letterstoeditor

OPEN THE COURTS

In times of Covid-19, the physical working of courts entails a risk, but one can draw encouragement from the official data. The Covid-19 fatality rate in India is only 2.8% as compared to the global fatality rate of 6.13% and the recovery rate stands at 48.4 %, which is among the best in the world. The data makes a strong case for resuming normal functioning of all courts, at least in Chandigarh. If courts continue to remain shut for a long time and video-conferencing is used only for ‘extremely urgent’ cases, the backlog of cases, which is already mountainous, will reach unmanageable proportions. Sudeep Mahajan, ex-additional advocate general of Haryana, Chandigarh

DO AWAY WITH DOUBLE TAX

The Bhago Majra toll plaza on the Kharar-Khamano Road was made operational this week. An estimated 5,000 vehicles pass through this toll barrier daily. However, it is unfair to charge the toll tax as the government already levies road tax on vehicles at the time of registration. Such double taxing is unwarranted. Gurpreet Malhotra ,

Kansal

PROTOCOL FLOUTED

Punjab local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra has rightly berated his party colleague Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa for raking the non-payment of arrears to sugarcane growers in the media instead of first flagging it with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. Bajwa has not followed the party protocol. Earlier, a couple of Punjab ministers and MLAs had publicly raised the issue of illegal mining and smuggling of illicit liquor and pointed fingers at their own colleagues and senior bureaucrats much to embarrassment of the government. Clearly, all does not seem to be well with the ruling Congress.

Deepak Kumar, Panchkula

APP TROUBLES

The Haryana government has made it mandatory for those travelling in buses to download the Aarogya Setu application on their mobile phones. This is a bizarre order because not everyone has a smart phone. This condition will debar many people from boarding the state roadways buses. The government should reconsider its decision. Upkar S Gambhir,

Ambala Cantt

TRAIN SCHOOL STAFF

The Haryana government has decided to restart schools in phases from July. There seems to be no going back from the decision. It is, therefore, necessary to ensure the safety of children inside and outside the school. Social distancing and availability of masks must be ensured and school heads, teachers, and parents should be intensively trained. The government should also equip students and teachers with gadgets, especially in government schools, to prepare them for online teaching. This will make teaching more effective and bridge the gap between haves and have-nots.

S Kumar, Panchkula

MIGRANTS NOT A THREAT

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s integrated disease surveillance programme has confirmed that migrants had low exposure rates to Covid-19. The Public Health Foundation of India has also said that migrants do not pose a threat. Only 3.2% of the migrant labourers tested positive in UP. The migrants have suffered for no fault of their own. They should have been allowed to move home in the initial stages of the lockdown.

Ajay Bagga, Hoshiarpur