I attended the public hearing at Guwahati on 1st Nov. It was held at the Jyoti Chitraban auditorium, a most unlikely place to have such a gathering. No one knows why this venue was selected. However that does not matter.
The powerpoint projection to be given by Shri Verghese did not work. So around 10.30 am (the original time was 9.30 AM)the meeting was thrown open. Mr. verghese, it seems was keen to get some points and not guide the discussions. So it was a potpourri of Assam's woes. In fifteen minutes I heard discussions varying from Intellectual property rights, to Jhum cultivation and what not. I also found that some people were specially invited to be part of the hearing but they were not very sure what was in the vision document. I gave up. I am not sure whether we should really spend time dissecting the document because it serves no purpose. It is not what a vsiion document should be. Soke people have to show that they are doing something about NE and some peiople have to make money out of NE. let them go their merry ways. The document, which I had the misfortune of downloading from the website and get printed is indeed volumnious, but is trash. Shantikam Hazarika
