[Assam] Engineering College for Dhemaji-- Two Versions of a Letter to The Sentinel

[Barua, Rajen]

Chandan:
Good that you wrote and it got published. Reading your description, I
got the feeling that a place like Dhemaji may need more than an
Engineering College.
What about ITI type  Diploma schools where students will learn various
skills.
Do they have such schools.?
I wish some Dhemajians like Buljit would write a report with such basic
needs for generation of employment.
Rajen

  _____  

From: assam-bounces at assamnet.org [mailto:assam-bounces at assamnet.org] On
Behalf Of Chan Mahanta
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 1:42 PM
To: assam at assamnet.org
Subject: [Assam] Engineering College for Dhemaji-- Two Versions of a
Letter to The Sentinel


The following letter was published in The Sentinel. That was a pleasant
surprise :-), considering past experience. But the not so pleasant
surprise was their Editor's changes as in:

        Assam to Asom
        Xiboxagor to Sivasagar
        Appalling to appealing ( a complete reversal of meaning)
        Probaxi Oxomiya to Prabasi Asomiya
        Rural Volunteer Center to 'rural volunteer centre'
        

But I guess one ought to count one's blessing and not look a gift horse
in the mouth :-).

cm



Engineering College for Dhemaji
I am writing in reference to the news about Dhemaji's aspiration to be
the home of a proposed government-run engineering college in Asom (The
Sentinel, March 12, 2007).
I am originally from the district of Sivasagar and never had been to the
north bank of the Brahmaputra until November 2005, when I travelled
through Dhemaji to Silapathar as an emissary of the US-based Prabasi
Asomiya charitable organization, UAONA, in support of the rural
volunteer centre and its constructive efforts on behalf of the extremely
deprived people of the region.
Having grown up in rural Asom, I have seen the face of poverty, lack of
even the most basic of public amenities in every sphere of life; not to
mention the absence of such essential infrastructure as roadways, power,
communication - you just name it.
But what I saw in the Dhemaji area was appealing even by my low
expectations born out of decades of governmental ineffectiveness and
unresponsiveness to the people's needs. The national highway that runs
through the area is nothing less than a national shame. This condition
of the area should have been brought to the attention of people in
positions of responsibility, influence and power long ago.
It is with these facts in mind that I strongly support the Dhemaji
area's demand to be the home of the proposed engineering college. The
more developed areas of Assam owe it to the people of this severely
neglected segment of their State.


Chandan K Mahanta,
St Louis, USA.

 

 

(Letter to Editor,The Sentinel,25.03.2007)

 


But look at the version that I actually sent to the paper:

March 19, 2007

To:  The Editor, The Sentinel, Guwahati, Assam
Re: Engineering college a distant dream for Dhemaji


Dear Editor,

I am writing in reference to the news published in your paper on March
12 about Dhemaji's aspirations to be the home of a proposed  government
run Engineering College in Assam.

I am originally from the district of Xiboxagor, and never had been to
the North Bank, until November of 2005, when I travelled through Dhemaji
to Silapathar as an emissary of an USA based Probaxi Oxomiya charitable
organization, UAONA, in support of the Rural Volunteer Center and its
many constructive efforts on behalf of the extremely deprived people of
the region. Having grown up in rural Assam I had seen a lot of poverty,
lack of even the most basic of public amenities in every sphere of life;
not to mention  absence of such essential infrastructure as roadways,
power, communication; you name it. But what I saw at the Dhemaji area
was appalling even by my low expectations born out of decades of
governmental ineffectiveness and unresponsiveness to the people's needs.
The National Highway that runs through the area is nothing less than a
National Shame. Too bad, few, if any bring these conditions to the
attention of people in positions of responsibility, influence and power.

It is with these conditions in mind, I strongly support the Dhemaji
area's  demand to be the home of the proposed Engineering College. The
more developed areas of Assam owe it to the people of this severely
neglected segment of their state.

Sincerely Yours,

Chandan K. Mahanta
St. Louis, USA
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