Khaye, piye, khiske...

Apropos ‘Luxury hotels, choppers for finance panel members’ (Jan 29), simple living and high thinking is a thing of the past. Gone are the days of GS Musafir, a former Punjab CM, who would stay at the modest Western Court, a government building, when visiting Delhi. His driver would cook for him. Now, it is a five-star culture everywhere, never mind the increasing debt of Punjab and vacant rooms at Punjab Bhawan. The Finance Commission is a bureaucratic body and may not go beyond the ‘Lakshman rekha’ drawn by its political masters. Such meetings end in ‘KPK’ — Khaye, piye, khiske. 

Advertisement

AK Sharma, Panchkula

One for humanities 

Refer to ‘A practical step’ (Jan 30); to implement the practical project work in letter and spirit immense hard work is needed. It may try to equalise all three streams of science, commerce and arts and may minimise rote learning. Science students devote most time to coaching academies and do not even visit laboratories. There should be an effective mechanism to assure that young minds achieve targeted practicality and creativity to cope with after-school life. All types of professionals are required from all streams. 

DILWAR ALI MEERAK, TOHANA

Charismatic leader 

The sad news of George Fernandes’ demise sent me down memory lane, bringing back memories of my two meetings with him 40 years ago. He was a fiery orator, a charismatic leader and an epitome of simple living and high thinking. Whenever I met him, I found him in a crumpled kurta, dishevelled hair, mouldy glasses and a pair of slippers. He spoke with equal flair in English, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada. I had to look up a dictionary when he called an opponent ‘an imbecile, congenital liar’! For visionaries like him, Iqbal aptly said: Hazaron saal nargis apni benoori pe roti hai,/ Bari mushkil se hota hai chaman mei deedawar paida.

Jaswant Singh Gandam, Phagwara

Selection criteria wrong 

The news of the selection of Sangrur among the super 30 districts across India for successfully implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) is a proud moment, but the reality is different. One can commonly see heaps of garbage along roads and near public places like bus stands, hospitals and vegetable markets. The open defecation-free award appears to be on paper, as there is still a large number of people, both in rural and urban areas, who still go in the open. Perhaps the selection criterion is not up to the mark or the districts have not been properly inspected. 

NAVNEET SETH, DHURI

Now, income sop 

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has avowed minimum income for the  poor (Jan 29). Earlier, he had announced that if the party was voted to power, he would waive farm loans, as if the exchequer is a personal property. Correspondingly, PM Modi has legislated 10 per cent quota for people with annual income less than Rs 8 lakh, when there are hardly any government posts. Our politicians make vote-winning promises without sparing a thought to their practicality. Once in power, they find excuses for not implementing the sops. 

KL Noatay, Shimla

Behbal Kalan probe

Apropos ‘Behbal Kalan saga’ (Jan 29), it will be an acid test for the SIT, especially for the two top cops heading it. Both are known for their integrity and are expected not to be cowed down or pressured by anyone. Proper investigation will definitely lead to the big fish. Till then, we will watch with interest and keep our fingers crossed.  

LS Kahlon, Canada

Incorrect usage 

Apropos ‘Get your articles right’ (‘Know Your English’; Jobs & Careers, Jan 30), the writer says articles are parts of speech. They are not; they are called determiners and demonstrative adjectives. Parts of speech are noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Further, she says ‘a’ and ‘an’ are called definite articles and ‘the’ is indefinite article. This is wrong. ‘The’ is definite article and the other two are indefinite articles.  

Tarsem S Bumrah, Batala

Where is public money? 

Refer to ‘Ex-minister’s aide, five others jailed for embezzling funds ‘ (Jan 30); many former ministers, top bureaucrats and public servants have been convicted in the past also and jailed, but public money  involved is never recovered. Is it not a flaw in our law which encourages people to commit fraud with public money and escape with minor punishment, even as they get to keep the money? 

Amarjit Singh, Ludhiana

Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com