M A I L B A G

Check birth rate for overall development

Population growth of 2-3 per cent every year is said to be the single most detrimental factor for India’s economic progress. Also we promote democracy which means more children, more adults and more votes to run the Centre and the states. So, what is wrong in population growth and having more children?

Democracy provides incentive for population growth. The thinking of Indian/world leaders is to promote democracy as well as economic progress. This is not possible. Population rises or falls in geometrical progression whereas economic resources increase or decrease in arithmetical progression. So if the leaders want votes/vote banks, affecting the economic progress, so be it. You cannot have both ways.

On the other hand, if economic progress is to be sought, population growth has to be controlled, implying that the incentives provided by democracy will have to be eliminated. Today’s children will be tomorrow’s adults and will need employment, food, shelter, education, roads, and so on. Do we have resources to provide good life to our population which is increasing by 2-3 per cent every year?

APAR SINGH AHLUWALIA, Rochester Hills, Michigan (USA)

II

Apropos of the editorial “Nonsense and Census” (Sept 9), the most welcome result of the census goof-up is that BJP spokesman Venkaiah Naidu has quickly averred that a two-child norm will find his party’s support.

Facts stare one in the face: India with its  3,268,580 sq km of area cannot sustain the same population like China which has  9,595,961 sq km. For the first time, the Indian bureaucracy has worked in India’s interest, albeit inadvertently. More errors please. Amen!

Lt-Col PREMENDRA SINGH (retd), Nabha

Raw deal for teachers I endorse the views in the editorial “Homilies won’t help” (Sept 4). To maintain the sanctity of the day, the Centre and the State governments should try to fulfill the demands of the teachers. For instance, the Haryana government has announced the benefit of 50 per cent DA merger with basic pay for its teachers/employees working in private-aided colleges. However, Punjab is still dilly dallying on this issue. Similarly, private aided college teachers in Haryana are already getting pension and the benefit of DA on pension is being considered favourably by the state government. But Punjab seems to be in no mood to implement the pension gratuity scheme for its aided college staff. Furthermore, Haryana has initiated the move to recruit lecturers for its colleges. However, the Punjab government is sleeping over the matter. Deplorably, more than 750 of about 2,281 posts of lecturer are lying vacant in Punjab’s government colleges. ANTAR JYOTI GHAI, Lecturer, DD Jain Memorial College for Women, Ludhiana

Advocates’ strike

The strike observed by advocates in various parts of the country due to reported police excesses on a trivial accident in Lucknow represents their timely concern. Appreciably, the people were sympathetic towards the advocates’ cause. They did not take exception to the inconvenience caused to them because of the strike.

S.C. UMMAT, Advocate, Chandigarh

Tread with caution

J. George’s article “July package of WTO” (Aug 28) needs to be read with great care. After failures at Cancun and Geneva, on the specific issue of trade in agriculture, those talks are now headed for another round. The conclusion that there is little hope of finding a formula, which is acceptable to most, if not all, WTO members, is inescapable.

The WTO Charter itself had evolved after eight rounds of acrimonious debate. Moreover, the provisions were kept deliberately vague in order to persuade greater number of countries to join. Apparently, control over greed is a precondition for free and fair trade.

V.C. NANDA, Chandigarh

II

Ever since the fiasco at Cancun and Geneva, reports have appeared on unfair practices in international trade. However, what has not received attention is the tactic adopted by developed countries of stopping imports on non-tariff considerations. They have enacted laws authorising themselves to be arbiters on whether the source of import is observing norms on such grounds as ethical treatment of animals, links with terrorism and labour welfare, including employment of child labour.

They carefully avoid for less vaguely applicable norms on treatment of prisoners of war, bombing of civilians during war and environmental pollution. Thus, developing countries would do well to collectively stop imports from countries not observing norms of these issues. The economies of developed countries are more dependent on us than the other way round.

GIANJEET KAHLON, Mohali

It’s son-mania

The points raised in the editorial “Endangered daughters” (Sept 10) are thought-provoking. The moment a woman becomes pregnant, she is under pressure to bear a male child, as if it is in her hands to choose the sex of the expected child. Women themselves should be blamed for this as they are heard saying to the expectant mother, Bhagwan Tenu Changi Cheege Deve.

It must be mentioned here that the trend to have a male child is limited to uneducated families as in society one comes across families who, even after opting for the one-child norm, after having first girl child, prefer a girl child for adoption. The media is expected to play a vital role to check the practice of female foeticide.

V.K. SHARMA, Shimla