ProMASS Publication available in e-world

Pro-MASS, a voluntary organization dedicated to development and development communication, is publishing Samlap, the 1^st Community Newspaper in Tripura since 2011. Based on reality, ProMASS has decided to make Samlap voluminous bilingual and analytical-research based by nature. With its new face, Samlap Vol XIII is brought out on May 8, 2014 at a Writers' meet arranged at Press Club, Agartala in Tripura. This issue contains 25 articles focusing various social aspects and contemporary issues. Young as well as experienced writers, journalists and functionaries have shared their valuable views through their articles in Samlap.  The next issue will be published within a couple of months. Stay tuned for more.

Note: For donation and advertisement in Samlap, which is circulated among the Government functionaries, intellectuals and young people, please write to promass2012@gmail.com. 

Click here to view Samlap, Vol XIII

Click on following links for individual writer's article:

1. An analysis on Bangla-our mother tongue  by Alakananda Chowdhury

2. Changes in mother tongue of youths  by Sanjoy Kar

3. Factors behind tender age children going off track by Arindam Nath

4. Article on Women empowerment & PRI by Nandita Datta

5. A point of view on changing culture by Anjali Sengupta

6. Co-education in schools by Punam Bhowmick

7. Article on Situation of agrarian India by Bharat Mansata

8. Analysis on policy matters to cope with global warming by Jaydip Chakrabarti

9. Analysis of 2nd green revolution targeting Eastern India by Kalyan Rudra

10. Reasons of uprising of AAP by Arpan Debnath 

11. Humour on polity on facebook by Tirthankar Das

12. Security & jobs: youths desire from LS Polls by Priyanaka Deb Barman

13. Changing face of development paradigm in Tripura by Bimal Chakrabary

14. Article on impact of nutrition on woman health and child growth by Purbita Gupta

15. Article on BorderTrade and Tripura by Shyamal Roy Chowdhury 

16. Article on Fencing& Bordering people by Jayanta Kumar Bhattacharya

17. Article on Atrocities on Women by Aparna Dey

18. Article on Police public relations by Krishnendu Chakravertty

19. Impact of climate change on water and agriculture by Jaydip Chakrabarti

20. Impact of gender discrimination on occupation by Manisha Karmakar

21. Article on Sustainable farming by Krishanu Chakraborty

22. Necessity of Scouts and Guides by Ajit Debnath

23. Article on Caring Elderly Persons by Munna Dasgupta

24. Article on caring disabled people by Ratnabali Sengupta

25. Humour: Facebook-Phobia or Magic by Dr. Kalyan Roy

PM launches MyGov, seeks people's suggestions

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today launched MyGov, a platform that empowers the citizens of India to contribute towards Surajya. Speaking on the occasion, which also marked the completion of sixty days of the new Government, the Prime Minister said the success of democracy is impossible without participation of the people. 

Stating that in the past, there used to be a big gap between the people and the processes of governance, the Prime Minister said that in the past sixty days, the experience of his Government was that there were many people who wanted to contribute towards nation-building, and devote their time and energy. The only thing they required was an opportunity to shine and showcase their contribution. The Prime Minister said the MyGov platform is a technology-driven medium that would provide this opportunity to contribute towards good governance. 

The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the people would welcome this initiative. He also invited suggestions to strengthen and improve the platform. He hoped that everyone would join hands through this platform to take the country forward, and to meet the aspirations of the poorest of the poor. He said he was confident of success in this mission, because he recognized the strength and capability of 125 crore Indians. 

The Prime Minister said he looked forward to receiving the suggestions, views and ideas of the people. 

The platform - MyGov - presents an opportunity to the citizens to both ‘Discuss’ and ‘Do.’ There are multiple theme-based discussions on MyGov where a wide range of people would share their thoughts and ideas. Further, any idea shared by a contributor will also be discussed on these discussion forums, allowing constructive feedback and interaction. 

For those who wish to go beyond discussions and wish to contribute on the ground, MyGov offers several avenues to do so. Citizens can volunteer for various tasks and submit their entries. These tasks would then be reviewed by other members and experts. Once approved, these tasks can be shared by those who complete the task and by other members on MyGov. Every approved task would earn credit points for completing the task. 

National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) would implement and manage the platform “MyGov” which would facilitate Citizen Engagement in Good Governance. 

