Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik on Tuesday said the Cabinet was free to decide on scrapping the power deal and such decision would not be viewed as violation of the model code of conduct.

The State Cabinet will discuss whether or not its earlier decision to hand over six hydel projects to private companies could be reviewed on Friday.

Mr Naik was speaking to reporters on the provisions of the code of conduct and the role of the Cabinet vis-a-vis the current pressure from NGOs and political parties for scrapping the power deal.

"The Cabinet can revoke its earlier decision. As per the model code, any decision taken by the Cabinet earlier can be reviewed and such decision will not be treated as violation of the election code of conduct. However, the Cabinet cannot decide to go forward on the matter," Mr Naik said.

On the law-and-order situation before the Assembly elections in view of threat by various organisations including FKJGP and KSU to intensify agitations if the power deal was not scrapped, Mr Naik said it was the duty of the authorities to ensure that the polls were not disrupted.

Meanwhile, all the 12 ministers are likely to attend Friday's crucial Cabinet meeting to discuss the State Power Policy and the demand to scrap the power deal.

The meeting will start at 3 p.m. at the chamber of Chief Minister DD Lapang, sources said.

Six Cabinet ministers -- Deputy Chief Minister Dr Donkupar Roy, Robert G Lyngdoh, Prestone Tynsong, Nehlang Lyngdoh, Paul Lyngdoh and Manirul Islam Sarkar -- recently wrote a letter to Mr. Lapang demanding review of the earlier Cabinet decision.

They termed the December-7 Cabinet meeting, which had cleared the power deal, as invalid as the meeting was attended by only six out of 12 ministers - Chief Minister DD Lapang, Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Power Mukul Sangma, Deborah C Marak, Charles Pyngrope, Zenith Sangma and Paul Lyngdoh. However, Mr Lyngdoh claimed that he had raised objections to the decision during the meeting.

The UDP, a major coalition partner in the MDA Government, has also demanded scrapping of the deal. Moreover, two Opposition legislators -- Manas Chaudhuri (Ind) and AL Hek (BJP) - have sought a White Paper on the power deal. They have also demanded revocation of the Cabinet decision.

Model poll code in force: The East Khasi Hills and Ri Bhoi district administrations have, meanwhile, ordered strict adherence to the model code of conduct restricting political parties and others in several activities in order to hold free and fair elections in the State.

According to the model code, political parties or candidates are not allowed to put up banners or posters on roads and electric posts without the consent of concerned authorities and individuals.

They will have to take prior permission from the concerned DC and local headman to hold any meeting, procession and to use loud speakers. Use of loud speakers has been prohibited beyond 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary (Organisation) Ramlal is visiting the State capital on January 21 to assess the party's chances in the coming Assembly elections.

Party high command has assigned him with the task of planning the election strategy in the State.

Informing this State BJP organising secretary Dipayan Charkraborty on Wednesday said the party was confident to put up a better show in Garo Hills in the ensuing election.

NCP manifesto: NCP leader Purno A Sangma will release the party's election manifesto at his residence here on January 18. Senior party leaders are expected to be present on the occasion.

Earlier, KHADC chief HS Shylla, who was denied a ticket from Nongkrem to make way for Waibha Kyndiah, had complained with the party high command questioning the tribal status of the latter.

SHILLONG: The State Election Commission has announced that Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) coverage in the State was 99.95 per cent and that only 264 voters whose names appeared in the electoral rolls have not been included in the list of EPIC holders.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday Chief Electoral Officer Prashant Naik said, "We will try to reach out to those small number of voters who have not been covered under photo-identity card system very soon."

Tura constituency recorded highest number of voters (39,706) while Nongstoin came second (34,945) followed by Rymbai (29,652).

Mawkhar in the city has the lowest number of voters (7762).

Women voters are in majority in 40 of the 60 constituencies in the State. Out of the total 12,30,152 voters in Meghalaya, female voters numbered 6,25,534, a difference of 20,916 with male voters.

