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INDIAN Railway is working to extend the railway line from Jammu to Srinagar. In fact, the plan involves the railway line to go up to Baramulla emerging in the valley from Qazigund.

There is a problem being experienced currently in energising the first 45 kms of the proposed scheme from Jammu to Udhampur, in completing an approximately 6-km-long tunnel through a mountain range which is full of water and unstable strata. The Udhampur-Jammu section hopefully will be opened for public travel by 2003. Thereafter the work would be started to extend the line closer to the Pir Panjal range.

I have a suggestion for the railway authorities as well as for the state government to examine.

As the railways have already surveyed the entire length of the scheme, a railway section can be easily developed between Qazigund and Baramulla in the valley. The main problem is the acquisition of land through which the railway line will move and this work is already underway, though at a very slow speed.

The sites of the railway stations and signal halts have already been marked, and once the land acquisition proceedings are over, construction of the civil works can begin. This section of the railway line would be approximately 80 kms in length.

If a shuttle service is inaugurated on the pattern of the one existing in Switzerland and Austria, much of the bus traffic on the national highway, involving the movement of the local people within the valley, could be diverted to this railway line and a very convenient and comfortable travel promised. It will also generate additional employment opportunities, and the movement of goods within the valley would get accelerated. We do not have to wait for the missing link to be first constructed through the Pir Panjal range to see the railway movement in the Kashmir valley.

Once the local valley shuttle system is operated, it will be possible to even contemplating extending a supplementary line up to Pahalgam in one section, and work out a scheme to reach Kargil by tunnels through the intercepting mountain ranges.

J&K could have its railway system to serve its own local people without waiting for the large scheme to be implemented, section by section.

One candidate, one seat

This refers to the editorial “One candidate, one seat”, published recently. While agreeing with the questions raised, I feel that the subject matter should not be allowed to fade away once the elections are over.

People’s representatives, as elected members of legislatures, are responsible to the people, who have elected them. Each one of them even gets control over Rs 2 crore to undertake development work in his/her constituency. There is need to ensure that they give a proper account of this discretionary development fund, besides their individual performance. This can be ensured by making a constitutional provision that a sitting member of Parliament/state assembly can seek re-election “only”, repeat “only”, from the constituency from which last elected. They should not be allowed to change their constituency. The only way they can be allowed to change their constituency should be by foregoing the right to participate in an election for a period of five years. This added provision will enhance the value of our electoral system and democracy.

NAVEEN SHARMA
Patiala

This could be a spine-chilling scene from a horror film. A pregnant mother delivers a palm-sized foetus in the hands of a doctor, it is moving its limbs and hanging to its mother with the umbilical cord. The doctor snips the cord and without even looking at the cursed foetus, throws it into the wastebin. The foetus continues to move its limbs for a few more minutes before finally giving up. The doctor takes off her gloves and walks out of labour room, satisfied at the task accomplished. Hours later, the ward attendant picks up the bin and throws the dead (female) foetus over a municipal dump. Such incidents continue to occur unabashedly every hour of the day from posh nursing homes to dirty unhygienic makeshift abortion joints” in our towns and villages alike.

This trend, which made its advent in our region in early eighties with the introduction of ultrasound machines and amniocentesis techniques, gained wide public acceptability quickly. The widespread use of these methods for pre-natal sex determination rapidly rose to alarming levels and has resulted in a disturbed male: female ratio with number of females falling to low levels. (Can the law on foetal scan help by Anjali Deshpande, Aug 12).

It is understandable that medical doctors and technicians were the first to invite the wrath of social activists who blamed them for misusing the modern-day technology for nefarious purposes. The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and prevention of misuse) Act was born out of this belief of these social activists that female foeticide could be checked if the doctors were brought under the purview of this Act. That this Act has been unable to have any tangible impression over this practice bears a testimony to the fact that mere enactment of legislation is not enough. In fact, the Act does not completely address the root cause of the problem.

