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	M A I L B A G	Wednesday, December 23, 1998
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Crimes against women

With reference to the report "Awesome statistics of crimes against women" (December 16), I wish to highlight that there is one rape every 54 minutes, a molestation case every 26 minutes, a dowry death every two hours and a vicious act of violence every 33 minutes. There are more such cases which go unreported.

Delhi alone has 33 per cent eve-teasing cases in the country. The crime rate in this city is four times higher than the rest of the country, and the most vulnerable victims are girls.

How sad it is that 84.97 per cent of the working women in the organised sector are not aware of the Supreme Court ruling on sexual harassment.

Crime against women has not been a new phenomenon. What is new and sad about it is that even in educational institutions such crimes are on the rise.

Recently JNU set up a "Sexual Harassment Committee" for hearing matters of sexual harassment. Similarly, Madras University has enacted a code of conduct for preventing sexual harassment.

All this does not reflect too good of a society where woman has always been worshipped, respected and honoured. It is still not too late. Stringent measures should be taken to reverse the trend. We need to build a society as that in the United States of America where even the President of the country has to suffer for his bad conduct.

D.P. SINGH MOR
Patiala

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Power sector blues

The Prime Minister, while addressing a conference of Chief Ministers, called upon various state Electricity Boards to cut power losses in their respective areas (The Tribune, Dec 19). This is not for the first time that such a call has been given. Power thefts and transmission losses have been a hot issue for the past almost two decades. No significant progress has, however, been achieved in this direction. Rather it has been observed that whenever there is an increase in power tariff, the theft of electricity also goes up.

It is easier to preach than to practice. No appeal will prick the conscience of power thieves. The only method to reduce power theft is to adopt stringent measures. For this the enforcement wings of the SEBs need to be provided with the latest gadgets and more powers. Installation of new solid-state electronic meters, as recently initiated by the PSEB, may prove to be of great help. However, one category of power thieves who openly indulge in this act by hooking directly on to the electricity lines can be tackled only with the help of the police.

While the SEBs are continued to be blamed for financial losses, it is for the central and state governments to ensure the rationalisation of power tariff if the deficit is to be wiped out.

JAGVIR GOYAL
Bathinda

Decline of a profession

Medical profession is not considered a noble one these days. Because of commercialisation and tough competition the referring doctors are allured by diagnostic centres, laboratories, surgeons and nursing homes. A patient is in a fix once he is advised a diagnostic procedure like ultrasound, CT scan or even a blood test.

The patients start doubting the intentions of a doctor the moment he advises them some test. Because of a handful of unscrupulous practitioners, the whole profession has become tainted. These practitioners accept wrong reports since these are accompanied by an envelope of “thanks”, whereas the genuine and correct reports are not even acknowledged.

When one of my colleagues started surgical practice, he was asked to cough up 50 per cent of the total bill to the referring doctor. He preferred to refer his own cases to a fellow surgeon and enjoyed a 50 per cent “cut” and operated only those cases which were referred to by others. See the irony of the situation.

(Dr) GURINDERJIT SINGH
Ludhiana

Education in India

India can feel proud of having an organisation like the University Grants Commission but, at the same time, it is quite saddening that the UGC has failed to achieve the desired goals. The reasons are many but it is mainly financial crunch, red-tapism and nepotism which have been stopping the commission from taking the necessary steps to improve the quality of education at the higher level. Efforts should be made to increase the flow of private funds in this area, of course, without compromising the quality.

ATUL KUMBHKARNI
Chandigarh

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Art galleries

This has reference to the report of the inauguration of a new art gallery in Chandigarh. (The Tribune, Dec 21).

Perhaps because your art reviewer is a fresher to the Chandigarh art scene, she has inadvertently stated that this is the “first private art gallery” that has come up in the city.

In fact, several people have made a number of such attempts since the early sixties but none could sustain due to one or the other problem. However, this attempt, with the kind of media support that normally is not accorded to other non-commercial galleries, for whatever reasons, one can hope that it will be successful.

But the gallery’s dependence mainly on branded Delhi/Bombay artists, as was done by the now defunct AIFACS Gallery at Panchkula, may not generate the kind of impetus that the gallery owners wish to.

BALVINDER
Chandigarh