Meanwhile, a good number of registered voters who have not received EPIC, although, they were photographed, have been thronging the DC's office for the same. Most of them have met with little luck and are at a loss as to how they get their EPIC.

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy will hold separate meetings with all political parties in the State during his visit here on January 18.

The CEC will also meet Deputy Commissioners and Police Superintendents of all districts besides Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee and Director General of Police BK Dey Sawian.

He will discuss with State and district officials election arrangements, security plans and other issues to ensure free and fair polling in the State. Election in the State will be held on March 3 and counting will take place on March 7.

The police department has started reviewing the security scenario. The chief electoral officer will chair a meeting of the deputy commissioners on Thursday.

Shillong: With West Bengal being affected by bird flu, North Eastern states have sounded an alert and sealed Bangladesh borders to prevent entry of birds into the region.

All the NE states sharing borders either with Bangladesh or with West Bengal have alerted the borders to prevent entry of birds following instruction from the central government, official sources said.

Meghalaya Animal Husbandry and Veterinary director Dr D Khonglah said check points in the entire stretch of the 443 km of Bangla border have put on high alert.

Quick response teams in the state have been conducting preparedness drills, while required aid and medicines are kept ready, Khonglah told PTI.

The government of Meghalaya had set up 21 temporary check gates last year along the international border, and also constituted a rapid response team to keep a check on cross-border movement of poultry and poultry products.

Task forces, recently constituted in all the districts to monitor the situation, have been asked to remain vigilant as import of chicken and poultry products from the neighbouring country continues to remain banned.

Officials here said the BSF was also closely monitoring the border areas. The BSF has also issued instructions to its personnel in the border observation posts and camps not to eat chicken and poultry products.

According to officials, the H5N1 avian flu virus was first reported near Dhaka in March last year and has since spread mainly to northern districts and authorities have been forced to kill more than 300,000 chickns.

Meanwhile, a mass culling of chickens began in West Bengal on Wednesdayto contain the outbreak of the deadly avian flu."The culling of chickens has started in the core areas like Margram of Birbhum district. (Agencies)

SHILLONG: In what could be termed as the first real kick off to an election campaign, the MDP on Wednesday lashed out at the "national parties" for "using money, to purchase voters and win elections." The MDP attack on the Congress and other national parties came during a rally at Kurkalang playground in Bhoi Rymbong in Ri-Bhoi district.

MDP chief Martle Mukhim, whose party is a partner in the Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, minced no words when he said, "They (national parties) go to Delhi to collect "political drugs (money) and use the same to purchase voters for their interest during election." Notwithstanding the fact that Mukhim's party MDP is part of the MDA, he appeared to be in no discomfort while making the accusations against the Congress and other parties.

Perhaps, for Mukhim, it mattered little now even if he took on the Congress, as election dates have been notified.

The MDP leader went a step further and blamed the parties that have been in the power for the neglect of the poor or practically no development of places in Ri-Bhoi district. Though he did not name the Congress, he dropped enough hint to suggest that the party should own up to the blame for "not doing much for the people".

"Thirty seven years have gone, but Umroi constituency still proceeds backward, and the blame should be put to none but the people themselves who elect wrong representatives," he snapped.

Interestingly, Mukhim's former UDP colleague EK Mawlong has been representing the Umroi constituency for a long time. Mawlong, a former Chief Minister lost to Stanlywiss Rymbai of the Congress in the last election. Mawlong debacle in the last elections was more due to the Kolkata Meghalaya House controversy which was also responsible for a split in the UDP and formation of the MDP.

He expressed deep concern over the manner in which the present public representatives played with people's emotions and did not make proper use of the MLA funds. His concern, however, did not reflect his own shortcomings, for which he has been under some scrutiny.

A veteran political leader of the state Mr Mukhim is known to have been an avid follower of Late BB Lyngdoh.

Meanwhile, the MDP has started off its election campaign in different parts of the State.

