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ANYONE with a little conscience would have been pained to see the recent round of horse trading to form a new government in Haryana. Irrespective of the parties and persons who govern the State, the basic dominant point has been to grab power by any means. No one believes their claims that this coalition is based on ideological convictions as well as the promises to provide a clean and efficient administration or solve the urgent problems of the people.

That this should happen at the time when the country is still engaged in the aftermath of Kargil battle, should make our heads hang in utter shame. Are these the people for whom our brave soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice? Do they really need to be defended? The great personal cost of so many families, many of whom had only one earning member who laid down his life on the mountains, has gone waste. It is true that our army was defending the motherland. But is the motherland only of a few and not these self-serving politicians who have nothing to lose and everything to gain in the short period when they remain in power? What kind of role model are they setting for our youth and the man on the street? Even the mules of Kargil are better than these “horses” of the new government!

Train mishaps

This refers to the news item “17 killed in train mishap near Mathura” (July 17). To avoid the accidents caused due to the collision of an oncoming train with a derailed train, every locomotive and guard’s compartment should be equipped with a transceiver. The transceiver is a device which can both send and receive wireless signals. In the case of any derailment or any other emergency the driver or guard can operate a switch to activate the device to send out a wireless signal to all trains and stations within a range of three to four kilometres. This will trigger an audible and visual alarm and automatically brakes will be applied in all the trains through an interface pneumatic valve.

Moreover, the transceiver is technically feasible and can be easily procured with the low-cost communication system.

Keeping in view the increase in number of rail accident and to ensure safety of the passengers, top priority should be given in this regard to equip the trains with the latest technology as early as possible.

SANJAY KHURANA
Chandigarh

This has reference to the news item “No funds for development,” from Mr Ravinder K. Sood (June 30). It is not understood how the correspondent has arrived at the figure of Rs 48 crore of subsidy given to the apple growers last year. The fact is that the apple growers get the same subsidy on insecticides, pesticides and fertilisers, as are received by farmers of the State generally. The amount of Rs 32 crore, on account of support price, is also not correct. The apples were purchased through HPMC and HIMFED under the Market Intervention Scheme at the price fixed by the Government for a particular season. This amount cannot be added to inflate the amount on subsidies. The Government of India shares the cost of market intervention scheme along with the State Government Apart from apples, the scheme covers citrus fruits like kinnow, galgal, mangoes and orange. Thus the benefit of the scheme is spread all over the state and not confined to the apple growers only.

It is wrong to say that apples worth Rs 20 crore were destroyed by the HPMC. The corporation, no doubt, sold a considerable quantity in various markets of the country and the rest of the procured apples were utilised for making concentrated jams, juices, apple wines etc which in turn, gives revenue to the corporation.

The apple growers contribute Rs 6 to 8 crore yearly by way of road tax and market fee which is the only major income of the State Government from the farm sector in the Sate by way of taxes.

	M A I L B A G	Saturday, July 31, 1999
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