Shillong, August 08: The conglomeration of NGOs from Garo Hills comprised of the GSU, ADE, AYWO and the FKJGP sent letter to the Chief Minister Mr Conrad K Sangma requesting the government to set up check gate at Rongjeng and Garobada for COVID-19 Screening.
In the letter the NGOs appreciated the Government in handling of the pandemic especially in Garo Hills is admirable. The various governmental machineries, officers, employees, the police and the administration have done a commendable job in containing the pandemic and in the execution to solve myriads of problems which was presented as complex difficulties for the people. Kudos to the volunteers they deserve praise for their sacrifice.
But as with every crisis consequences can neither be evaded nor avoided. For the present, there has been no report of community infection in Garo Hills which is very fortunate. The high rate of covid-19 infection among the BSF personnel, of the total 572 active cases of pandemic in Meghalaya 300 are BSF personnel who have entered our state.
Their duty in the frontiers and the nature of their job makes them high risk carriers especially to the rural population. The government must tackle this problem at the earliest. The govt must ensure strict procedures of screening adopted measures which have been laid down to check the general population must also be enforced for the paramilitary forces also.
The policy of the state government to restrict inter-state movement of people especially with the neighbouring state of Assam to arrest the spread of the virus, so far the strategy seems to be working as there has been no case of recognised community infection of the highly contagious disease in Garo Hills.
The fact which can be attached to its landlocked nature, low economic activity of the region compared to other areas etc. But unfortunately the scenario in Khasi Hills has recorded a rise in cases of this contagious diseases but again the news is good because there is no confirmed community transmission in Khasi Hills.
So far Garo Hills have recorded 57 cases of which 16 are active cases and 41 have recovered. But with that said any laxity from either the government or the people the menacing virus will march over us like the invading horde of Bangladesh.
However, Meghalaya has witnessed a rise in positive cases of COVID-19 and most of it in Khasi Hills which is why containment zones have been declared after detection of positive COVID-19 cases. Care must be taken to ensure that there is no spread of the virus by government employees in Shillong who are residents of Garo Hills.
It has been learnt that many government servants are returning from Shillong every weekend or during holidays to their homes. Then there are government employees whose residences are in Assam mainly Goalpara district of Assam who are commuting daily between Assam and Meghalaya for office duty despite inter-state movement ban.
These lapses on the part of the government put the people at risk from the virus which could defeat the hard work of the people who are at the forefront fighting the spread of the virus.As far as the commuters from Shillong to Garo Hills are concerned there must be a screening/check gate at Rongjeng.
If cases of covid-19 detection rise then movement of employees from Shillong to Garo Hills must be temporarily put on hold or proper checking be done at Rongjeng. A check gate at Garobadha, West Garo Hills must be installed as a last line of defence.
It is not redundancy because Tura –Garobadha road is one of the most commuted stretch and every day there are unscrupulous people from every walk of life trying to break the rules laid down to contain the spread of the virus.
Though none of us can deny that the age of the new corona virus has largely dictated the conduct of our life and necessitated a creative approach to tackling matters some approaches are far from perfect not that it is a scathing attack of quick fix solution in an otherwise evolving world.
The conduct of online classes, as the education minister, himself has admitted divulges a huge digital divide where electricity, connectivity and the procuring of devices itself becomes detrimental to the effectiveness and productivity of online classes.
The issue of private schools and institutions seeking tuition fees to pay salary has also been discussed. The issue has also been raised by prominent organisations as the KSU and FKJGP. The government had promised to look for solutions.
Now again there are complaints galore regarding the tuition fees of students which are being collected, the parents complain that only 50% of the tuition fees were supposed to be collected.
There have been allegations that students who fail to attend the online classes will fail this year, the refrain from the parents is that not everybody have access to smart phones. The matter is being reported frequently regarding private schools and institutions.
This is a matter that needs to be tackled as all aspects of equity seem to have been consigned to oblivion which tantamount to culpable injustice for the have-nots.
The NGOs claim that recently had a conversation with some officials of MBOSE regarding the complaint that online classes do not do justice for the students as far as the quality of teaching and reach of the online classes.
They discussed the possibility of unburdening the students during exams by reducing the syllabus by excluding some chapters taking example of the CBSE to which was replied MBOSE only awaits instructions from the government. So we request the Meghalaya Government to explore the possibility of reducing the syllabus in the light of the current crisis.
The CPWD has been intimidated about the failing structure which was damaged due to incessant rains even during 2019. But neither the CPWD nor did the contractor give any notice or importance to the matter. It has been learnt from experts that the construction of the wall is flawed which started from the bad design of the wall.
The condition of the wall is further deteriorated in 2020 again due to heavy rains. The contractor is said to be BahSon S. Sawkmie from Shillong. The wall was built to support the construction of additional 2500MT capacity godown at FSD Tura. The CPWD engineers failed to respond to our attempt to contact and it is only because of the pandemic we are exploring different ways of engagement.
It has been informed to us that the D.C. West Garo Hills and even you, the Hon’ble Chief Minister, has visited the site but we fail to see a quick response to the situation. Should the wall slide down due to the unstable nature of the soil it will endanger many people as there are many residential buildings.
Is the Meghalaya government going to act only when residential buildings of Garo people are destroyed or are we going to have a memorial services for the dearly departed. The FCI wall slide is a disaster waiting to happen.
This grievances needs to be perused upon and pursued which we believe will be in the greater interest of the people of the region. The NGOs do understand the uphill task presented before the government.
The NGOs appreciate the attitude, approach, effort and attempt to re-invigorate the economy even though there are some areas of economic activity, they do not appreciate especially the border trade at this juncture, the letter was sign by GSU President Mr. Tengsak G Momin and Manseng A. Sangma Chief Adviser of the GSU.