Wednesday's campaign was attended by more than 2,000 people from different areas of Umroi. Most of the people, who attended the meeting, declared their support to Denington Marbaniang, a prominent businessman and MDP candidate from Umroi.

Mr Marbaniang called upon the people to support him "for the sake of overall development of the constituency."

Others who spoke on the occasion included B Kular Khongjirem, joint secretary of the party. He said MDP had been formed "to bring about a revolution in the political sphere."

The FAF, which is demanding the scrapping of the power deals alloted to private companies, has cut short its agitation due to the announcement of elections and withdrawn its proposed night road blockade and Garo Hills bandh.

FAF president Mac D Shira informed The Shillong Times that the second and last day of the picketing was successful with hundreds of Government employees failing to turn up for work. Government officials, in the meantime, inform that attendance was comparatively better on the second day of the strike with the DC office and SP office staff attending to their duties in full strength.

However, Government offices located in the far flung areas of Tura and Williamnagar were once again empty of employees, except for a select few departments. Fear of trouble breaking out was also one of the reasons for employees to stay away from work. Banks, postel and telecom department offices remained closed and the Garo Hills Autonomus District Council (GHADC) withnessed a second day of closure.

The FAF will hold a meeting of its top leaders and unit presidents on Jan 21 in Tura to discuss the next step of protests.

Shillong: The Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong has questioned the decision of the State Government to hand over the power projects to private companies while it also asked the MDA Government to scrap the deal immediately.

In a letter to the Chief Minister DD Lapang on Wednesday, general secretary of the Synjuk Ki Rangbah Shnong HP Oflyn Dohling said the power deal was a total sell-out of the natural resources of the State, which was carried out in a surreptitious and totally non-transparent manner without considering public interest.

"It was politically incorrect that out of 12 Cabinet ministers, only six ministers were present when such an important decision was taken," Mr Dohling pointed out adding that Urban Affairs Minister Paul Lyngdoh, who was present in that Cabinet meeting, has alleged that he was misled into becoming a party to the decision.

"In the notification issued on December 10 it was revealed that certain amendment was made in the State Power Policy. It was shocking that such an amendment was brought within three days after the Cabinet signed the MOU with the private companies. This clearly indicated that the amendment was purposely made to favour the beneficiaries," Mr Dohling stated.

The Synjuk asked the State Government to furnished the documents on the amendment into the power policy, which were allegedly amended with the sole purpose of clearing the way for the "shady power deal" that was announced on December 7.

Dohling further stated that Urban Affairs Minister Paul Lyngdoh had reportedly said that the State power policy was amended on December 3 last, that is three days before signing the deal.

Referring to the Meghalaya power production capatity, Dohling said the State generates 185 MW of electricity of which not a single power project has been allotted to any private party ever since the State gained statehood.

He questioned the urgency for a few members of the Cabinet to take such a colossal decision so surreptitiously and without consultation with the common people who would be directly affected by the construction of power projects.

The deal is estimated to involve an investment of over Rs 20,000 crore allotted to Jaypee Group alone and reportedly valued at Rs 6000 crore.

Referring to Chapter V of the State Power Policy provides for allotment of projects in a transparent manner and this applies to projects for all capacities whether above or below 100 MW, Dohling said the State Government should clarify how and in what manner the projects were allotted to the private companies.

While lambasting the Power Minister for categorically stating that "the DPR is not required to be prepared before allotment of the power projects to the developers", the Synjuk asked the Government whether the overall implications of the power projects in terms of the huge impact on the areas that would inundated by the resultant reservoirs, which is a must, were taken into account.

The Synjuk felt environmental concerns need to be suitably addressed through appropriate advance action by way of comprehensive enviromental impact assessment and implementation of environment action plan, which the Government has obviously neglected by favouring "technically inexperienced" companies over NEEPCO, which has undertaken a large number of power projects in the North East, and the State's own MESEB.

He hoped that the party would bring the much need change in Meghalaya in political scenario and economic status of the people. The formal approval of his decision will be held at the general council meeting to be held in a few days.

