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Flip side of the freebie
The Punjab Government’s decision to give free 200 units of electricity a month to the Scheduled Castes irrespective of the power load is quite unjust (The Tribune, June 1). In this small town of Fatehgarh Churian, there are more than 25 gazetted officers of the government who are all Scheduled Castes. However, though hundred others, belonging to other castes, are below the poverty line, they are unable to get this exemption. Is this justified? VED PRAKASH, Gurdaspur
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Female foeticide This has reference to Sreelatha Menon’s article
“Punishing women to protect girls” (Oped page, June 1). It does not present the true picture regarding the ongoing campaign against female foeticide in the Nawanshahr district. The manner in which NGOs and the people of Nawanshahr are fighting this menace has been admired by various sections including The Tribune. No FIR has been registered against any of the mothers but against midwives instrumental in facilitating the scan and abortion. Of course, the court has to finally decide the case on the basis of evidence gathered by the investigating agency as to the person(s) responsible for committing the offence. Our campaign against female foeticide in Nawanshahr district is slightly different. While we are not lenient against any doctor/scanning centre conducting pre-natal determination test, we have taken the issue to society. We have mobilised the community and the district administration for the success of our campaign against the menace. YASHPAL SINGH
HAFIZABADIA, President, Upkar Coordination Society, Nawanshahr CM on Harike lakeOn May 30, when the residents of Muktsar showed Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh the polluted water flowns down the Sirhind Feeder System, which supplies water for both irrigation, drinking and other purposes, the Chief Minister was shocked. He promised to rectify the situation promptly. He said that water from some “nullah” and industrial units might be getting mixed up with the canal water. He should be aware of the fact that Ludhiana, with a population of over 20 lakh discharges municipal and industrial sewage, without any treatment, through the Budha Nullah into the Harik lake. By now, the Harike lake has been badly silted and fully polluted. Now the Harike lake has started dislodging into the off-taking canal system. Before attempting any solution, the problem must be understood properly. False promises to the public will not help. The Punjab State Pollution Control Board should step in and do the needful with a sense of urgency. Dr G.S. DHILLON, Chandigarh Words of wisdomThe late Dr P.N. Chutani, former PGI Director, Chandigarh, in one of his most inspiring lectures, once rightly advised the government to concentrate more on providing safe drinking water to the people. He said: “We do not need more hospitals; we need safe drinking water as 90 per cent of diseases are caused by unsafe drinking water”. Words of wisdom. Swami Vivekananda once said: “India needs more sports stadiums than temples as temples are in plenty.” The need of the hour is to follow the advice of both Dr Chutani and Swami Vivekananda. Punjab does not need an AIIMS as being mooted (May 3). It needs safe drinking water and sports stadiums. SANJEEV, Kurukshetra Give English its dueEnglish is the international language. However, government schools do not bother about it compared with private schools. Why should we look for teachers who had combinations in graduation like Social Studies and English? In most government schools, we have the same teacher for both the subjects. If English has to be given due weightage, government schools should ensure that qualified teachers (preferably postgraduates in English) teach the subject. We need to change the old system of subject combination for teaching English. ANCHAL GARG, Mansa
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