M A I L B A G

Abolition of quotas need of the hour

The Centre pleaded before the Supreme Court that 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs is affirmative action against centuries-long historical oppression of the SCs, STs and OBCs. This argument is quite hollow and devoid of knowledge of history.

For centuries, India was first ruled by the Mughals and afterwards by the British. The general category people were subjected to all sorts of cruelty during the Mughal rule.

During British rule, the general category was again subjected to cruelty. The struggle for freedom was spearheaded by the general category. How is thise section responsible for backwardness and oppression of the so-called OBCs?

Vote-bank policies will destroy the country’s unity and integrity. Quotas in perpetuity will cause mutual hatred, suspicion and jealousy among the different castes, creeds and religions. Abolition of quotas is the need of the hour.

GOVIND RAI, Mansa

II

The editorial “Quota on hold” (April 25) rightly observes that it is the apex court’s duty to test the constitution validity of every law or amendment passed by Parliament. The UPA government in general and the Union HRD Minister in particular has gone amok on the OBC quota. They are playing vote bank politics to keep themselves firmly saddled in power.

IQBAL SINGH, Jalandhar City

Ineffective panel

I am worried about the poor functioning of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission. During a visit to its office for receiving a duplicate call letter for a clerical-level examination for the Haryana Vidyut Board, the staff misbehaved with us.

Many candidates have not received their roll numbers for the examination which was held on May 6. In this computer age, searching candidates’ names manually from the printed list shows the commission’s unscientific method of working.

R.K. KANNAUJIA, Chandigarh

Backlog of cases

“It would take another 22 years to clear the backlog”, thus ran a news-item in The Tribune (April 22). Again on April 27, another news-item revealed that there is a staggering backlog of 2. 5 crore cases in Indian courts. This is alarming.

Arbitration, mediation and conciliation are being discussed as a solution to the menacing problem. A seminar on “Alternative Dispute Resolution” was held to discuss the problem. The problem of arrears in courts and delay in delivering justice is not receiving the attention it deserves. This despite legal luminaries’ warning that piling up of cases will lead to the erosion of people’s faith in the judiciary.

The root cause of arrears is non-availability of even sanctioned strength of judges and presiding officers. Unless we focus our attention to this problem, our efforts to combat it will not yield the desired results.

B. S. BHATIA, Chandigarh

Scrap toll tax

Protests against the toll tax on vehicles plying on the new widened roads in Punjab are justified. Vehicle owners pay road tax at the time of purchase of new vehicles for the use of state roads for 15 years. Maintenance, repair and expansion of state roads remains the basic responsibility of the state government. Some new toll plazas have already started functioning whereas others likely to come up in the future will cover almost the whole of Punjab.

People were not taken into confidence before clearing the projects of road widening on BOT basis. The Congress government in Punjab acted in a deceitful manner by playing the orchestra of development being undertaken in the state without giving any inkling to the common man that time was not far when they will have to pay through their nose for using the state roads.

Col KULDIP SINGH GREWAL (retd), Patiala