The stickers, which will be enforced from February 1, were issued with a view to keep a check on taxis plying without valid documents in the city.

The SP also urged passengers to check for the stickers whenever they board any taxi to ensure safety and security to one and all.

Shillong: Two residents of Nongpyrdi village near Laitkor, lodged an FIR on Wednesday against one Freelung Mynsong and four others for destroying school property in the village on December 13 last.

According to the FIR filed by M Nongrum and L Nongpluh, the accused along with four of his accomplices on December 13 morning for no rhyme or reason went to school building and broke the benches and desks of the school.

The two complainants, who were witness to the incident, urged the youth to stop their antics. They, however, were threatened by the culprits.

The Centre plans to set up 30 universities across the country. It wants to make available higher education to a larger segment of the population and raise the standards in the country. This follows the Government's decision to have more specialized institutes on science and technology. The Prime Minister too stated that the Government was committed to setting up a Central University in each State and would lend a helping hand to ensure that each district got a college.

Addressing the 150th anniversary of University of Mumbai recently, Manmohan Singh said that modalities for setting up of these universities had begun and that the Human Resource Development Ministry, University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Planning Commission were working together. He wanted these universities to be symbols of excellence, models of efficiency, examples of academic standards and university governance for other State universities to emulate.

India has presently 20 Central universities --- 18 funded by the UGC are spread over 9 States, Delhi and Pondicherry. One Central university would be located in each of the remaining 16 States and 14 new ones would come up in States which provide free land in attractive locations. The Centre would also help the States to start 370 new degree colleges and strengthen 6,000 others in districts where the gross enrolment ratio was low.

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission has proposed a Seven-Year Special Plan (2007-14) which includes setting up 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, 20 NITs, 20 IIITs and 50 centres for training and research in the frontier areas. Of the IITs, three have already been cleared and one IIM at Shillong has been shown the green light. Plans are afoot to have five Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research, of which one has already been set up at Kolkata.

In the field of technical education, expansion and upgradation of 200 technical institutions in various States has been envisaged. The plan for higher and technical education will start in the 11th Plan and should spill over to the next without being diluted. The Plan panel has proposed a funding of Rs 1.31 lakh crore for the seven-year Plan.

There has been a marked development of higher education in the country since Independence with a steady expansion of colleges and universities, setting up of distance education system and several initiatives to promote access and equity. Annual growth has been estimated to be around 3.5 to 4 per cent per annum.

Moreover, though India is known for its higher education quality and research its expansion has not kept pace with its requirements. The enrolment ratio is not satisfactory and is estimated at 9.1 per cent. The Government hopes to raise this ratio to at least 15 per cent by 2012. However, it is still way behind the 40-50 per cent in the developed countries.

True, the country has not been lagging behind in quality education but its reach has been limited because of ever-increasing population growth. Once regarded as one of the premier centres of scientific and historical research in Asia, India can boast of the best universities like Chennai University, Calcutta University and Mumbai University and Central universities like the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Viswa Bharati University and Benaras Hindu University where students from various neighbouring countries come to study.

Then we have specialized institutions for scientific and technical educations like the IITs, which are world famous. Management institutions like the IIMs and private colleges like the ICFAI in Sikkim, Manipal University, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University have also attracted foreign students. In fact, our engineering education is of such a high standard that India has recently been made a provisional member of the Washington Accord, a 10-member global apex organization.

In recent times, induction of new disciplines for study and research such as environmental science, disaster management, computer applications/engineering, informatics, hotel and tourism management, religious studies and, of course, biotechnology. Centres of higher education are attracting more students. With changing times, courses now need to be formulated for which there is need and demand.

For example, environmental science, computer applications or even biotechnology are highly sought after courses because of their sheer importance in today's society. However, the problem is that only few colleges and universities are equipped to teach these subjects but private institutions are showing initiative. It is time that private participation in higher education be welcomed so that one segment of the population can meet the costs involved in such institutions.

