Populist measures by the Assam government: Letters to The Editor

The Assam government headed by Himanta Biswa Sarma should formulate only those policies that would make the state developed. Never should the Assam government headed by Himanta Biswa Sarma spend public money in unproductive channels and take policies to earn cheap popularity. Assam, being a backward State in India, can never fritter away its hard-earned revenue. The decision of the Assam government to waive off the loans taken by women from microfinance institutions is never correct. It is nothing but wrong spending of public money. There are numerous important works to do by the Assam government. Assam's unemployment problem being a serious one, the Assam government has to create jobs for the unemployed youths in the State. Further, the Assam government should take up measures to control floods and erosion and to expand economic and social infrastructure in the State. To create jobs in the State, the Assam government has to set up industries in the manufacturing sector. Particularly, manufacturing industries help in the eradication of unemployment in a State. Further, Assam has had a big scope for expanding agro-based and mineral-based industries in the state. Furthermore, the Assam government should expand economic and social infrastructure in the State. Without infrastructure, the people in Assam would not be able to increase their living standards. Assam's rapid development will depend upon three main factors, namely, proper collection of revenue, proper use of public money and the adoption of correct policies. Accordingly, the Assam government would have to be judicious while it spends public money.

Maheswar Deka,

Rangia.

Welcome step

The centralization of vaccination policy is a welcome step as it will ease the supply of the vaccines. Having a unified command centre is always better than having many centres. It will surely help the country inoculate its citizens at breakneck speed. The decision on free vaccines will also benefit many people. As far as private hospitals are concerned, there should be a strict monitoring and the rates charged by the State governments should keep a check on the hospitals. Operational helplines should be created by each State government for the citizens to report cases of overreaching.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Current status of tourism in India

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would highlight that the COVID pandemic has largely affected the tourism industry of India.

The pandemic has affected the foreign exchange economy as well as other regional developments. There is a fall in the arrival of foreign tourists by more than 60 per cent and will mostly be affected for more than another year.

The Government of India should look upon this matter as a serious concern and take serious and strategic decisions for further maximizing the Foreign Exchange Economy.

Abhigyan Deka,

Guwahati.

Cover your nose

If you're not covering your nose with your mask you're doing it wrong. Why do you think they swab your sinuses when they take a COVID-19 test? Maybe, if you were not around anyone, you could temporarily take the mask from your nose but if you are next to people, the nose should be covered. For some folks it's a matter of comfort, the mask gets too hot, or their eyeglasses fog, with the mask over their nose. But how comfortable is being hooked up to a ventilator for a few weeks? For most, it's either a complete lack of scientific understanding or they are wearing the mask most minimally to technically comply with applicable rules. People who leave their noses uncovered are ignorant, they are still capable of spreading the virus to other people, and are at very high risk of acquiring the disease if they come into contact with someone who is shedding the virus.

Mohsin Hussain,

Nagaon.

COVID vaccines

The rate of COVID-19 spread seems to be decreasing day by day. Vaccines are playing a vital role in decreasing the disease. But now the shortage of vaccines in our State is again creating a problem as this may result in less recovery. So through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the kind attention of the Health Minister and authorities concerned that more and more vaccines should be supplied to fight this deadly disease.

Aranyani Borah,

Guwahati.

Indian time zone

India should also advance its time zone by half an hour to make it GMT+6 hours rather than the present haphazard GMT+5.30 hours as also recommended by the National Institute of Advanced Studies. Since presently just eight countries in the world deviate from separating their time zones by a fraction of an hour, the Indian government should approach international authorities so that the time zone for a country may compulsorily be deviated by a full one hour from GMT. Making Indian Time at GMT+6 hours will fulfil the long-pending and genuine demand of people from Northeast India without going for dual and impractical time zone for the country. The suggested change will reduce the big time difference of 127 minutes between the extreme east and west zones of the country. The demand of northeastern States is highly justified for better utilization of daytime energy when sunrise and sun set are comparatively much earlier there than rest of the country.

India should also take lead in taking up the matter of metric measure of time with international authorities concerned. When all other measures are converted in the metric system from earlier haphazard systems, a metric measure of time has not yet been introduced. A metric unit of time should be introduced with a complete day divided into 10 metric hours instead of the present 24 hours. Each metric hour may have 100 metric minutes with a metric minute having 100 metric seconds thereby making a complete day of 100000 metric seconds instead of the present 86400 seconds.

Madhu Agrawal,

Delhi

Vaccination strategy

The Centre should frame a transparent formula for allocating vaccines to States, and make the formula public. Second, payments should be made well in advance. Third, the Centre should allow States to decide the distribution strategy. It may be door-to-door vaccination or drive-by vaccination or through other means, they should be free to mix and match strategies that suit them the best. The ideal combination will be central procurement and flexible decentralized distribution.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

One-way route

Recently a doctor was assaulted by 24 people in Assam. The Leftists, Congress, KMSS, AASU, AIUDF and others would have rocked the Assembly corridors and the Parliament had the doctor belonged to a minority community and the perpetrators of the crime from the majority populace. They would have moved the UNO, Human Rights, etc. In the international forum, Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia and some homegrown 'super secularists' would have raised the issue and blamed the Modi government for torture and suppression of minorities in India. Past instances have taught us that Indian secularism has become one-way traffic due to the appeasement policy of pseudo-secularists like Leftists, Congress, Samajwadi Party, TMC, etc. Secularism is a novel system but it cannot be practised at the cost of a nation's integrity and security.

