Letters to the EDITOR: Drug addiction

Drug addiction

It is indeed a matter of serious concern that drug addiction has appeared as one of the most pressing issues affecting unemployed youth in the Northeast states. The youth are educated, but sadly they are not willing to work. They shy away from work. Most of the time, most of them are found gossiping with friends and indulging in drugs. When they are engaged in Group D jobs by government and non-government agencies, the poor performance of the local employees disappoints the concerned authorities. There is a need for positive thoughts, unwavering determination, and a spirit of dedication among the educated, budding youth of the region that will not only help them to combat drug addiction but also make them useful members of society. What is needed is mass-awareness campaigns against drugs and interaction sessions by the NGOs in every nook and corner to motivate the jobless educated youth towards the dangers of drug abuse and the benefit of leading decent lives. The youth of the Northeast are the powerhouse of the socio-economic development of their states. Their first and foremost duty is to free themselves from substance abuse in order to be an indispensable part of the state’s development activities instead of being the cause of disruption and inconvenience to the public and the government. They must keep in mind that a small positive thought can change one’s whole day, and many positive thoughts can help overcome many negative thoughts and actions to prove themselves worthy citizens of the country.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati

Rising mental health concerns

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I wish to draw attention to the issue of rising mental health concerns in society. In the context of the present scenario, we are noticing that the majority of people in society are facing the trouble of mental illness. It’s not confined to a specific age, but most importantly, the issue of mental health is an alarming topic rising among the youths. This results in a decline of good performance and falling behind in several tasks. The mental health problem isn’t a newly developed one. It has its roots deep in the past. It is estimated that the adults find it difficult to give their best in work. Whereas the children and the teenagers are struggling to maintain excellence in their studies.

In light of this, both the government and society must take proactive steps to promote mental well-being. They should encourage people to overcome their failures by engaging themselves in their hobbies, doing yoga, exercising, journaling, gardening, reading, listening to music, etc. Furthermore, the inclusion of psychology as a subject in teachers’ training programs is crucial so that they could enrich children in their studies, overcoming the challenges. Moreover, the general public should themselves try to maintain the boundary line for a happy and sound mind. As it is said, “A sound mind reigns in a sound body.” 

Ananya Goswami, 

Sibsagar Girls’ College 

Unfortunate R-Day events

A few Assamese dailies have reported on two unfortunate events that took place while celebrating the Republic Day function by the Bijni sub-district administration. But one more unfortunate event escaped the eyes of the reporters. Before going to mention that third event, I would like to lay a few lines about the events reported in the newspapers.

As per the report, the unfortunate event number one is that the national flag fell while the civil SDO tried to unfurl it. Later, the SDO said that it was a technical fault, and the person found guilty would be duly punished. We too believe that it was a technical fault, but the inquiry that would be conducted to find out the negligence leading to such an unfortunate event should also see whether there had been undue delay in picking up the fallen flag. As per the flag code of India, “If the flag accidentally falls, it should be picked up carefully and treated with utmost respect.” Though it is not mentioned there that it should be picked up immediately, the fallen flag would certainly not get ‘utmost respect’ if allowed to remain fallen for an unduly long period. Moreover, a person with any designation should and would certainly feel proud to immediately rescue a national flag from such an unfortunate event. It is seen in a number of films that during a war a soldier does not allow the flag taken by him to fall even if he is seriously wounded.

Unfortunate event number two was that an MCLA (Govt. nominated) of BTC, who was invited to be present in the function, sat on a chair placed in the area reserved for VIPs. One government official asked him to leave that chair. The aggrieved MCLA left the function. The decency of the function would not have been harmed even if the MCLA had been allowed to remain seated on that chair. The MCLA is also the president of Bijni Satra, and the incident has also injured the sentiment of the society attached to the xatra. Government and society expect such officers to be experts in handling situations in a way where general sentiment is not harmed, but the officer concerned acted otherwise. The officer could have easily arranged one more chair in the row to accommodate the aggrieved person if there was any scarcity of room.

The other issue that remained out of the eyes of the reporters is that the invitation card prepared by the Bijni sub-district administration for the Republic Day function contained serious mistakes. It used the term ‘hoisting of national flag.’ We all know that on Republic Day the national flag is ‘unfurled’ and not ‘hoisted.’ The same kind of mistakes were noted in 2023 when the then Bijni sub-divisional authority used ‘unfurling of the national flag’ in Independence Day invitation cards. The mistake was pointed out by me, but the learned sub-divisional authority did not like to hear from the common people.

Hiranya Jyoti Bayan

Bijni