assembly and Ministers thereof, whose income tax liability is being borne by the State.
"At the same time, there is another class of general income tax payers, who bear and pay the income tax in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act. There is no intelligible differentia for carving out these two classes with respect to the payment of income tax and such a differentia has no nexus with the object sought to be achieved by the said classification," the plea has further submitted.
On the basis of what is stated above, it is very much clear that payment of tax of legislators by legislatures is totally illegal and such type of tax is being paid by six States - Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is expected that other States will also follow Himachal Pradesh and will refrain from paying income tax of legislators.
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Jalandhar -144003.