M A I L B A G

Punish the guilty in kidney trade

The editorial “Kidney robbers” (Jan 28) made startling revelations about the human organs trafficking. The incident of illegal kidney transplant in Amritsar a few years back is still fresh in public memory. Yet another, even bigger, at Gurgaon has jolted the entire nation.

What is more shocking is that the racket had been going on smoothly for the last one decade. About 500 transplants done and the money involved a whopping Rs 100 crore. How was it possible without the connivance of the police and political bigwigs?

India is the only country where criminals commit crimes and escape scot-free. Here democracy means freedom to commit heinous crimes with impunity. The only way to stop crimes of this nature is exemplary punishment.

Let us follow China, Israel and Western countries that keep the crimes under check. Arab countries carry on executions in full public view. Our laxity towards criminals gives boost to crimes. The police and the politicians must refrain from their crooked ways of working to eliminate crime and criminals altogether.

KARNAIL SINGH, Kharar

II

It is shocking how an unholy trade continued in Gurgaon for the last seven years and yet no action was action. Apparently, the scam went unnoticed for a long time. All the recipients belong to rich NRI and influential families and unsuspecting donors to the poor and illiterate sections of society.

In a democratic country like ours, we cannot allow the rich to live and take away the right of the poor. The National Human Rights Commission should take suo motu action and the CBI should hold a detailed and comprehensive inquiry. All the people involved in the kidney scam, however high they may be, should be awarded severest punishment. Only then, it will act as a deterrent.

Dr D.S. JASPAL, Ambala City

III

There was a time when doctors were considered next to God. The lust for money has turned the heads of some doctors. Transplanting an organ from one person to the other without the knowledge of the patient is a great sin.

I can understand the pain and agony suffered by such people who surrender themselves completely and unconditionally before a doctor who is later proved as a criminal. Minting money for the children and grandchildren by unprofessional means can never make them happy throughout their lives.

The world medical ethics is quite unknown to these doctors. In Punjabi, we say “Aise doctor hein kasai, Yamraj ke bhai” (Such doctors are butchers, a kin to Yamraj, the God of death. The God of death only takes life but the aforementioned doctors fleeced and extracted money in addition to life.

SHYAM SUNDER AIRI, Kapurthala

Managing canals

The report “Punjab lets its canals run dry” (Jan 24) exposes the working of the Irrigation Department as the capacity of canal irrigation has come down to 28 per cent compared with the corresponding period. No doubt, it happened due to lack of interest by the irrigation officers, but farmers are also responsible for this as equal partners. They too have been slack because of the availability of ground water.

The government has earmarked funds for the maintenance of canals, but officers misuse these funds. Scarcity of rainfall and overutilisation of ground water has reduced the water table considerably. It will also decrease agriculture production and will directly affect the financial position of the farmers and the economy.

Owing to global climatic change, the shortage of rainfall has dried up the rivers. There is no effective management of surplus water, because 80 per cent of rain water goes waste. Farmers are suffering due to lack of rainwater management.

The government may impose sanctions on water use, but it will have to pull up the Irrigation department officers and engineers; they must harvest rainwater in the lakes during the rainy season and put in place an effective canal lining system for proper irrigation.

NACHHATTAR SINGH MALHAN, Odhan (Sirsa)

II

The promise of spending Rs 3,243 crore on the decaying canal system, without a well-investigated and prepared Master Plan is like prescribing the treatment without diagnosing the ailment. Punjab can get help of outside experts if it feels that its engineers are incapable of handling the problem.

Once the Punjab Irrigation department was known for its expertise and capacity. The Bhakra-Nangal canal system, the Harike barrage, the Ropar Headworks, the Madhopur Headworks were all built in record time and most scientifically. We cannot say about the present position. The Punjab Chief Minister should know better.

We should restore the financial earning capacity of the Punjab canal system by reverting to status quo ante before 1997. The canal system should be able to earn at least enough money for its organisation and methods (O&M).

Dr G. S. DHILLON, Chandigarh