Caretaker of city Gandhi Mandir debt–trapped!

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, January 30: The Gandhi Mandir in Guwahati had no event on the 67th death anniversary of the Gandhiji today, barring a lamp lighted in the morning by MLA Robin Bordoloi. Gandhi Mandir is around 3 km from Dispur, seat of power in Assam. In stark contrast, the ruling Congress in Assam held as many as  24,280 meetings today in as many booth–level APCC committees so as make to it Dispur for the fourth consecutive term.

Such an incident speaks volumes of the state Congress government’s respect for the Father of the tion. This is not all. The state government’s neglect for Gandhi Mandir is glaring from the treatment the  mandir and its employees are meted out by the state administration.

Vidya Das, chowkidar of Gandhi Mandir in the city, has been without salaries for the past ten months! A debt–trapped Das and his family of three – his wife and his daughter reading in HS – have to live a hand–to–mouth life. He has been working in the post since 1990. “I met local MLA Robin Bordoloi and the ADC for my salaries, but to no avail,” Das said.