Joel Goyari,

Tangla.

Come on AASU, AJYCP and AJP

The BJP-alliance government looks like they are sincere in controlling the unchecked birth rate in sar saporis. This step should have been taken much earlier though albeit late but it's an opportunity to save our land, culture, identity, language, custom and religion. The jatiyobadi groups, particularly the AASU, AJYCP and the new regional political party AJP should support and pressurize the government to formulate a law regarding population control measures. The government under the dynamic leader, Himanta Biswa Sarma is too contemplating for verification of the NRC in sar saporis and areas bordering Bangladesh. This is a welcome step. We all are aware that many discrepancies exist in the NRC prepared with Prateek Hajela as the State coordinator. Samujjal Bhattacharjee, Palash Changmai, Dipankar Nath and Lurinjyoti Gogoi should shed their political ego and support the government in this agenda.

Manthan Rudra Kashyap,

Boko.

Rightly said

The statement made by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the population explosion is correct. Whatever may be the reason, the uncontrolled birth rate in a particular community is alarming. If nothing is done very soon they would outnumber the indigenous people and Assam might be the second Kashmir where the indigenous people would face the fate of Kashmiri pandits. Secondly, overpopulation exerts pressure on the State resources. Already in 14 districts of the State, these migrants have outnumbered the bhumiputras. These people are used as vote bank by Congress and the AIUDF and the leaders of both the political parties come to shield and protect them whenever they indulge in antisocial activities. In the recent elections, it was observed that no indigenous person got elected from the constituencies dominated by them barring Phani Talukdar (AIUDF) from the Bhawanipur seat. Coming to land encroachment, these people are master in this art. Wherever they see vacant land they are quick to grab it. Even our xatra land is not spared. I, through your esteemed daily, appreciate the steps taken by the current government in evicting the encroachers. I hope in the coming days we can see the entire encroached land free from the people of suspected nationality and integrity.

Before concluding I request the State as well as the national government to introduce a population control Bill as soon as possible.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Online classes

It's harder to get motivated. If you're physically at school, you'll be more energized and you'll feel more encouraged to work. But if you're at your own house, things get more difficult. It's harder to find the motivation to do any online work, due to being in a familiar, comfortable environment that you've created habits with. It's difficult to keep up. In school, teachers will typically assign one assignment at a time, but during online classes, multiple assignments are given by multiple teachers. They forget that we're not used to this and that all this work is too stressful for us. It's extremely difficult to get several assignments done on the right dates if we're already struggling on one. This causes us to fall behind and our grades drop. It isn't the same learning experience. Doing work and learning from home just isn't the same as going to an actual class.

Mohsin Hussain,

Guwahati.

Sports in India

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to address that sportsman in India struggle to meet their basic needs. Lack of infrastructure and meagre resources are a few of the primary causes for this scenario.

The public and private sectors can both work together to uplift the present situation and develop the adequate quality of infrastructure for improvement on the performances of Indian athletes on the world stage.

Abhigyan Deka,

Guwahati.

Similar situation

Your editorial column 'Bordoloi and Assam' dated June 7 regarding the 131st birth anniversary of Late Bharat Ratna Gopinath Bordoloi which was observed solemnly in the State revealed many vital stats about the greatest son of Assam. His single-handed efforts saved our State and its people from being part of East Pakistan. He nullified the vicious conspiracy hatched by Late Sir Sadullah of the Muslim League. The contributions of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee can't be overlooked. The then Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's role in this regard was very one-sided.

In the present day, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is facing similar situations as now Assam is also facing similar threats from people of East Pakistan origin. It will be quite challenging for the Chief Minister to stand up in this critical juncture as we feel the present situation in Assam is quite similar to the scene of 1946. The major plus point of Sarma is that he has Narendra Modi as the PM.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

COVID & mental health

A pandemic is not just a medical phenomenon; it affects individuals and society and causes disruption, anxiety, stress, stigma, and xenophobia. Rapid human?to?human transmission of the virus resulted in the enforcement of regional lockdowns to stem the further spread of the disease. Isolation, social distancing, and closure of educational institutes, workplaces, and entertainment venues consigned people to stay in their homes to help break the chain of transmission. However, the restrictive measures undoubtedly have affected the social and mental health of individuals from across the board.

Quarantine and self? isolation can most likely harm one's mental health. Separation from loved ones, loss of freedom, boredom, and uncertainty can cause deterioration in an individual's mental health status. In this situation, governments must take the necessary measures to provide mental health support as prescribed by experts. Then it will help to fight against this deadliest virus together at the societal level.

Gitartha Pratim Nath,

Guwahati.