Although the doctors cannot shrug away their share, it is unfair to put the entire blame on them. The status of girl child in our society has always been disadvantageous to her. She has been discriminated in matter of nutrition, health and education. It might come as a surprise to many that in a study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) two years ago to assess the social and health status of women and girl child, Amritsar along with a couple of other districts from Punjab was clubbed with most backward districts of UP and Bihar for having worst parameters. This is no feather in its cap. The continuous trail of crime against women, especially those belonging to most disadvantaged sections of society and dowry deaths, bespeak of their miseries. The monster of social evils like dowry and extravagant marriage bashes continues to grow menacingly. Add to it the cost of rearing and educating a (female) child, so unattractive a proposition and who wants to do that.

We in Punjab seem to be forgetting the wisdom of our forefathers. It is an old Punjabi saying “O naar sulakhni-jisne pehle janmi lakhmi” (a woman whose first born is a daughter, is virtuous). And now people do not await the birth of their second child they want to know the sex of their first child itself. We need to fall back upon the teachings of our Gurus and saints who taught us to treat a woman at par with a man enjoying equal rights, both individual and social. A girl child needs to be groomed as a person who grows up as a contributing and productive member of society. She is as much an asset as a boy and not a liability. This might sound too idealistic and too difficult to achieve. But unfortunately needling the doctors alone will not work. They too cannot run away from their responsibilities towards society and will have to contribute their bit. A social movement needs to be built. It has to concentrate on three points: small family norm, equal status and opportunities for a girl child and social pressure to discourage pre-natal sex determination and consequent female foeticide. The Act can only be a means and not the end.

The object of publishing election manifestos by various political parties, in a democracy, is to project their aims and policies to the general public to enable the electorate to cast their votes with due and careful consideration. This, in other words is a solemn promise for implementation of their “manifestoed” policies if voted to power.

Unfortunately, all our election manifestos manifest one thing — that promises (like those contained in previous election manifestos) since Independence are not meant for implementation. In actual fact, they reveal mere political bravado in a bid to outdo other political rivals while at the same time concealing their nefarious intent of exploiting the gullible masses for the sake of grabbing political power by any means — rascality, doling out virgin paper currency-notes to selfish and ignorant voters, luring people to casteism/regionalism and so on.

It is a bitter truth that none of our political parties is a well-wisher of our nation. The last 52 years bear witness to this reality. The recently issued election manifestos of our three political parties confirm this. These manifestos have nothing worthwhile and exceptional to convey to the people. They contain usual and routine populism, whereas our nation needs dynamic administration to eradicate all existing political ills/evils.

The following inescapable measures are very much conspicuous by their absence therein:-

(a) Merit: A vast country like India is not governable by low-calibre people elected to high posts through mere elections, whereas nothing about merit is mentioned in their manifestos.

(b) Implementation of population control: Population control can never be achieved by sermons and wishful thinking. The Chinese method is the only answer to this grave problem.

(c) One rank one pension for the defence personnel: Instead, our politicians have offered to give franchise rights to the defence people. This is fraught with danger because it would politicise the apolitical nature and fabric of our serving soldiers (refers to post Bluestar operation scenario). Basically, what all our defence forces need is “one rank one pension” which our politicians have shoved into cold storage.

The manifestos under consideration are just to befool the people as in all the previous elections. Frankly speaking, no manifestos should be permitted. Instead, emphasis should be given to good, efficient and unbiased administration. Mind you, we can still maintain our democracy without the present tribe of politicians who have created a mess in our country. The intelligentsia and the common man believe that “our country is more important than the present cadre of politicians”.

The editorial of August 21 mistakenly suggested that Mr Dosanjh, the present Attorney-General of British Columbia, which is a province of Canada, may become Prime Minister. I am a lawyer in Canada. I am also an NRI. Mr Dosanjh may become the Chief Minister of British Columbia and not the Prime Minister of Canada. You referred to Presidents, past and present of Singapore. They were all born outside India and did not have divided loyalty.

	M A I L B A G	Monday, August 30, 1999
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