Letters to the Editor: Agree to disagree

Just after independence the then Assam was a state comprising today’s Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.
Letters to the Editor: Agree to disagree

Agree to disagree

Just after independence the then Assam was a state comprising today's Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram. Shillong was the then capital of undivided Assam. But due to some reasons, Assam was gradually dissected into the aforementioned states above the then government at the centre without doing any homework at the grassroots level. The results are there for all to see now. Poor Assam became the worst victim of this development because of the then Central government's mindless decision. Frequent border disputes started taking place between Assam and the rest of the newly created states and today ironically the main opposition, the Congress has started raising a hue and cry over the border disputes.

As usually a very high-level parley between the officials of the disputing governments takes place to sort out the problems and at the end of the day a joint communique is released stating that the talks were held in a very cordial atmosphere and the participating officials cordially agreed to disagree. A new date for a future meeting will be announced soon.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Police modernization

From the media reports, it has been understood that the government of Assam is hell-bent on modernizing the entire police force of the state making it people's friendly, ease of doing work, accountable in works etc. Unfortunately, in reality, it shows a different picture. I want to narrate a recent case regarding police verification at the Jorhat SP office. My daughter applied for a passport in September 2021 (file no: GU52C4039192421 dt. 23/09/2021). Accordingly, the file for police verification was sent from the passport Seva Kendra to the SP office at Jorhat on 30/09/2021. As no intimation was received from the SP office for 2 months, I took initiative on the matter and for that police verification for her was completed at DSP Jorhat on 04/12/202 in my presence (less said is better about the minimum respect to a senior citizen). The said file after police verification had been kept lying for disposal up to 06/01/2022. If a police verification file for a bonafide student of an urban area takes more than 3 months, what type of modernization the government is talking about? It reminds me of the previous system of greasing the palms for any official works. May I request a reply from the authority concerned in this matter?

Dr P C Sarmah

Jorhat-1

Tobacco tax

There has been a consistent demand from sections of the society for a higher tax burden on tobacco manufacturers in our country since a lot of revenue is generated from the sale of tobacco products. Increasing excise duty on all tobacco products can be an effective policy measure to address the immediate need of the economy battered by the Coronavirus over the last two years. This will not only help the Central Government for generating more revenue but at the same time will enable curb tobacco use, thereby reducing tobacco-related diseases and COVID-related comorbidities. Also, the increase in tax revenue could significantly contribute to the increased need for resources during the pandemic, including vaccinations and augmenting the health infrastructure. Reports reveal that tobacco use, which is a slow-moving pandemic itself, claims the lives of 13-lakh Indians every year. Therefore, it is more critical than ever before to keep tobacco products out of the reach of our youth and the under-privileged sections of society. Raising taxes on tobacco products is perhaps the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use and save precious Indian lives.

Ranganathan Sivakumar

Madipakkam, Chennai.

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