Govt ignores farmers’ problems

  TWICE a year we read about the wheat and rice crops coming to Punjab mandis and getting spoilt by inclement weather. Twice a year we also read that the nodal purchase agency, the FCI, is delaying purchases from farmers, and they have to sell their produce below the accepted rates to the arhtias. On the one side, the nation’s wealth in food is wasted and on the other the hard-working kisan is being bled white, with the result that Punjab agriculture, which has supported the nation since the sixties is on the verge of collapse. We had hoped that a farmer-friendly party, now in power in the state, would take steps to remove the difficulties faced by the farmers, but it also has done little.

There are other important factors that are being overlooked. Agricultural production increases every year but the facilities at the mandis are not being expanded in proportion. There are no covered areas where the produce can be stacked to save it from weather damage. In fact, nothing has been done to facilitate the sale in these mandis. The poor farmer who works so hard earns less than the arhtia, and yet neither the Government of India nor the local “farmer-friendly” sarkar does anything.

Compensation is, as usual, given but then who knows how much goes to the sufferer. We can survive the onion tamasha but we will not be able to survive the huge losses we are suffering in the procurement and storage of foodgrains. This apart, the man who fills the nation’s bread basket is becoming bankrupt.

The Prime Minister should set up a task force to look into these problems and save the huge waste of the nation’s wealth.

Lieut-Col KARAMJIT SINGH KALHA (retd)
Mohali

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Benefits of telemedicine

I read with interest the write-ups on telemedicine (4-11-98). In this era of communication technology, telemedicine is being increasingly used, not only for doctor-patient interaction but also for family physician-specialist interaction to provide quality health care to patients. When I was reviewing literature to write a chapter on telemedicine, I found many such instances reported in medical literature.

The Tribune has rightly pointed out that telemedicine is not a replacement for traditional family physician, but it can effectively supplement the health facilities being available in times of need. Moreover, there are many situations where busy schedules prevent a person from seeking medical advice. As an example, if there is an outbreak of diarrhoea, in a locality, very few of healthy persons will actually go to a doctor to get preventive advice. This is just one of the many situations where telemedicine steps in.

When distance learning was first introduced, people had their doubts. But today it has established its effectiveness. Similarly, being a new health delivery system, telemedicine will have its share of critics. But it can take health care to where it is actually needed, transcending barriers of time and distance.

TEJINDER SINGH,
Professor of Pediatrics, CMC
Ludhiana

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Polythene & environment

The write-up “Polythene, an environmental disaster” (Nov 5) by Anubha Kaushik, Department of Environmental Science, G.J. University, Hisar, was informative. It highlighted the positive and negative aspects of the use of polythene bags.

Today, how to save the environment is a major problem. Polythene pollutes the environment. As we know, polythene is a daily-use item. It is very popular among people due to its light weight, being waterproof and low cost. But it is non-biodegradable. This causes serious environmental implications.

Now the question is: how can we solve this problem? We have to change our attitude. There is no need to throw away any waste, even polythene. It can be used for making things of beauty. Polythene can be used for making footrest, which would be durable and free of cost and can be used in the home, specially in the bathrooms and kitchens. Some decorative items can also be made of polythene.

Parents can use it to cover their children’s school-books. Polythene can be used in the place of cotton for filling purposes such as in toys, pillows and bed mattresses.

SUNIL K. DOGRA
Chandigarh

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Adulterated drugs

Never was morality at its lowest ebb in our country as it is now ("Buy drugs with extra care", editorial, November 4). I feel no reluctance in saying that the real crisis which faces the country today is "moral" and not "economic". The economic crisis is merely a symptom of the disease which is primarily attacking our morality.

Adulteration has become a way of life. Today we have adulterated milk, milk-products, mustard oil, vegetable oil (ghee), spices and several other food products. The availability of such things is not new for Indian customers and shopkeepers. But it is, indeed, a matter of great shame that now we have duplicate or spurious medicines too in the market.

SUNIL CHOPRA
Ludhiana

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INADEQUATE PUNISHMENT: The spurious drug racket recently unearthed in Delhi ought to be the last straw. First, they killed innocent children with spurious toxic milk made of an emulsion of urea and oil, and the authorities did not act sternly enough. Then it was with adulterated (killer) oil. The punishment was neither swift nor sufficiently discouraging.

Surely, things have gone too far now. These merchants of death seem to have no qualms about acquiring ill-begotten wealth by not sparing even the dying and the diseased, by marketing spurious "life-saving" drugs. The law-abiding common man is very often at the receiving end of all such acts of greed committed by unscrupulous elements. And the sad thing is that the existing laws either prove ineffective as deterrent or they are not at all effectively implemented.

VIVEK KHANNA
Panchkula

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Teachers want their due

The national-level strike by college and university teachers was called off on Teachers’ Day, September 5, on the assurance of the Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, that within four weeks new pay scales would be released. That period ended on October 4. It is a matter of pity that the government has not kept its promise. It is a betrayal on the part of the HRD Minister.

It is high time the Central and state governments released the new pay scales and enhanced the retiring age to 62 years. The Central government, as a notification says, would give a grant-in-aid to the states for the new pay scales only if the states fulfil all other conditions, including the age of retirement up to 62 years.

Justice demands that state governments should announce all such benefits for the principals and teachers of non-government colleges.

S. CHAUDHARY
Pehowa (Kurukshetra)