Separate time zone
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: January 04, 2014 -

By proposing to turn the clocks ahead of Indian Standard Time (IST) by an hour in Assam, Tarun Gogoi, the Chief Minister of the Northeast's largest State, has reopened the debate over an issue that seemed to have been settled long time back on the demand for having more than one time zone in Indian sub-continent.

Interacting with media persons on New Year's Day, Tarun Gogoi is quoted to have said that his Government is contemplating introduction of a local time for the State, which would be one hour ahead of IST that is presently being followed in the rest of the sub-continent to make efficient use of the available daylight and thus save consumption of energy.

Although the Assam Chief Minister has not spelled out whether the Government of India has given its nod to the decision or if not, would it ever agree to the proposal, it is fact that demand for a separate time zone not just for Assam alone but for the entire northeast region has been doing the round since mid-nineties for some obvious reasons.

Accordingly, in 2001, the Government of India established a four-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy to examine the need for multiple time zones and daylight saving.

However, in its findings submitted to the Department of Science and Technology, the committee recommended that there was no need for a different time zone for the North-East and insisted on following the same unified system of 'one nation, one time zone' throughout the India sub-continent, thus, putting a rest to the debate.

With Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi raking up the issue by deciding to do away with IST and follow the 'Chaibagaan' time introduced by the British for better energy savings on tea plantations more than 150 years ago, we need to have a relook at the merits of the demand for a separate time zone for the north east region once again.

In spite of the consistent reluctance of the Government of India to divide the sub-continent into multiple time zones, the fact still remains that the northeast region falls under an altogether different time zone with sun rising at least one hour ahead of Delhi and more than half-an-hour than Mumbai.

Yet, normal activities of the people like working or sleeping hours and meal timing, etc have remained more or less the same across the sub-continent as we have to follow a single time zone.

In the process, a considerable productive time is wasted in the northeast, which would ultimately add up to colossal loss for the people in all spheres.

So, following a separate time zone for the region would not only ensure that this productive time is not wasted but also help in conservation of energy and utilisation of the daylight hours effectively.

In an energy-deficient country like India, power saving is a compelling argument, which even the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore and the Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, have earlier vouched for introducing multiple time zones. In addition to this, geo-location of the northeast is another compelling reason for the people to demand a separate time zone.

As they say 'strike while the iron is hot', perhaps, it is the right time for the elected leaders in the rest of the Northeastern States including Manipur to join hands with Tarun Gogoi in pushing for a separate time zone.