Atsung Imchen: Why do we keep hearing news about young boys and especially women (Sexual assault) working out of state face the same issue over and over again?
Before we begin shouting "discrimination” "Cheap Indians" is there something we are overlooking? I strongly believe that most of the cases are due to negligence, inability to identify possible harm and raise concern at the right time. One does not have to be a Harvard student to identify possible threat and with cities like Delhi (obvious because of the crime rate against women) coming up with more accessible way to reach out to the Authorities especially dedicated to North Easterners we should be hearing less and less of such news but unfortunately we don't.
Most of the common cases we hear: 1. Salary not paid by the employer -RAISE THE ALARM
2. Employer misbehaved - LEAVE THE JOB. REACH OUT TO CONCERNED PEOPLE AT THE VERY FIRST INSTANCE.
3. Asked to be a personal assistant, basically forced you- YOUR SENSES SHOULD KICK IN AND LOOK FOR A NEW PROFILE/JOB
When an individual misbehaves with you, why would anyone think it will stop? If salary was not paid for more than a month, you are taken for granted. When you are forced to accept a role you are not comfortable with it has to do more than just WORK. It’s not just the women who face such issues young boys fall under the same category.
How can we tackle this problem? ** Women NGOs/NGOs/Authorities should be proactive rather than reactive** Instead of trying to fix things across the border, are we doing enough from our side? These are just suggestions for some proactive steps:
1. Authorities to validate the validity of local Job providers who are mainly responsible for attracting unemployed youths in the state with Job offers out of state. Only Government recognized institutions with proper background check should be allowed to host job fairs or post ads in Print Media.
2. This might seem like a long shot but if we can implement this it will actually help a lot. Since most of the To and Fro are done through trains. NGOs along with Authorities can track such movements by asking local travelers to fill a form which states the purpose of their journey. They will have the travelers information from the booking details. Example, the form will contain questions like: a) Purpose of travel- Business/Job Prospect b) Destination- c) If Job- Employer Details, Contact, Company Name - Employer Address etc. If we want to scrutinize it more we can ask for Employers Aadhaar number (Since its getting linked everywhere and assuming it's a small business), offer letters as such.
Pride and ego weighs less compared to safety, a job is job no matter the profile and most importantly there is no point crying over spilt milk.
NGOs alone cannot do anything, Authorities should step in. Come up with ways which will help reduce such cases and focus more on what we can do from our side.
Tenunukshi Longchar: Some thoughts -
1. Nagas are a community based society therefore if the major stakeholders like the church, students union body etc can do more to establish community inclusion, discipline and responsibility.
2. NGOs specifically targeting the working professionals (call centre, Beauty salon and spa, hotel, other vocation based jobs) can work in coordination with Nagaland House for mandatory registration, orientation, meetings and feedbacks, helpline etc.
3. Urban migration for job opportunities is here to stay (unfortunately) therefore a way forward would be to create organizations which would facilitate these movements with proper background check on both parties. Ex. YouthNet. And young people should be encouraged to go outside only through such channels.
4. It can be made mandatory for everyone to get a type of identity card from Nagaland House during the duration of their stay in the city.
Lastly, yes most of the problems are faced by the working professionals especially those working in call centres and vocation based jobs. The students themselves tend to be more aware and proactive. Most of the working professionals tend to live in ghettos isolated from the church and other social gatherings. Therefore reaching out to them and creating awareness is a real challenge. There is only so much the police can do once the act is done. The responsibility lies on the individuals and the community to be each other's keeper.
Taxi rates in the capital
Razouvizo Chüpuo: Anyone living in around Kohima who ply from High school Junction to Tinpati and forth daily from taxi? Here I want to stress about excess taxi fare charged by the taxi drivers in Kohima. It has become a daily routine for me to ply through taxi everyday from Tinpati to High school. Before I go any further I want make sure that people from other districts who don't have the knowledge about the taxi fare from Razhu point to High school is Rs 20 per passenger. Now as of my opinion and many other commuters who ply this route daily are being robbed in broad day light by the so called taxi drivers. Tinpati is a place located right in the middle of Kohima town and High School Junction. What I want to point out here is that "Is it fair to charge the same taxi fare to those commuters plying from Tinpati to High School just as they charge the passengers plying from Town to High School Junction? Logically when you think about it, it’s not fair at all. Who would love to pay the same fare? Actually we Nagas are very rich, we are least bothered about the extra Rs. 10 looted from us by the taxi drivers every day. Does the ANTA have no responsibilities for the public commuters? Or are they also least bothered about the fare system imposed by the drivers? This is something really unfair. The drivers will never accept if we are to pay half of the taxi fare so likewise commuters like me are not ready to pay double rate of taxi fare. These are all corruptions and people who are silent against corruption are logical also corrupted.
Let’s not just be a silent spectator and let corruption flourish right in front of our nose.
Veswudu Swuro: Taxi rate for town trip is Rs. 80. There are quite friendly and nice taxi driver, but some of our own are very annoying. For dropping from PHQ junction to Lower Forest, near Community Hall they will charge Rs. 100 (Which if course I never give as I always debate with them). They will give reason that the destination is far. It's a just a matter of few KM and for that very reason we take taxi. If it was near we would have just walked, which most of the time we do though. My point is when we compare to those Zonal Taxi plying from Pfutsero to Kohima or Kohima to Dimapur likewise, the local taxi are earning way better. Still some local taxi drivers are very annoying man.
Zakielabei Zumvü: Seems like majority of commuters in Kohima take only town and Tinpati and high school road. Recently I shared why isn't there a passenger system for taxi from Phoolbari to Naga Hospital which receives hundreds of people for treatment or visiting patients while there is a passenger system from the state's capital to town. 20 bucks per head from Paramedical to town, same 20 bucks Naga hospital to town, 80 bucks on hire from Para medical to town, Rs. 80 from hospital to town. Now, Naga Hospital to town is just the halfway from Para medical to town. Here I don't argue about hire system but passenger's fare is a big question. ANTA, KMC surely are dead I believe because I have raised this issue last month hoping that concerned officials are with us silently watching our kitchen talks in this blog.
