Letters to the Editor

Chaos in maintaining social distance

Through the columns of your esteemed daily I would like to highlight the chaotic atmosphere created by the general public in maintaining social distancing norms. Be it in election rallies, students visiting educational institutions, day-to-day market visits, the protocols are not being followed by the public. Wearing of mask is not the only solution to prevent the corona outbreak. In fact maintaining social distance is one of the most important preventive measures against the virus. Therefore, I would request the authorities concerned to take the necessary steps as soon as possible.

Rimjhim Das,

Guwahati.

Unknown political parties

In the Assam Legislative Assembly Election, 2021, almost two crore voters have exercised their franchise to elect 126 candidates. But surprisingly, a total of 946 candidates contested in the election. Among them, a huge number of candidates contested from some unfamiliar political parties such as Bohujon Mohaparty, Bharatiya Tribal Party, Voters Party International, Hindustan Nirman Dol, All India Minority Front, Lok Raksha Party, Political Justice Party, Swarna Bharat Party, Bharatiya Rastrabadi Party, Bharatiya Gana Parishad etc. Really, it is a matter of great surprise to know the long list of unfamiliar political parties, especially at the time of election. Who are behind these parties and what drives them to fight the leviathan battles they are certain to lose? Do these sundry small parties use election to evade taxes, reroute black money or make quick bucks by making serious candidates pay them for withdrawing their candidates to avoid splitting the vote bank? Such types of common questions arise among the citizens but nobody knows the real answer of it.

Rupak G. Duarah,

Guwahati.

Dubious practices in private hospitals

For all we know about the Health Ministry's instructions for vaccination drive in India, there is hardly any restriction on who can take the COVID-19 vaccine, except the age. Health condition, as such, does not matter, and it is more important that people with co-morbidities take the vaccine.

However, a few private hospitals are deviating from this protocol. They are checking blood pressure, and are advising the people landing up in the hospitals for COVID-19 vaccination, to consult hospital doctors, for a fee, for clearance for the vaccination. This is extremely unfortunate.

In government facilities, including PHCs, no such restriction is placed, and people are getting vaccinated for free, and without any prior testing.

The government should publicly make the position clear so that people seamlessly take the vaccine, and make themselves safer from COVID-19.

D Bhutia,

Guwahati.

Bohag Bihu

All the Assamese people along with the beautiful nature are ready to celebrate Bohag Bihu. One of the important features of Bihu is to maintain the bond of unity among people. Thus, let us determine that we all should try to spread love among all the people and live happily.

Satter Rohman,

Dibrugarh.

Vaccination doubts

The government is saying that people are reluctant to get vaccinated against COVID. But some real issues like whether people with some drug allergy should get vaccinated or not are not being addressed by hospitals or vaccination centres.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Biking on pavements

Last year the video of a girl stopping bikers riding on the footpath of Maligaon flyover went viral, yet the same irresponsible behaviour of some motorcyclists continue till date. I travel to and fro this path regularly, and almost every time I get to see pedestrians struggling to get through the pavement. Such reckless driving is indeed infamous all over Guwahati city challenging the Traffic Rules and Regulations that come under the Motor Vehicle Act. Through your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the attention of the Guwahati Traffic Police to take necessary actions against such motorcyclists. The road safety of the pedestrians is under serious threat.

Sanyukta Senapati,

Guwahati.

Encroachment

Nowadays it is often heard that some unscrupulous persons grab unused government land by constructing buildings.

The historically significant town of Tezpur is a picture of utter neglect. The popular tourists' destination is fast losing its glory as it is being affected by encroachment. So, I would like to request through your esteemed daily to make a plan to nullify this menace forever.

Putul Sarma,

Biswanath Chariali.

Pulling out US, NATO troops from Afghanistan

The recent decision of the US government to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan on September 11 this year has concerned India greatly. Further, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has also said that it would also pull out its troops from Afghanistan. With the USA and NATO withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan, the militant activities of the Taliban, a militant group in Afghanistan, will increase in the country leading to an abnormal situation. A bright chance is that the Taliban will try to overthrow the elected government in Afghanistan. The army in Afghanistan is not so strong that it would easily be able to restrict the militant activities of the Taliban. India fears that the Taliban trained militants might conduct militant activities in the country. Lasting peace must prevail in Afghanistan. Hence, reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban is necessary.

Maheswar Deka,

Rangia.

Strange logic

After a brief lull, COVID pandemic has once again raised its ugly head. India now stands second to the USA in terms of corona positive cases and stands fourth in terms of death in the world. Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, etc are the worst affected places in the country. The State governments in consultation with the Union government have started taking drastic measures like imposing lockdown, night curfew, weekend lockdown, etc. On the other hand, the Union government along with the Uttar Pradesh government has given green signal to Kumbh Mela where lakhs of people have assembled without following any COVID protocols and this has resulted in turning the Kumbh Mela site into COVID hotspot. Simultaneously, the Central government has postponed the CBSE class 12 board exams and cancelled the CBSE class 10 boards examination. This is brazen display of strange logic by the government. Cancellation and postponement of examination is bound to have adverse effects on the students and overall on the academic field of the country. Allowing Kumbh Mela and political rallies in the poll bound States and postponing and cancelling all important examinations to curb COVID-19 are indeed very strange decisions on the part of the government.

Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Pavement dwellers

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to raise concern towards the pavement dwellers in the city. People around the Northeast come here looking for a better life. It is also the same for the people living below the poverty line as they come to the city looking for better earning opportunities. Many are pushed towards extreme poverty and take to the pavements as their place of stay.

As mentioned above, it cannot be ignored that there is a sizeable population of pavement dwellers in the city. It looks bad upon a metro city, also since many developmental works are going on to beautify it. Since the lockdown restrictions were lifted, there has been a significant increase in their numbers. This suggests that the economically weaker sections of the society have suffered much due to the lockdown. People have come from smaller towns and villages looking for a better life and have had to take to the pavements. The living conditions of these people are very poor who often resort to begging for a living. Their conditions should not be ignored and the respective authorities should look into the matter and arrange for their proper shelter and better opportunities to sustain themselves.

Thus concluding, I would like to draw the attention of the masses and the respective authorities towards this issue of significant importance.

Soumyadeep Das,

dsoumyadeep52@gmail.com