However, there can be no denying that there is very little effort to maintain departments and colleges of excellence and hold them as models worthy of emulation. Instead, in most cases, the attempt has been to drag down the high achievers to the level of the masses. Kolkata and Chennai's Presidency College and the Delhi School of Economics, are three such cases in point.

True, specialized universities are now coming up. The South Asian University is expected to come up shortly with students and faculty from all the SAARC nations. The Government is also considering the setting up of a Workers' Technical University, a unique institution of its kind, which would ensure that the country's working population is able to meet the rapidly growing needs of the industry. Thus, the 40-crore strong workers' population, of which 98 per cent is in the unorganized sector, is able to continuously upgrade its skill.

Proposed to come up in Hyderabad with 13 regional centres in different parts of the country, the entire network is expected to cater to nearly three lakh workers/students a year. About Rs 500 crores are needed to set it up, Rs 100 crores annually to run it and that trade unions, big, medium and small industries and the Government would help fund it.

Another major development is the proposed revival of the 800-year-old Nalanda University with seven schools (with 4530 students and 453 faculty members), offering integrated post-graduate and research programmes in informatics, development studies, social sciences etc. according to a report prepared by Educational Consultants India. The international character of the university would partly flow from the international 46 faculty members. A "mentor group" chaired by Prof. Amartya Sen and including Harvard historian, Sugata Bose, Singapore's Foreign Minister, George Yeoh, and scholars from Japan and China, would chart out the way ahead.

Advancement of knowledge and human resources is now critically acknowledged as the pre-requisite for social and economic development. We thus need to check the ongoing brain drain and require more qualified scientific and technical personnel to sustain the 8 per cent plus growth momentum in the coming decade. Higher education has to be expanded with creation of more universities and specialized institutes for scientific and technical education. It has also to be ensured that the quality of education imparted should be relevant to social and economic needs and meets the desirable standards.

The existing university system has to develop further and adopt strategies to maintain its reputation and standard. To augment the quality of education, several commissions were constituted by the Government since Independence, including the Radhakrishnan Commission, Kothari Commission, Rastogi Commission, whose recommendations have been implemented.

To sum up, we need to do the following to make education more purposeful to the changing socio-economic order: induce innovativeness in teaching-learning processes; bring professionalism and relevance; design course/study material to practical experiences, social and economic requirements and needs; modernize higher study through national and international developments and experiences; and lastly free the system from any parochial or dogmatic outlook so that organizational management of a high order could be ensured.

The steps taken so by the Government have got a further boost with the budget for the 11th Plan pegged at Rs 2.5 lakh crores, i.e. nearly four times the outlay under the 10th Plan. The share of education in this will be 19.4 per cent, a massive leap of over 7.7 per cent, which is necessary to keep pace with the rapid growth in the economy.

As the country moves ahead, the Government is rightly giving due priority to higher education. No doubt, more universities and centres of excellence of technical education are needed, but setting up of new and upgradation of existing universities is an important decision. This would go a long way in taking education to all regions and sections of the community in the country. ---- INFA

Thanks to economic reforms, India has been able to make a complete break with the Hindu rate of growth in just one-and-a-half decade. For almost four decades since Independence the country registered an annual growth rate of between three to five per cent; and in the past decade and a half it has been steadily rising and is currently hovering between nine and ten per cent.

This does not mean that we have solved all our economic problems; we still have to go along way. It only shows that if we persist with this growth rate we can now confidently tackle the problems of poverty and unemployment.

It is common knowledge that the need for economic reform was felt in the early eighties, but there was no political will to initiate the process of economic reforms in any meaningful manner. It was initiated only after the nation was thrown into the worst-ever economic crises when it had to mortgage its gold to save itself from the humiliation of being labelled as a defaulter in relation to the repayment of its foreign debts.

The disintegration of the USSR, at that point of time, which underlined the deep economic malaise of a planned economy, also provided a kind of an ideological weapon to justify the reform process.

