Golden show at Tokyo

Reference to ‘Golden show in Tokyo’, after shooter Abhinav Bindra’s gold in 2008, it is Neeraj Chopra’s gold now, India’s first medal ever in athletics. India’s medals tally at Tokyo Olympics is the best so far at seven, the previous best being six at the London Olympics in 2012. Nothing prevents us from hailing our medal winners and fellow Olympians. Describing the historic moment of Neeraj Chopra, one could not escape the observation that he won a solitary gold for a nation of 1.35 billion. This must make heads roll in India regarding our Olympic journey given the fact that we stand at 48th place in the medals tally with the USA at the top with 39 golds followed by our neighbour China with 38. Politicians are in a rush to hail the heroes, a big majority of whom have made it on their own and despite government apathy, even facing social abuse like Vandana Katariya.

Hira Sharma, by mail

Kozhikode crash

There is a small news report in the issue of August 9 that Air India Express has made a final compensation offer to all 165 passengers injured and the next of kin of 19 passengers plus crew who died in the Kozhikode air crash on

August 7 last year. Human memory is weak. We all forget unfortunate incidents with the passage of time. Our government formed a panel of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board on August 13, 2020, to find out the facts of the crash. The committee was to submit its report by January. But there is not a word from the team. Air India, DGCA, Ministry of Civil Aviation, all are just silent on the issue.

Gurpreet S Malhotra, Kansal

Child pregnancies

Reference to ‘Haryana child pregnancies’; the menace has been elevated due to the lack of amenities, primarily among the migrated labour from other states. Congestion in living conditions and the lack of privacy is the root cause of all such incidents. To meet both ends, both father and mother have to go to work, leaving the children at the mercy of unscrupulous persons, mostly known family friends and relatives. Being away from their native place, they are helpless and social stigma prevents them from speaking up. It is the duty of the state, and especially employers, to raise proper infrastructure for the housing of labourers, and provide facilities for the education of their children. The labour force is the real backbone of the industry.

Krishan Bhatia, Hansi

Sex education

Apropos of ‘Haryana child pregnancies’, it is shocking to read that in the first five months of 2021, there have been 37 child pregnancy cases in Haryana. Teachers in schools should sensitise boys and girls students regarding sex education. Parents and elders at home should also educate children in these matters, else the consequences would be serious.

Rikhi Dass Thakur, Hamirpur

Land records

Reference to ‘Farmers oppose land record upload order’; farmers were waiting with bated breath for the procedure to be adopted for purchase/payment of kharif crops. They will have to upload the revenue record of ownership on the web portal of the Mandi Board. This work will have to be completed through commission agents. The irony is that the aim of the policy is to oust arhtiyas and make direct payment to the owners’ account. The lessees, the cultivators and the share-croppers have been forgotten. Last season also, the Centre had stressed that the commission of the arhtiyas will not be paid by it. So, the state government wants to utilise the services of an age-old class gratis. There are thousands of khewats in the revenue record, where there are hundreds of shareholders. There are lakhs of lessees, whose name does not appear in the revenue record. The record has not been updated and is fraught with innumerable mistakes and overlappings. The exercise of uploading will cause turmoil in society, as smugglers of crops will find a subtle way to hoodwink the law and sell the crops bought in Bihar at half the rate than the MSP and sell it in Punjab, Haryana and UP. No useful purpose will be served with the implementation of half-baked policies.

Abhiraj singh Bajwa, Hoshiarpur

BRO’s world record

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has built the world’s highest motorable road at Umling La Pass in eastern Ladakh, just adjacent to China, at a height of 19,300 ft. India has broken Bolivia’s record of a road built near Volcano Uturuncu at 18,953 ft. Building a road at this height was not an easy task because winter temperature dips to -40 degree Celsius, and at this altitude, oxygen levels are 50% less than at normal places. What a unique performance by the BRO!

RK Arora, Ambala City

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