letters to editor

CONGRESS’ SELFGOALS

It seems the Grand Old Party is on a suicidal mission as Congress leaders are busy harming the party’s interests by making frequent self-goals. While Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit described the army chief as “Sadak ka gunda,” another leader openly gave a call to party supporters to burn down a police station in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Dixit fully knows that the army chief is a non-political person and speaks only the language of a soldier. His main job is to defend the country and provide security to people. The army enjoys deep love and respect of the people in the country. Dr BN Anand

II

The recent derogatory statement made by Sandeep Dikshit against the army chief should be condemned with the contempt it deserves.It is unfortunate that the Congress high command has refused to act against its erring leader. It seems that the frustration of being out of power and bleak chances of regaining it has put the Congress on self-destruction mode.It is really sad that the party is helping Pakistan by default. Pakistani media lost no time to quote Sandeep Dikshit to attack India. AK Sharma, Chandigarh

GIVE FARMERS THEIR DUE

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s statement that buying produce below minimum support price (MSP) will be treated as crime is a farce played on credulous farmers as even MSP is not clearly defined. How do they calculate the agricultural costs to determine the MSP? Instead of defining costs arbitrarily as has been done in the past, all real and virtual costs, including labour of farmer’s family and the value of the land, should be taken into account. As recommended by the Swamina then Committee, farmers should get 50% profit on the total costs incurred.

RM Ramaul , Paonta Sahib

II

Waiver of farm loans is only a small step towards preventing suicides of farmers. What is more important is counselling of peasants and their family members. The state should also take care of their medical and other needs, in coordination with various industrial houses. By promoting small-scale and cottage industries in villages, families of poor farmers should be given alternative employment.

SC Dhall, Zirakpur

IS RESERVATION FAIR?

The principle of democratic equality can work only if the nation as a whole is brought at the same level. That is why our Constitution makers laid down the provision for reservation for a limited period. This limited period was extended by different governments for vote bank politics. The VP Singh government announced 27% reservation in jobs for OBCs. The UPA government announced 27% reservations in all central educational institutions. Caste-based reservation is very harmful for national integration as it creates an atmosphere of mistrust and victimisation. Justice in a democracy lies in fair and equal treatment of the population.

Yoshita, Ambala

IS STARDOM ABOVE THE LAW?

Film star Sanjay Dutt, who was released from Yerwada jail eight months before the completion of his term on the basis of good conduct, is in news again.The Bombay high court has asked the Maharashtra government to explain why he was released early. The high court has also asked the authorities how did they assess that Dutt’s conduct was good? When did they get the time to make such assessment when he was out on parole half the time? It will be interesting to see what the Fadnavis government has to say on this. Is stardom above the law? Aakash Arora

REJECTION OF LATE ARMY OFFICER’S INSURANCE CLAIM

It is really painful to know that due to indifferent attitude of an insurance company, the claim over the death of Lt Nitish Kumar in an accident has been rejected. The company has cited a ridiculous reason for denying the claim, sayinghis papers were submitted late by a day.The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority had reportedly issued some guidelines that relaxation maybe made for late intimation and submission of papers due to genuine reasons. In the national interest, the insurance company must settle the claim without any further delay. Manjeet Singh Ishar, SAS Nagar

MESS IN PRIVATE MEDICAL COLLEGES

It’s is really alarming the way admissions in the private medical colleges in Punjab are being put on hold by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The managements start colleges without putting in place proper infrastructure and staff and later get in trouble. Ultimately it is the students whose carrier is put at stake. It is high time the government and the MCI took some remedial action to prevent such a scenario. Naresh Malhotra, Anandpur Sahib