(Letter to CM on separate time zone for Nagaland) My Most Respected Leader Sir Neiphiu Rio (Chief Minister of Nagaland) I hope this letter finds you in good health. May your esteemed position and God’s wisdom prevail as you read this note. That Sir, It saddens me to think that while the rest of the country is awake and engaging their most productive morning hours in meaningful work, the people of Nagaland spends these hours in doing household chores. This is not our fault. But this amounts to ‘strategic discrimination’ of our state as a result of a single time zone for a vast country like India. The Indian Standard Time (IST) calculated at 82.5° East (Near Allahabad) is about 5½ hours East of 0° Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) London. The exact Longitude of Nagaland State at 94.52° East (Near Zunheboto) is almost 6½ hours East of GMT. There is a time difference of almost an hour between the IST and Nagaland. So, if it is 10:00 AM office time in Delhi, it actually is 11:00 AM in Nagaland as per time zone calculation. In Short Sir, we are arriving an hour late for work and leaving an hour late from work. Considering, the ongoing power crisis across the country in general and Nagaland in particular, the logic of saving power by changing the time zone for our state seems realistic. Owing to early sunset in Nagaland, lights have to be switched on in offices in the evening leading to excess consumption of power. To quote some advocates for a separate time zone for the North East Region Sir, R K Barman of the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) says, “If the sun rises in Kohima at 4:00 AM, it rises in Mumbai two hours later. But this two-hour time gap is completely overlooked". Also internationally acclaimed filmmaker and former ISRO scientist Jahnu Barua says, "We are disadvantaged as far as the availability and usability of daylight and dark hours are concerned. We have gone behind by more than a decade in productivity since independence. Moreover, the total wastage of electricity at homes and offices of the region since Independence due to this is to the tune of Rs 94,900 crore." Requesting for a separate time zone for the state of Nagaland is an issue beyond my comprehension, and may God’s wisdom be with you. However, engaging the government and its servants to contribute effectively during their most productive hours for the overall development of the state, I believe is possible. In short again Sir, the official transaction time in Nagaland could be from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM following the IST. If these hearsays are right Sir, unless we do this, while Delhi goes to office at 10:00 AM, Nagaland is actually arriving to office at lunch time. If people in Nagaland is questioning why we wake up early, eat lunch and dinner earlier than the rest of the country, grows dark by 6:00 PM and sleep early while the rest of the country is still awake. We need to question if it is because of our human circadian clock which entrains to sun time. I have hope in you Sir that your wisdom on many other ways to address this ‘strategic discrimination’ will bring about a change in the lives of the people of Nagaland. Thanking you for your time in reading this humble request and eagerly waiting in anticipation. Sincerely, M Rollan Lotha
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 09:43:34 +0000