Letters to THE EDITOR: Fragrant fortune

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Fragrant fortune

A chip of Assam's agarwood may be small, but its economic fragrance could waft across continents if the state converts a niche forest product into a sustainable export powerhouse. The shipment of 123 kg of agarwood chips to Dubai, highlighted by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, marks a noteworthy milestone for an industry supporting over 50,000 farmers and workers. Yet, this breakthrough must not be mistaken for the culmination of Assam's export ambitions. A single consignment can generate optimism; sustained market access, value addition and equitable remuneration can transform livelihoods.

Agarwood, prized for its aromatic resin and perfumery applications, offers Assam an opportunity to diversify its rural economy. However, middlemen may corner disproportionate profits unless growers are organised into cooperatives, provided with scientific cultivation training and linked directly to international buyers. Transparent pricing, quality certification, traceability and streamlined export procedures are indispensable to winning the confidence of discerning global markets.

The government also needs to protect against random harvesting, illegal extraction, and damage to the environment. Commercial enthusiasm should not outstrip conservation imperatives. Nurseries, sustainable plantations, research facilities and modern processing units can help Assam move up the value chain instead of merely shipping raw materials abroad. Furthermore, small growers need accessible credit, insurance and market intelligence to withstand price volatility. Export promotion must trickle down to the cultivators who nurture these fragrant assets, rather than remain a headline-grabbing achievement.

Assam has the opportunity to turn its aromatic heritage into an engine of inclusive prosperity. Let us not rest on our laurels after one successful shipment; instead, let every consignment carry the promise of sustainable growth, fair returns and global recognition. Agarwood's true fragrance is not just its aroma but the dignity and prosperity it brings to its growers.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat

Privileged youths driving CJP?

After the recent CJP protest that took place in Delhi, it has become important for a teacher like me, who has spent 20 years in the teaching profession, to know the reality behind the movement and the new generation, labelled as Gen Z. Discovering a new epithet for a particular age group is not the same as knowing their temperament. And for a teacher, identifying the factors that influence the youths in a socio-political setup remains vital for building a connection with them. To know things more clearly, I personally asked five young people aged between 18 and 22 years whether they support CJP and their protest. The first one said he had failed in the 12th class this year and is looking forward to clearing the exams anyhow. His study schedule does not permit him to watch a reel on social media, let alone sit for a whole day protest. The second one is worried about his two sisters and is trying to get a private job; he cannot afford going to Jantar Mantar. The third youth said his father sells vegetables, and for supporting the family, he wants to start a tea stall. He does not have any extra time to keep up with updates on the CJP movement. The fourth one has never heard of Gyanesh Kumar. Only the fifth youth wished to go to Jantar Mantar, not for the purpose of protesting, but to see what it looks like in real life.

Now, it is true that the views of merely five youths may not reveal what the entire Gen Z thinks. But surprisingly, all five young individuals were economically marginalised, and none of them had shown the slightest interest in the CJP or their agenda. Then who are the individuals, apart from the leftist cult, that are forming the bulk of the CJP protest? It should be noted that 65% of the total youth live in rural India, whose aspirations, lifestyles and struggles are quite different from those of Gen Z sitting inside their air-conditioned rooms and going to colleges riding their vehicles. If only the youths who can afford to spend money on flight and train tickets have travelled to Delhi to make CJP's Jantar Mantar 2.0 a successful campaign, then the entire CJP movement would be merely a political mobilisation supported by privileged individuals. And this is what we need to understand today.

Kabir Ahmed Saikia

Rajabari, Jorhat

Deep tech beyond dogma

India's technological rise, for decades, has revolved around the triumph of our premier engineering graduates, who are perfect for the assembly-line production of software managers and corporate administrators. But the shop floors of our emerging industrial corridors, the clean rooms of our nascent semiconductor units and the laboratory benches of supplied research laboratories still face an acute shortage of high-precision technicians, hardware fabricators and translational scientists. India now requires an integrated AI ecosystem that is frugal, open and fundamentally inclusive. The foundation for this already exists in our digital public infrastructure, upon which both public and private enterprise can build. Unless a state-of-the-art semiconductor assembly, testing, and packaging plant, or a modern robotics facility gives due importance to vocational technicians, lionising the spreadsheet manager will be an intellectual conceit, which India can no longer afford. There is an utmost necessity now to direct our Gen-Z resources towards deep tech. It demands laboratories equipped with GPUs and precision tools, mastering applied mathematics, systems programming and semiconductor materials, building vernacular AI engines. All these will solve ground-level crises in healthcare and agriculture, and we take pride in high-precision fabrication, hardware design and physical engineering. What Swami Vivekananda foresaw more than a century ago - that the nation would rejuvenate with the awakening of the common people - must come true in the deep-tech age. The civilisational insight will find its truest expression in the high-precision technician, the clean room operator and the hardware craftsman.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.

A Clarification

In response to a report in The Sentinel headlined 'Fewer than five inpatients in Digboi's 200-bedded ACID Hospital' published on 23 October, 2026, Indian Oil Digboi Refinery clarified that the ACID hospital, established in 1926 and run by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, is an industrial hospital primarily catering to Indian Oil employees, their dependants, retired employees, security personnel, and other eligible beneficiaries. It also extends affordable medical services to the general population of Digboi and surrounding areas, particularly given that specialised healthcare facilities in Dibrugarh are approximately 80 km away.

The hospital is providing services in obstetrics and gynaecology, ENT, psychiatry, general surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics, ophthalmology, dental surgery, radiology, and industrial and Occupational Health. Major facilities include 24x7 emergency services and pharmacy, OPD and IPD, a burn ward, pathology laboratory, 16-slice CT scanner, USG, digital X-ray, two major operation theatres, one minor operation theatre, C-arm imaging, and an occupational health centre for our employee.

The hospital's service statistics for FY 2025-26 are as follows:

Outpatient Department (OPD): A total of 50,678 visits were recorded, including 14,384 visits by patients from the general population, accounting for 28.4% of the total.

Inpatient Department (IPD): A total of 675 admissions were recorded, including 313 patients from the general public, accounting for 46.4% of the total.

The report appears to draw broad conclusions about the hospital's capabilities based on inpatient occupancy observed during a particular visit. However, occupancy on any given day cannot, in isolation, be considered a definitive indicator of a hospital's healthcare capabilities, service quality, or overall contribution to the community.

Deep Kar Das

GM (HR), Indian Oil Bhavan

(For and on behalf of Indian Oil Digboi Refinery)