Raining freebies

THE Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, declared during his Hoshiarpur rally that if his party comes to power in Punjab, it will provide free education and coaching to the SC community, bear the cost of SC students going abroad to pursue higher education besides the medical expenses of the community. It is sheer politics to garner votes. Instead of the SC community alone, Kejriwal should give guarantee to provide financial help to the economically weaker sections of society, irrespective of their caste. Other parties are also offering freebies to different sections of society. This is not a healthy trend. The people of Punjab should not fall into the trap of political leaders who are dividing the common people on the basis of caste and community.

Sukhdev Singh Minhas, Mohali

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Not in God’s name

Refer to ‘Killing in God’s name’; all religions accept that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and omnibenevolent. We must respect all faiths which teach us spiritual ways to reach the divine. Our behaviour towards other life forms should be respectful and our speech dignified. Nothing hurtful may be uttered to injure the feelings of anyone in society. Such qualities need to be inculcated among all citizens right from childhood. God’s message is to love and support one another. This way, there would be no blasphemy, the factor which medieval minds use to settle personal scores. God is above human praise or hate and maintains the universe, irrespective of our feelings towards Him.

SUBHASH VAID, NEW DELHI

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Rail travel concession

The Railways recently reverted to the pre-Covid era in respect of operationalisation of trains by restoring their normal numbers, instead of special numbers assigned to them during the pandemic. However, the government is now unwilling to ‘restore’ the basic fare concessions that were available to various eligible categories of passengers, like senior citizens, women aged 58 years or above, and the differently-abled, among others. The Railway Minister informed the House that the government did not find it feasible to restore the same now, though these categories of commuters constitute only 12% of the total train passengers. One wonders whether the government will also withdraw the free train/air travel facilities available to the MPs on the same plea.

Vinayak G, New Delhi

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Judicial autonomy

Apropos of ‘Cong flags govt’s indirect control over judiciary’, clear separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive is a prerequisite in modern India to avoid overlapping of authority of the latter over the former. Judicial appointments ought to be transparent, lawful and unprejudiced, free from the influence of the state. Delay in some matters of paramount importance, along with some sceptical judgments in the recent past, are violative of the constitutional rights of citizens. With pending cases soaring, it further delays the delivery of justice to the aggrieved, tarnishing the image of the judiciary as the protector of the Constitution.

Akshay Kapoor, Amritsar

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One of a kind

The middle ‘Why Nehru was loved the way he was’ is a tribute to one of the grandest leaders of the masses. Nehru is remembered not only for his great vision for free India, but also for his great love for children and compassion for the poor and the needy. No one could ever forget him after having a word with him. Such was the aura of his personality. My sister, who is 70 years old, still cherishes the memory, when in her early childhood, Nehru stopped to talk to her, asking, ‘Kise dhoond rahi ho beti?’It was when he was visiting a government school headed by our father. I can recall people weeping and worrying about the future of India when he passed away in 1964.

Sadhna Saini, by mail

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UGC pay scales

Except Punjab, all states and UTs have granted the benefit of new pay scales to their teachers as per the UGC 7th Pay Commission. In due course, all other departments in Punjab have been granted the new scales, but only teachers have been left out. In addition, the state is the only one in the country to delink higher education from the UGC to shed its responsibility to pay UGC scales to teachers. These policies will affect the quality of education and further destroy the public education infrastructure which is already in a shambles. Moreover, the mushrooming private varsities will commercialise education. Teachers will be exploited with no academic freedom and no regulatory framework to save their interests. Also, the students will be financially burdened.

Karan Singh Vinayak, Chandigarh

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