The rate of growth of the real Gross National Product (Gross National Product measured in terms of constant prices, which are currently 1980-81 prices in the case of India) had fallen from 5.3 per cent in 1990-91 to 0.6 per cent in 1991-92 and the real Net National Product (Gross National Product minus depreciation) fell from 5.2 per cent in 1990-91 to zero in 1991-92.

Therefore, it must be underlined that the process of economic reforms was initiated in India not as a well-thought out strategy but as a fire-fighting exercise to save the economy from the deepening economic crises. But whatever the push factor the reforms had a salutary effect on the economy. Compared to the year 1991-92, the economy today stands at a more sound footing and is receptive to more doses of economic reforms, provided we have the political will to further the process of economic reforms,

The process of economic reforms, till date, has touched mainly the industrial sector of the economy and to some extent the service sector, but the agricultural sector and the financial sector have remained almost untouched by it. Some sub-sectors of the agricultural sector have benefitted indirectly via the reforms in the industrial sector, for instance, the food processing industry.

On the positive side, the following could be considered as the achievements of the past decade and a half of economic reforms: Firstly, the process of economic reforms has brought about a kind of change in the mindsets of a large number of people who have come to realize that a large number of Government controls in the economic sphere actually hampers growth, breeds corruption and that the Government is not always the best manager of resources.

A very large amount of scarce resources locked up in inefficient and sometimes irrelevant public sector units are actually a drain on the economy. This cannot go on for ever. The acceptability of the need for economic reforms among the people today is much more than what it was a few years ago.

Secondly, the numerous industrial licensing controls have been done away with. A few remaining industries which are still subject to licensing control account for only 15 per cent of the value added in the manufacturing. The number of industries reserved for the public sector has been reduced to six --- defence products, atomic energy, coal and lignite, mineral oils, railways and minerals specified in the schedule to Atomic Energy Order of 1953. However, in the case of defence products it has been thrown open to public-private partnership.

Thirdly, automatic approval of foreign investment up to 51 per cent for 35 priority industries which account for about 50 per cent value have been added in the manufacturing sector. The Government has also allowed Indian companies not only to raise funds abroad but also buy out foreign firms. Something which was unthinkable five years ago.

Fourthly, the rupee has been made convertible on the current account and the exchange rates are now market determined. The apprehension that making the rupee convertible on current account would lead to an exodus of foreign exchange has been totally belied. The rupee has in fact, become stronger which is giving sleepless nights to the exporters.

While the market determined rate of exchange now reflects the real value of the rupee, it has at the same time, dealt a severe blow to the illegal foreign exchange business, if not totally eliminated it. The country is now slowly moving towards the full convertibility of the rupee.

Fifthly, the import duties have not only been streamlined but also reduced and brought in tune with the structure of import duties prevailing in other countries. The excise duty on almost all the items has been greatly reduced and streamlined.

Again, the direct and indirect tax rates have been greatly simplified and rationalized compared to the earlier years. With these reductions in tax rates, the tax collections have gone up substantiating the view that lower tax rates lead to more tax compliance. Moreover, the fiscal deficit of the Government is now more manageable than what it was between 1990-91.

The process of economic reforms has, however, faltered on the following: Firstly, the process of economic reforms did not touch the agricultural sector to any significant extent. The subsidies under the various guises have continued to grow for the agricultural sector.

Though the production of grain and other agricultural products have significantly increased (but gone down in the past two years), there has been very little impact of the final prices of agricultural products. No attempt has been made in the past 15 years to bring agricultural incomes in the tax net and thereby widen the tax base.

Secondly, the financial sector had been crying for reforms, but not much has been achieved. Interest rates for the maturity period of two years and more have been deregulated, but the health of the some of the nationalized banks remains precarious.

All the attempts to create mega banks to take on the foreign banks have come to a nought so far. Again the SEBI has not been highly successful in taming the capital market --- price rigging and other malpractices in the bourses still persist.

Thirdly, the public sector disinvestment has been handled in a very bureaucratic and amateurish fashion. The privatization of the public sector units, where even a 5 per cent privatization could have brought in crores of rupees has brought only peanuts.

