Time to prove
So far yours truly with his limited knowledge in command, there are two main student bodies in the state and they are AASU and AAMSU, besides some other ethnic student bodies like ABSU, AATSA etc. to name a few. AAMSU is a student body which was formed mainly to protect the interests of the linguistic minorities living mainly in sar areas of the state who are of doubtful nationality. Now what is about AASU? Are they for the safeguard of the sons of the soil? If so, do they have the guts to provide cultural, social security to the sons of the soil living in places like Baghbor, Jonia, Mankachar, Dalgaon, Kharupetia, Jamunamukh, South Salmara, Gauripur etc., to name a few. Merely sitting in dharnas in Dighalipukhuri, issuing press releases from the cosy comfort of Swahid Niwas, felicitating people, holding seminars etc., and maintaining a stoic silence in vital issues like eviction of government land, xatras, forest land in no way helps us as evidenced by the recent threats issued by AAMSU to destabilize Assam.
It is high time AASU gathered courage to confront AAMSU face to face. Else the writings are very much in the wall.
Jai Ai Asom,
Joel Gayari,
Tangla.
Election Laws
(Amendment) Bill-2021
The Parliament passed the "Election Laws (Amendment) Bill (2021)" which facilitates the linking of a person's Aadhaar number with electoral roll data. This step has been hailed by many as a significant step in bringing about electoral reforms in India. Linking electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem will help identify duplicate voters, purge the electoral rolls of multiple enrolments, and help put an end to the practice of fraudulent voting. Further, in a nation identified by a high degree of internal migration, where migrants at times find themselves disenfranchised, linking the two could help them in exercising their right to vote. However, the said bill suffers from certain drawbacks as well. Firstly, Aadhaar is only meant to be a digital identity for all residents of India and not citizenship proof. A residence of 182 days can even make a non-citizen eligible for an Aadhar ID. Secondly, the enrolment processes for voters' lists and Aadhaar are completely different. Whereas Aadhaar enrolment is based on the production of existing documents and the "introducer system", voter enrolments involve physical verification and "house visits" by a registration officer or representative. Thirdly, maintenance of the voters' list is a primary responsibility of the ECI (which is an independent constitutional body) whereas Aadhaar is a government instrument and UIDAI is under government control. Since the ECI has no control over either enrolment or de-duplication in Aadhaar, so it appears that the linking of Aadhaar with electoral rolls may result in a conflict of interest. Moreover, considering the variety of applications where Aadhaar ID finds its usage, linking the same with voter ID may result in possibilities of profiling and targeting of voters. In view of the above-mentioned reasons, it can be concluded that although the passage of the Bill is a welcome electoral reform, the associated loopholes need to be plugged in so that it achieves its intended objective.
Mihir Kumar Chowdhury,
Student of Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University.
Prospective 'fruit basket'
Horticulture can be a big earner for the northeastern region of the country but due to lack of finance and facilities, it is far from snatching that "fruit basket of the country title" from Himachal Pradesh. The Northeast grows all sorts of fruits like apples, pineapples, bananas, oranges, litchis, kiwis, strawberries, plums but it has not achieved a stage where it can export fruits to other parts of the country and for that matter to abroad too. It grows fruits only enough to feed its population. Our Prime Minister in a press meet a few years back said that the Northeast can be the next fruit basket of the country but has not done enough on that front. Only according GI tags to fruits will not suffice. I would like to urge the Prime Minister of the country to invest in horticulture in the Northeast, it would be an investment that would bear sweet fruits for ages.
Noopur Baruah,
Tezpur
Job fair catastrophe
I seek to bring to your kind notice that the Job fair that was organized in different cities of Assam, employers failed to clearly express the needs for job fairs, job descriptions, pay scale ranges, types of qualifications. The more fair organizers know about employers' needs, the better they can fill them. Then the organizers can give the media lists of confirmed employers that will attend. Due to the lack of proper planning, the job fair was a disaster. Due to a lack of information in promotion, many were seen complaining about the job offers they got at the job fair. Many aspirants came to the job fair expecting government jobs but were left disappointed upon hearing all jobs offered were in private companies. The job fair attracted candidates but they failed to attract the right candidates for the jobs.
In my opinion, fair organizers and employers should plan the event properly instead of just showing up and accepting resumes. If the event is planned properly by the organizers I believe many job seekers will benefit from it.
Sourav Jyoti Kalita,
Department of Communication And Journalism,
Gauhati University
Pitamaha of Carnatic music
Centuries have rolled by since the lifetime of one of the chief founding proponents and the Pitamaha of Carnatic music Saint Purandara Dasa, but his birthplace still remains a mystery. In fact, to explore definitive archaeological evidence regarding the birthplace of this great composer, the Karnataka government undertook some field research work during the summer of 2020. However, to date neither has there been any concrete evidence nor any update on this research work that would end all speculations about the composer's birthplace.
Inscriptional evidence strongly suggests that Purandara Dasa was born in 1484 CE at Keshavapura in Tirthahalli, Karnataka. Though there were theories that his native town was Purandaragad near Pune, it was later considered a historical mistake. Purandara Dasa was a wealthy diamond merchant from Karnataka who gave away all his material riches to become a Hindu monk. His compositions are mostly in Kannada and some are in Sanskrit too. These details add credence to Purandara Dasa's birthplace at Keshavapura and confirm that the mystic poet wholly belonged to the State of Karnataka. Many may know that it was Purandara Dasa who structured the graded exercises of svaravalis and alankaras in Carnatic music and introduced the raga mayamalavagowla, which is the first scale to be learnt by beginners in the field.
Ranganathan Sivakumar,
Madipakkam
Chennai – 600 091