L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

Senior citizens deserve IT rebate

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee should not miss the opportunity to correct the wrong done to senior citizens in the matter of base income exempt from tax in the ensuing Union Budget.

When the old system of rebate under Section 88B was done away with by the Finance Act of 2005, it was determined that the senior citizens could be adequately compensated for that loss by raising the Income Tax exemption limit to at least Rs 1,85,000 as against the general exemption of Rs 1,00,000.

Yet, when the general exemption was raised to Rs1,50,000, the same ratio was not maintained and the exemption for senior citizens was pegged at Rs 2,25,000 when it should have been Rs 2,77,5000 if the earlier ratio between the exemption limits were to be retained.

Mr Mukherjee’s predecessor was, perhaps, not as well disposed towards the senior citizens as he claimed to be.

G.S. KANG, Jalandhar

Be humane, PSEB!

It would be nice if the people conserve power but the PSEB should also reciprocate in similar terms. If a commercial organisation has 50 kilowatt of connected load and consumes 1200 units a month, its monthly bill will be about Rs 6,300.

If power saving reduces the consumption to 500 units, the board will charge it about Rs 6,300 on connected load basis. Is this justice? The PSEB should be humane and charge the consumers on the metered consumption with a per unit rate. This way, honest power consumers will feel rewarded for saving electricity.

Dr TIRATH GARG, Ferozepur City

Jungle raj

The hard-hitting editorial “Let not goondas rule” (June 22) has given an apt advice to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to rein in his party workers who are becoming a law unto themselves and creating mayhem in society.

One can imagine the acuteness of the law and order problem in the state from the fact that an officer like Tehsildar was beaten and humiliated by the hooligans.

Sadly, the civil and police authorities at the district level did not intervene effectively and impartially because of the alleged political clout of the accused.

The lackeys of the ruling party often go around flaunting their connections with its top leadership and force authorities to do what they want.

As most officers are protégés of the politicians, thy have no option but to sign on the dotted line. This is nothing but the jungle raj.

TARSEM SINGH, New Delhi

One rank one pension The Ex-Servicemen of India appeals to the Centre not to dilute the definition of the one rank, one pension (OROP) demand of ex-servicemen. All past pensioners should get the same pension as is given to their rank-to-rank and service-to-service peers that are retiring now. The date of applicability of revised pensions should be the same as the date of applicability of the Sixth Pay Commission, i.e. January 1, 2006. The OROP scheme should be made permanent so that the pensions of old retirees remain equated with the current retirees for all time to come and this issue does not arise again. If there are any changes in the pension regulations concerning disability pension, war injury pay, family pension and the like, the above principle of equity should equally apply to such past pensioners also. Any other thoughts, proposal of one-time increase, modified parity, near parity will not be in line with the “just and fair” solution to the important issue of OROP having far-reaching consequences. We are hopeful that the government will do justice to the defence forces. Maj-Gen SATBIR SINGH (retd), Gurgaon

Fuss over jeans

The Uttar Pradesh government’s fiat on jean-wearing by girls (since withdrawn)
raises an important question as to why such questions are raised time and again
for women only.

If men find women dresses uncomfortable it is their mental problem. Why should women suffer on this account?

What to wear and when to wear is woman’s personal choice. There is no need of any dress code for anyone.

However, a college girl must not wear revealing dresses. And jeans is not objectionable. These girls are mature enough to decide what to wear in college.

MAHESH KAPASI, New Delhi

Degrees on sale

The editorial, “Enforce the norms” (June 20) hits the nail on the head. The sale of seats is very common in private medical colleges.

Most private medical colleges lack facilities and qualified teachers. The rich get their wards admitted through the backdoor either by donations or other methods which result in the decline in the quality of doctors coming out of these institutions.

Colleges openly flout norms but the Medical Council of India (MCI) is not doing its job properly. The MCI should crack the whip on such colleges which sell degrees.

AMANPREET SINGH, Chandigarh

Befitting honour

The ICC World T20 Championship 2009 witnessed another South Asian country,
Pakistan, emerging as champion. It seems that the T20 championship is made for
the sub-continent.

Captain Younis Khan dedicated the win to former coach Bob Woolmer and gift to the people of Pakistan.

But the man who deserves credit for this performance is Shahid Afridi. He was the moving force behind his team’s excellent much-needed performance on both the semifinal and final. He was rightly adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’.

BIDYUT KUMAR CHATTERJEE, Faridabad