letterstoeditor

SURGE IN INFLATION

Apropos the editorial ‘Decoding the spike in prices’ (Jan 14), the surge in inflation is a wake-up call for the government. The rise in retail inflation from 5.54% in November to 7.35% in December is really worrisome. It is almost near the previous high in retail inflation that occurred in July 2014. The inflation figures are totally dissatisfactory and need to be addressed urgently.

Satish Sharma, Kaithal

LONG-TERM RADICAL SOLUTION NEEDED

As the rising prices of food articles have resulted in retail inflation in the country, only longterm radical solutions can make a difference. Shrinking employment with shooting inflation means the labour is losing its purchasing power, and hence the access to necessities of a fast life. The Union budget is eagerly awaited by the public to see how the government will handle the current economic crisis. The rising prices of essential items like food are hitting the poor badly.

Perminder Kaur, Patiala

CONFRONTATION OVER CAA

There seems to be no end in sight to the confrontation on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Union home minister Amit Shah’s declaration not to budge an inch on the matter and the assertion by several chief ministers to block these initiatives is likely to result in a constitutional crisis. The continuing opposition by large segments of the citizenry is likely to result in anarchy. Crises usually produce the man of the moment, but there appears no one on the horizon at present. The sidelined leaders of Marg Darshak Mandal of BJP have a historic opportunity to shed their pique and play the role of elder statesmen. The opponents of CAA/NRC are likely to listen to them as they have not been supporting extreme Hindutva.

Rattan Lal, Jalandhar

AFFORDABLE EDUCATION

The editorial ‘In defence of affordable education, for all’ (Jan 13) rightly stressed on providing affordable education to all those who seek it. But the policies of the present government smell of hypocrisy and double standards between theory and actual practice. An increasing commercialisation of education undermining the importance of affordable public education is what the present government is actually doing. On one hand, the government is hell bent on destroying the centre of excellence like JNU by various underhand means — perpetuating violence, increasing fee and branding young students as urban naxals — but on the other hand, a large number of private universities indulging in unethical and illegal practices are being promoted. Dr Vitull K. Gupta, Bathinda

II

The editorial deserves appreciation for highlighting the need to keep education within affordable limits. Everybody knows that a large number of people in this country cannot afford education even in the so called subsidised institutions, not to talk of expensive private institutes. It is the duty of the government in particular and the society at large to ensure that children belonging to all sections of society have an equal access to education. The central and state governments are required to increase the budgetary allocations for education, so that economic deprivation does not become a stumbling block in the way of those who desire and deserve to have education.

NP Manocha, Chandigarh

III

Access to education should not be restricted on account of economic deprivation. Government schools provide many scholarships and stipends for the children of disadvantaged section of society resulting in quantity and not quality. Such scholarships are hardly available at the level of higher education. In such a situation, government schools should raise the quality of education. Secondly, allocation for education should be raised to 6% of GDP or 20% of total budget. Let the government realise that turning a blind eye to education is at the peril of national development.

S Kumar, Panchkula

IV

Economic deprivation should not hinder students’ ability to access education. The administration’s decision to raise fees in JNU affects the rights of students to pursue higher education. In a developing country like India, education plays an important role. The government must ensure that everyone can have access to higher education.

Sakshi, Jalandhar

PUNJAB’S RIGHT STANCE

Apropos the report, ‘After agreeing to NPR updation, Punjab now has second thoughts’ (Jan 13), the state government has acted wisely on this issue. India has seen for the first time after Independence a completely genuine movement against a legislation which is perceived to be colossally anti-people, and which has taken the nation by storm. The movement is totally apolitical, driven by the masses, particularly the fearless, patriotic youth ready to make sacrifices of all sorts. Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar

SETBACK FOR OPPOSITION

The minority-led opposition suffered a setback because prominent parties such as TMC, DMK, AAP, BSP and SP did not support the resolution adopted by the Congress on the issue of CAA. While adopting this resolution, the Congress-led opposition is again trying to misguide and provoke the youth by initiating a needless controversy over this issue. CAA, NRC and NPR are different from each other and have different aims and objectives. Just because of political rivalry, the opposition is deliberately misinterpreting and exaggerating the matter among the public. It is disheartening that both the government and the opposition are ignoring the recently released inflation data depicting highest retail inflation in the last 5 years due to spike in veggies and onions. Harshita Thapar,

Yamunanagar

OPPOSITION MUST UNITE

This is in reference to the editorial ‘The opposition remains divided.’ It seems politicians like Mayawati, Mamta Banerjee and some others have not learnt any lesson from their failure to stop the BJP from coming back to power with a thumping mandate. Instead of a divided opposition, had all opposition parties made an alliance with the Congress and presented a united front to face the BJP onslaught, the end of the Modi rule would have been well in sight. Now when all the opposition parties are protesting against the NRC, CAA and NPR, there was no logic behind the decision of BSP, SP, TMC, DMK, Shiv Sena and AAP leaders to skip the meeting chaired by Sonia Gandhi, where a resolution against CAA was adopted. It is time for the opposition to be united. Lal Singh