Letters to The Editor

Through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the attention of the authority concerned towards the problem of frequent road accidents in our city. The road accidents are mainly caused due to reckless biking habits of the youths and drink and drive cases. Moreover, the roads are not wide enough for the increasing rush of motor vehicles during morning and afternoon hours. The situation cannot be handled by the few numbers of traffic police personnel the city has. So the Police department should take proper initiative to recruit more traffic police personnel. The youth must exercise great control while driving and their parents should not give motor bikes to under-aged boys.

Papari Nath,

paparinath1999@gmail.com

Robbery in broad daylight

The toll plazas erected in highways are nothing but broad daylight robbery on the helpless vehicle owners. People at the time of purchasing vehicles pay road tax for 15 years, why then the government is exhorting money in the name of toll plazas again? Travelling by own vehicle has become a very expensive matter considering the high petrol/diesel prices and the monster toll plazas. It makes me wonder if the collection from the toll plazas is one of the contributors to the popular welfare schemes like Arunudoy Asoni, distribution of bikes among the girl students, free distribution of rice, dal, etc among the poorer section. The middle class is already burdened with loads of taxes and the toll plazas further aggravated their misery.

Aparna Sarma Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Strong economy

The question that is very often raised before any election result is - what should the newly-elected government accord top priority to? It's a known fact to all that various pressing issues were on the increase in Assam much before the COVID-19 intrusion. Making the matters worse, the lockdown has intensified the pressure on the economy. Understandably, the newly-elected government will face a volley of challenges including unemployment, sharp slump in demand, high inflation, etc. So, it's felt that it should prioritize addressing of the long-standing structural issues and bottlenecks plaguing the economy. It must act fast to prevent the State's economy from sinking further. I view that the implementation of a fiscal stimulus across sectors will give Assam a much better shot at economic recovery. The former Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron's saying is worth mentioning here - The economy is the start and end of everything. You can't have successful education reform or any other reform if you don't have a strong economy.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat.

The problem of begging

Through the column of your esteemed daily, I would like to draw the kind attention of the authorities concerned and common citizens towards begging in India. Wherever we go, the streets are of full beggars in the bus stops, parks, railway stations and especially in religious places. Some of the beggars are quite healthy. They can work and earn money. Perhaps, they choose to beg as it seems this is the easiest way for them to earn their livelihood. Begging has become a profession for them, excluding the differently-abled people.

The healthy beggars should be forced to work and not beg; otherwise it will turn out to be a big social evil of all time. Authorities should take action and begging should be abolished by law. And the citizens should also not encourage beggars by giving money.

Julie Kakoty,

Guwahati.

Lesson from Tripura

This has the reference to the editorial 'Lesson from Tripura' ( The Sentinel, 12 April, 2021). TIPRA Motha, the newly formed regional party's thumping victory in the recently held Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council election is undoubtedly a big lesson to the believers of regional politics in Assam. This shows the consciousness and exemplary unity of the indigenous communities of Tripura who have been marginalized due to infiltration from erstwhile East Pakistan and present Bangladesh. It has been observed since independence that the Central government, irrespective of its political identity, is not serious about solving this illegal infiltration problem in the North Eastern States. In case of Assam, people have seen what steps have been adopted by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to solve this infiltrators' problem quite contrary to the commitment given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last Assam Assembly Election campaign. They have brought the CAA to legitimize illegal Hindu infiltrators, much to the dissatisfaction of the indigenous people of Assam. Surprisingly, the government even has not taken any concrete step to seal the India-Bangladesh border to stop infiltration till date. But the State government that came to power with the promise to protect jati, mati, bheti remained as a mute spectator to the Central government's injustice to Assam.

Under the circumstances, therefore, the result of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council election bears great significance and is an eye opener for the indigenous people of Assam.

Samir Rajkhowa,

Jorhat.

Madding crowd

The slew of measures taken by the government to contain the ever-spiraling count of daily COVID cases reek of an outrageous selectiveness over managing the madding crowds. While certain activities on which career, livelihood, and even a generation's future depend, such as board examinations and business operations, have been dealt a severe hand, leniency marks religious and political events that are, perhaps, fraught with more danger of the virus all around. The authorities have conveniently overlooked the brazen defiance of COVID appropriateness during massive political rallies held for the Assembly polls in the past couple of months, even after the second wave began rising alarmingly in March.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Panchakarma Therapy

Ayurveda is being practised in our country from ancient times. It is one of the effective treatments based on organic medicine or organic products extracted from nature which has less side effects or negligible side effects. "It is happy to note that the Civil Hospital, Margherita, under the supervision of Dr. S. Barman is carrying on Panchakarma Therapy or whole body refilling to the needy persons. Those patients who are not benefited through modern treatment or medicine or therapy can rely upon Ayurvedic treatment. In his Ayurvedic setup, patients can avail benefit or treatment of various diseases at low cost or affordable prices, which is one of the greatest benefits for poor and weaker section of the society. Side by side he popularized Ayurvedic treatment among the people of upper Assam as well as of Arunachal Pradesh. "My mother-in-law was admitted in Margherita Civil Hospital and she was under the supervision of Dr. Barman, and accordingly I visited that hospital in the month of February 21 to see what kind of treatment is provided by Dr. Barman and his team. It's true that the entire team is trying to provide better treatment to their respective patients who are suffering from various diseases like, back pain, sciatica, arthritis, abnormal curvature of the spine, etc. When I interacted with some of the patients, they told me that they got benefit to some extent but they may not say or convince me that all patients get benefit up to 100 per cent. But the recovery rate is appreciable. It will be good if the government takes some initiative to modernize the hospital. "Through your most popular esteemed daily, I wish the entire team and also congratulate them for the success they have achieved due to their dedication and sincere efforts."Indrajit Sarma, "Dibrugarh. "Electoral bonds "The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) needs to be complimented for becoming the first political party in India which sue-motto and voluntarily disclosed details of funds received by it through electoral bonds further revealing that it received Rs 1 crore through electoral bonds from Hindalco Industries Limited. All other political parties should follow the welcome trend set up by JMM which was earlier once upon a time in great notoriety for cash for vote in the Lok Sabha even though the JMM Parliamentarians at that time saved their skin from charges of corruption because their act for vote in the Lok Sabha against cash received was held to be immunized being the act done during Parliamentary proceedings. Evidently totally opaque electoral bonds are nothing but legalized corruption where ruling parties from both at the Centre and States can receive huge funds from contributors for getting government-favours. Ideally names of contributors to political parties through electoral bonds must be made public both by political parties and the Election Commission.

Indrajit Sarma,

Dibrugarh.