Don't treat poor with disdain!: Letters to THE EDITOR

Don't treat poor with disdain!

Dear leaders; don't look down at them with pity. Consider them as less fortunate than you. They also like to live life as we do, keeping their head high and with dignity. They are part of the society. They too have self respect. They also dream like you and me. They have also ambitions in life to do something for themselves and the society. Don't let them down offering or luring them with pittance during election time. Open windows of opportunities to them, they would come at par with you, if not more than you. However, opportunities are few and far between for them. You are in power. Resources are at your disposal. Create conducive environment so that they can realize their dreams. Don't put them in vicious circle, which would decimate their dreams in the bud!

Construct good schools and colleges; impart quality education to every child; crime and poverty will automatically go away in due course of time. Construct good hospitals; provide quality health care facility to every citizen. State would get healthy work force to build a prosperous state. Construct quality road and bridges in villages, which would improve connectivity between villages and towns/cities and vice versa. Arrange to provide 24x7 power to every household. Provide potable water to every household in village and in cities. Arrange top class public transport system so that boys and girls can comfortably attend school/ colleges. Construct quality institutions to develop skill workforce in various trades. Your responsibility is to create opportunities; people will arrange their own livelihood. They would feel proud to build their own toilet, construct/ purchase their own houses; arrange their gas stoves and gas cylinders. And they would also feel proud to purchase books for their children and pay tuition fees as well. Parents would get elated by providing lap-top, mobile and Scooty to their children. Allow people to be the good citizen. Throw doors of opportunities wide open for our youth and able workforce, which is your bounden responsibility. For God's sake don't treat them with disdain!

Pankaj Baruah,

Rukminigaon, Guwahati

Bharat, Dragon and the Family

India's strong stand to refute China's claim and the family's policy to strengthen China and weaken India has been the second most important news-making event after the COVID-19 menace.

Why's the family trying to mislead and psychologically demoralize the nation? Why was the family's scion meeting Chinese officials when the armies of the two nations were facing each other? Why did the family do not act till date on the resolution taken by its government under Late PM Narasimha Rao of taking back the areas of Aksai Chin and Kashmir? Why did the family sign an MoU with the Chinese in the presence of the Chinese President in 2005? Why does AK Antony, former Defence Minister appointed by the family's government say 'India cannot match up with China? '

In 1950, the United Nations asked India to join the Security Council instead of China but the family's daughter Vijaya Laxmi Pandit is known for denying such opportunity saying India might not be able to garner support for its membership. She is also known as saying that India must not rush towards such opportunities but should be steady in moving ahead. The then Prime Minister Nehru seemed to support such statements and wasn't ready to raise any situation that might offend the Dragon. Why did they deny even though they were sure of the support from many other prominent and powerful members of the UN?

1962 defeat of the Indian army in the Indo-China war cannot undermine the valour of our army. The army had to hold its ground with age-old weapons and was slowed down by poor infrastructure. There were no roads to move forward and the number of troops was much lower than that of China. Defeat brings shame but the 1962 defeat isn't so, it fills Indian hearts with pride.

Bharat today in comparison to 1962 is much stronger in the field of defence, weapons and infrastructure and also its position as a global player. But Rahul Gandhi cannot stop praising the strength of Xi Jinping and undermine the leadership of the nation's leader PM Narendra Modi.

What is the motive behind continuous demoralization? What's behind questioning the strength of Indian armed forces, their steps, and their valour? Such a position taken by the Opposition creates distrust in the international arena, where India is striving to attain a position of a major global player.

India is home to one-sixth of the global population and has sustained a unique democratic ethos and a foreign policy that is defined not only by national interest but also by solidarity with the developing world. India's strength is growing day by day and the people of the nation are behind the leadership. The trust and confidence to establish India as a global power is not only visible in the government but also seen in the eyes of its citizens. No power whether external or internal can stop India's growth story. The opposition should understand power cannot be attained by creating hindrances in this growth story but by supporting it. Bharat is ready to take on China with its infrastructural strength, world-class defence, zeal of its arm forces, and the international support behind it.

Gautam Sharma,

Tezpur, Assam

Obituary of HPC!

We condoled the sad demise of both Jagiroad and Cachar paper plants under Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd. We feel sad and exasperated to know that both the plants would be sold as scraps. We (as team members of M/s. Engineers India limited (EIL), a Navaratna-PSU) toiled hard to build both the plants at difficult times of early 1980s, when Assam agitation was at its peak. Millions of mandays were lost, while constructing Jagiroad plant, due to bandh and strikes etc. Even we did not surrender. My friends and colleagues were mostly from outside the state, felt extremely sad to hear the plight of the plants from me. A dedicated team of engineers built both the plants. I with great confidence like to state here that, without EIL being in the picture, it was not impossible to complete and commission the plant in 1986. So we can't take its demise lightly. The plant was built with foreign technology and imported machineries. It was heartening to note that Jagiroad plant was producing the best quality paper in the country. Thus, it had become a matter of envy for many private parties. Now it is history! We don't know who conspires to close the plants when unemployment is looming large in the country. It is easier to close down a running plant rather than build it. People in the helm don't understand this. That is the crux of the problem.

Prafulla Dowarah,

Guwahati