The Government also failed to restructure its management and change its management style. For months and years, the posts of chairmen and chief executive officers of various public sector units have been kept vacant.

Fourthly, the Government failed to come out with an exit policy for the industry. As a result, a lot of capital is locked up in the sick units. Again, in the absence of any meaningful exit policy a large number of foreign investors are fighting shy of committing their funds to India, as no foreign investor would like to be tied down to a sick unit.(INFA)

Sir,

The news item "MBoSE to introduce own textbooks" (ST, January 12) is indeed a great news. One may heave a sigh of relief that at last the MBoSE has come of age and is introducing its own text books from Class I to XII from the current academic session. Also, it is a matter of great relief for all the parents and guardians that from now onward there would be no frequent changes of textbooks, which had become a common practice for the Board for the last many years. Now only expectation is that the books remain available in the market for a pretty long time so that each and every student can get his or her copy of textbooks. Also it is hoped that the price of the textbooks would be well within the reach of poor students.

But one matter that I could not comprehend is that why the Board has not prescribed any new textbook for Bengali MIL subject for classes IX and X. It may be mentioned here that the Bengali textbooks for classes IX and X are not being printed for last many years and I am afraid, if it continues, may be, in future Bengali students opting for Bengali as their MIL would be deprived of studying their vernacular language. Therefore, I appeal to the MBoSE to take the right initiative to publish the Bengali Text Book so that the students who would take Bengali as their MIL subject in classes IX & X would not suffer from scarcity of textbooks.

Yours etc.,
PP Sengupta
Shillong 1.
Via e-mail

Sir,

We, Indians lead the fields in many fields like population growth, pollution, road accidents, robbery, dacoity, murder, bride burning and last but not least corruption. Corruption begins at the top and percolate downward to the lowest rung in the ladder. Corruption has a cancerous growth eating the vitals of our body politic and there is hardly any area free from corruption. For all these evils, we conveniently blame the system as if the system was designed, developed and supplied by the God. Occasionally we witness some nobility in the midst of this cesspool of corruption but those who stand against corrupt deeds are hounded, harassed and humiliated. The situation has become so bad that for the honest people it has become difficult to survive in this society. They are branded as fools who are unable to amass ill-gotten wealth. In fact, corruption has become a way of life today. We boast of having achieved all-round progress in all spheres of life after Independence but the sad state of affairs is that while we have made arithmetical progression in the positive aspects of life, we have made geometrical progression in the negative aspects of life. Unless some miracle happens for a mass awakening, the country will be doomed.

E M Adithyan
Via e-mail

The minister was addressing a national conclave to introduce leave travel concession (LTC) system for the region for Government employees. The ministry is also exploring ways to incentivise LTC tourists to visit the region in consultations with the other Central ministries concerned, he said.

The minister allayed the misplaced perceptions about the entire North East region being unsafe and ridden with insurgency.

He said, the fact is, that a vast swathe of the region is not merely free from any extremist related activity but is among the most peaceful place in the country and this fact has to be highlighted not just by the governments but also by the travel industry and the media.

The minister added that recent years have seen, as a result of the efforts of the Central Government, coordinated by the Ministry of DoNER, a significant improvement in road, rail and air connectivity to the region. This process is being intensified to make travel to the region fast and hassle free, he said.

The ministry is planning to portray the North East as a destination for the government officials traveling on LTC. The move, however, faced stiff opposition from the Finance Ministry.

The ministry also hopes that foreign tourists making package tour with neighbouring Thailand and Malayasia would throng NE. The idea is to combine beach tourism with hill tourism, he said.

Aiyar hoped that the arrival of government officials and their families on leave here would give a much-needed jumpstart to tourism in the region.

The ministry had placed a proposal to persuade the Finance Ministry to change guidelines to allow air travel facility under LTC plan, which is not now available.

The Finance Ministry is in no mood to change the guidelines, which would involve more fund ear-markings for the LTC.

