L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

Don’t allow food grains to rot

The colossal waste of food grains for want of proper storage is an unpardonable crime (editorial, “Criminal waste”, July 22). The rampant corruption in the various handling agencies and the lack of a long-term policy by the apathetic state governments should be seriously addressed. Losing millions of tons of wheat to rats and letting it rot in open fields after spending considerable amount of public money to procure the stocks reflects utter neglect and mismanagement by various agencies.

The picture becomes even more worrying in the face of India fairing poorly on the Global Hunger Index. The nation’s food storage capacity needs to be augmented immediately. Until then the surplus food should be distributed freely or at hugely subsidised rates to the poor and not-so-poor to peg the soaring price index.

Alternatively, India should donate the stocks and earn the blessings of hungry and deprived masses in the poor countries of Africa. Teams comprising MLAs, MPs and bureaucrats should be immediately sent to Canada, USA and other countries to study “scientific methods” in preservation and storage of food grains.

Dr AMRIT SETHI, Bathinda

HARISH K. MONGA, Ferozepur

Flawed view

In his letter (July 28), Prof Ranbir Singh called Prof Suraj Bhan an “independent historian” and the historians who believe in the existence of Ram temple in Ayodhya as “communal historians.”

Historiography is highly subjective and our personal or political leanings generally decide our positions. Therefore this sort of branding of historians is quite shocking.

The notion that everyone who believes in Ram and the existence of Ram temple in Ayodhya is communal is flawed. Ram is an avatar for millions of people and they believe that he was born in Ayodhya. Ram may not be worshipped by every Indian but he is certainly a part of our collective unconsciousness.

VINEET MEHTA, Jalandhar

Laudable crusade

Hemant Kumar deserves kudos for daring to invoke the RTI to inquire about the methodology adopted in making appointments of a huge battery of law officers by the Haryana Government (news report, “ Lawyer’s crusade against jumbo-sized AG Office, July 26.) Pertinent to mention here is that their appointment is marred by lack of transparency as well as the absence of due or fair process of appointment.

Undoubtedly, the government has got power and authority for every executive act. However, all its actions must withstand public scrutiny and no act ought to be done in a clandestine manner. 

Moreover, when the state has a regular cadre of deputy/assistant district attorneys, who are duly selected by the Public Service Commission, what compels the state to engage advocates from outside while ignoring these?

HIMANI CHAWLA, Panchkula

A correction

The first sentence in the third paragraph of Harihar Swarup’s profile of Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi (Sunday Oped, Aug 1), should have read “A man of unimpeachable (and not ‘impeachable’) integrity and an astrologer, Gopalaswami could never pull on with Chawla but had most cordial relations with Quraishi, his second Election Commissioner”. The error is regretted.

Follow rules The editorial “VIP’ violators” (July 21) gave an inspiring message to its readers. It is true that most of the VIP’s do misuse their powers. If traffic rules are broken by, say a son of some politician then he only needs to show his VIP credentials and is left unpunished. Traffic police, too, instead of slapping a fine accepts a bribe which encourages the citizens not to abide by the rules. We always talk about the system of developed countries where people follow and respect rules and regulations. On the other hand, we criticise our nation for lawlessness. But we forget that at the end of the day it is we who are responsible for not respecting laws. We are not even motivated to obey the basic traffic rules which are for our safety. It must be remembered that respecting laws is the duty of citizens which makes our society more organised and civilised. According to Anacharsis, “Written laws are like spider’s webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and the poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and the powerful.” We must renounce the habit of misusing our powers. We must obey rules and laws as they are for our safety. Laws make or mar a system. RAMESHINDER SINGH SANDHU,Khasa, Amritsar