Letters to THE EDITOR: Unemployment and skill development for youths

Unemployment and skill development for youths

Through your esteemed daily, I would like to highlight the growing issue of unemployment among youths in our state. Despite having academic qualifications, many young people struggle to find suitable jobs due to a lack of practical skills and industry-orientated training. There is an urgent need for stronger skill-development programmes, career-orientated vocational courses, and better collaboration between educational institutions and industries. Such steps can empower our youths and help reduce unemployment effectively.

Pritirekha Borah

(pritirekhaborah041@gmail.com)

COPD needs wider awareness

COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is often misunderstood as merely a “smoker’s cough”, but the condition affects many non-smokers as well. Rising air pollution, dust, fumes, and indoor cooking smoke contribute significantly to the disease, putting a large section of the population at risk. Early symptoms like persistent cough, breathlessness, and fatigue are frequently ignored, delaying diagnosis. Lifestyle changes—such as quitting smoking, avoiding pollutants, exercising, and ensuring proper ventilation—play an important role in managing COPD. Greater public awareness can help in early detection and improve the quality of life for patients.

Tousik Rahman

(tousikrahmanlaskar@gmail.com)

Our responsibility

Maintaining clean air is essential for a healthy environment and society. To reduce air pollution, we must limit the use of vehicles by choosing public transport, carpooling, or cycling. Industries should install proper filters to reduce harmful emissions. Planting more trees helps absorb carbon dioxide and purify the air. Waste should never be burnt in the open; instead, it should be recycled or disposed of responsibly. Using clean energy sources like solar and wind power also reduces pollution. Governments and citizens must work together through strict laws and daily habits to keep the air clean and breathable for all.

Sofikul Islam

Goalpara 

Growing traffic chaos in Guwahati

Through your esteemed daily, I wish to highlight the growing traffic chaos that has become a daily struggle for people across Guwahati. Areas like Ganeshguri, Six Mile, Jalukbari, Maligaon and Zoo Road remain choked for hours, and even short commutes now feel exhausting because of unplanned roadworks, uneven repair patches, careless lane discipline and poorly timed traffic signals. Students often reach school late, office-goers start their day stressed and patients travelling to hospitals face unnecessary delays, turning basic mobility into an everyday challenge. What worries citizens even more is that the city is expanding rapidly, while the traffic management system still feels outdated and reactive. I sincerely urge the authorities to plan roadwork more responsibly, improve signal coordination, add more traffic personnel during peak hours and promote the use of public transport so that Guwahati can move towards smoother, safer and more organised roads.

Suhani Phukon

(suhaniphukan11813@gmail.com)

Need to curb AI-driven scams

I write to highlight the alarming rise in digital fraud utilizing advanced generative AI models like Google’s Gemini Nano Banana Pro. While technological progress is welcome, criminals are weaponizing these tools to create hyper-realistic forged documents, deepfakes, and even fake "digital arrest" warrants that bypass traditional verification.

Today, scammers can replicate official letterheads and biometric data with terrifying precision. To combat this, citizens must adopt a "zero-trust" policy: never share sensitive details on video calls and verify all "official" documents physically or via official government portals like legitimate DigiLocker apps.

The government must urgently enforce stricter compliance under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and mandate visible, non-removable watermarks for all AI-generated content. Furthermore, significant data fiduciaries must be held accountable for verifiable identity safeguards. We cannot allow innovation to become a tool for impunity.

Uddiyan Kumar Nath

(uddiyannathofficial@gmail.com)

A significant decision

The decision of the State Cabinet to make the history and geography of Assam compulsory for the students of classes 6 to 8 is unequivocally a significant step. It will help the young generation to ameliorate their knowledge about the region's past and its geographical features, which shaped the Assamese language and culture. The historical journey from India's independence to the Assam Movement (1979-1985) included some excruciating events which today's generation barely knows. The knowledge of Assam's history will make the student community aware that the Assam Movement was not merely a people's outcry but was a powerful chorus to save the Assamese identity, where 860 individuals embraced martyrdom. A thorough scrutiny in the pages of history will make them realize from their early age that the safe socio-political environment which they enjoy today is not just out of serendipity or due to vicissitudes of time and modernization of technology. A colossal amount of blood was sacrificed three decades ago to secure a better future for them, where Assamese identity is not hijacked by any foreign language or horde.

Moreover, Assam's unique geography, primarily defined by the Brahmaputra River valley, surrounding hills, and location as a cultural crossroads, has significantly shaped the Assamese language by fostering a diverse linguistic substrate, promoting adaptation to the riverine landscape, and enabling isolation of distinct dialects. So the knowledge of geography and history remains a desideratum for the survival of the culture and identity of the Assamese community, which exists as a socio-cultural group in the periphery of India. However, an adequate number of trained teachers who can elucidate the historical facts to students will be required to develop an interest among the students for knowing the past.

Kabir Ahmed Saikia

Rajabari, Jorhat

Debatable decision

Children's involvement with social media has always been debatable and contentious.  Many nations have delved deep into finding ways to put a lid on social media use by teenagers.  Excessive use of social media and feeding on harmful content are prone to affect the physical and mental health of children.  Besides the dangerous repercussions of yielding to unwanted influences, more and more children are on the brink of nervous breakdown due to anxiety, insomnia and depression.  Parental advice is discarded with disdain by a lot of youngsters. That said, the implementation of a social media ban on children up to 16 years of age in Australia has evoked mixed reactions.   Obviously, the decision has been taken with a pinch of salt by experts and social media giants.  While it is convenient for everyone to advise a government to institute age-appropriate apps and digital literacy, these are easier said than done.  Online safety of children cannot be compromised, and governments all over are duty-bound to secure their teenage population.

Dr Ganapathi  Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com)