An irked DoNER minister is planning to push his case through the Union Cabinet by preparing a Cabinet note which will soon come under discussion in the Cabinet meeting, according to sources.

More than 500 delegates participated in the event.

According to the Ministry's expectation, even if one per cent of officials, along with their family, decide to travel to the region, it would give raise to a footfall of 7,000 tourists.

The tourist offices in the region are in the process of preparing special packages for the expected tourists.

The additional Central forces will arrive here very shortly so that deployment could be completed well before the polling, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) GSG Ayyangar said on Tuesday.

According to the EC guideline, all the polling stations (2372) will be manned by Central paramilitary forces. "If the Commission arranges 200 companies of additional forces, there will be no problem to deploy Central forces in all booths," he said.

Sources said two and three sections of central paramilitary forces would be engaged in each very vulnerable and vulnerable booths. He said the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami along with two Election Commissioners will arrive in Tripura on Thursday to review the election arrangements in State.

During the visit, the CEC will meet representatives of different political parties to get their feedback about the election preparations.

Guwahati: The BJP is game for continuing the alliance with the Nagaland People's Front (NPF) in its is attempt to have a non-Congress Government installed at Kohima after the forthcoming Assembly election on March 5 next.

The BJP, which was part of the NPF-led ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) in the Assembly that was put under suspended animation after declaration of President's Rule on January 3 last, believed that there were better chances of a non-Congress Government coming to power in the hill state. "We don't have a reason not to have an alliance with the NPF. A non-Congress Government is likely to be elected in the State in the next Assembly elections provided the NPF can pull up its socks by ironing out intra-party differences," the saffron party's Nagaland in-charge Avinash Kohli said.

The BJP banks on the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's efforts to bring about an atmosphere of peace and development in the troubled state of Nagaland to woo peace-loving people of Nagaland. "The BJP-led NDA government had announced development package and took initiative for peace in Nagaland while Congress imposed President's Rule in Nagaland. The Congress is suspected to have instigated factional feuds among rebel groups in Nagaland," the BJP leader said.

The Arunachal Government declared December 31 as a holiday for the first time conceding the long standing demand of the Indigenous Faith and Cultural Society for Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP) which celebrates the day as 'indigenous faith day' every year.

The movement was started by eminent social activist and writer Talom Rukbo by opening the first 'Donyi-polo dere' (sun and moon worshipping centre) at Pasighat way back in 1989, which was seen by many observers as a movement against rampant conversions in the State.

Like previous years IFCSAP organised procesions and rallies in different parts of the State on December 31, the day when the first Donyi-polo dere was inaugurated.

Addressing a rally here, IFCSAP President Nabam Atum claimed that the indigenous faith and culture protection movement has become so popular that more than 400 'deres' (centres) are functioning all over the State.

Hundreds of people belonging to different tribes dressed in traditional attires took out the procession carrying placards which read "loss of culture is loss of identity".

The Janajati Faith and Culture Protection Forum (JFCPF) President Bikram Bahadur Jamatiya of Tripura led a 90-member team from other north eastern states to attend the celebration as chief guest.

Jamatiya said JFCPF has been formed as an apex body for the north eastern region to spread cultural awareness in the tribal states.

He said many indigenous faith and cultural organisations like Baba Gariya in Tripura, Jauparlo in Mizoram, Seng Khihlang in Meghalaya are active in these states.

Contributions made by Haipou Jadanag and Rani Gaidonlu in Nagaland for spreading cultural awareness was also recalled.

Eminent writer Tony Koyu cited examples of extinction of Greek, Roman and Persian civilisations and cautioned the people that if they continue to neglect indigenous faith they will meet the same fate.

He said while people do not have any ill feeling towards other religions or believers, there should be no attempt to disrupt the indigenous faith and culture of the state.

"We should not uproot our faith and identity", Kayu said.

Later, Jamatia told newsmen that efforts are on to codify customary laws and to see that benefits given to scheduled tribes are not usurped. (PTI)