Groups and corners are an important part of MyGov. The platform has been divided into various groups namely Clean Ganga, Girl Child Education, Clean India, Skilled India, Digital India, Job Creation. Each group consists of online and onground tasks that can be taken up by the contributors. The objective of each group is to bring about a qualitative change in that sphere through people’s participation. 

The Minister for Communication and IT, Law and Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, and senior officers of the Government of India were present at the launch of the platform. 

Road Ahead 

The inauguration of MyGov is a small step towards the larger mission of becoming a one stop centre for citizen engagement towards good governance. Over time the number of groups, tasks and discussions will increase. MyGov would also be used as a comprehensive knowledge repository, giving insights from the sharpest and brightest minds across India. 

NEC stresses on inter-State road connectivity

The funds earmarked for the North Eastern Council (NEC) during the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17) is Rs. 6108 crore of which highest amount - Rs 117 crore allocated by Arunachal Pradesh followed by Assam (Rs. 95 crore) and Meghalaya (Rs. 91 crore).

North Eastern Council (NEC) gives primacy to inter-state road connectivity with an aim to strengthen regional integration and inter-state border connectivity. 

The details of projects sanctioned and under construction in various States of North Eastern Region (NER) during the Twelfth Five Year Plan are as follows: 

.	States /Agencies	Number of projects during the 12th Five Year Plan
		New projects	Under construction (ongoing as carryover from earlier plans)	Total
1.	Arunachal Pradesh	36	81	117
2.	Assam	21	74	95
3.	Manipur	34	56	90
4.	Meghalaya	28	63	91
5.	Mizoram	20	50	70
6.	Nagaland	38	49	87
7.	Sikkim	14	42	56
8.	Tripura	7	30	37
9.	Other Agencies	28	20	48
	Total	226	465	691

Malaria lashes hilly Tripura: Is Union Health Minister informed?

Jensi Reang was only two years when she succumbed to malaria. She hailed from a poor tribal family of picturesque Jampui hill in North Tripura District. Jensi’s family made a valiant attempt to save her and rushed to hospital once she complained body ache and high fever. Alas, all efforts of her family and doctors proved futile in the face of rampaging malaria menace.

Jensi’s death is not an isolated case. It is estimated that more than 100 people, 90% of whom are reportedly children below 10 years have died so far during last one month after PF type malaria spread in the State. Poor and helpless tribal families of far flung areas are mostly affected and losing their lives. All the hospitals and village level health care centers are found overcrowded with malaria affected patients. Want of expert medical personnel and medicines recommended to control the PF malaria further aggravated the situation, sources alleged.

Many quarters, without any concrete evidence, are citing poor health care infrastructure, unaccountable health care delivery system etc as main reasons behind the outbreak. A section pointed out utter negligence by the medical personnel in implementing preventive measures like spraying DDT etc. It is true that a combination of these and many other factors have resulted in the outbreak turning dreaded in the State this time over. However, notably though the State was declared drug-resisted Malaria prone in 2009, there was no such outbreak during last two or three years. In the present context without playing blame game, it is important to find out why and how malaria disease remained suppressed during last seasons and why it resurfaced with such degree of vengeance. The Promass Media Research Group strongly advocates for a detailed study of ground realities pertaining to health care system in rural areas to ensure non-occurrence of Malaria outbreak and loss of lives.  

The news on the outbreak has been hitting local and national media daily past one month. However, interestingly, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan paid no heed to mention about the severe outbreak of malaria in Tripura during his meeting held a couple of days back to review the steps taken to prevent occurrence of Malaria and Dengue in National Capital Region. The meeting was attended, by among others, Health Ministers of Rajasthan and Hariyana, Lt Governor of Delhi. Truly, the meeting was held for evaluating situation in NCR, where 6/8 persons lives were taken out by malaria currently. He even though in the meeting mentioned about few other States in the context. The Honourable Minister, who is also an eminent Doctor could have suggested ways to arrest the mounting death toll in Tripura. What are the reasons behind the scene that has caused him forgotten or otherwise skipped to raise the context of the small NE State? Don't the deaths of far off and tribal people hurt? In the context, the Central Govt cannot put to end its responsibility and commitment only by sending an expert team from the Ministry to the State to visit vulnerable areas. This attitude may not be termed as a manifestation of a deliberate attempt to ignore and neglect the plight of people of the North East. Then what? 

The State Government claimed it has already informed the Central Government and requested to send expert team to the State for second time.