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Mid-day meal
With reference to the report “Give morning meal to school kids” (May 25), I would like to say that Punjabis are well known for their healthy diet and eating lifestyle, but there is dire need for providing more nutritious food enriched with proteins to the growing children under the mid-day meal scheme. In the past, it had been observed that the quality of food being served was not good. Even the iron pills given to the school children in Amritsar and Batala had led to their falling ill.
From such services, it has been observed that neither the suppliers nor the organisers are sincere in their duty. I would suggest that instead of providing the cooked meal in schools, the children should be provided a stipend on this account.With these arrangements, the parents can give better food to their wards and it will also relieve the teachers and the government of their major burden. MANA FEROZEPURI, Ferozepur
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Canadian comment
Apropos of the editorial “Canadian arrogance” (May 24), I want to say that the grant of Immigration viz. permanent residency to a foreigner is the sovereign and un-alienable prerogative of every country. This can be refused even without assigning any reason. However, the adverse comment on the Indian Border Security Force given in the letter refusing immigration to Canada to Mr Fateh Singh Pandher is unfortunate and undiplomatic. Canada has the most liberal immigration laws, which lure our people to marry their sons/daughters to Canadians for smooth and legal immigration of the whole family to that country. Once in Canada after marriage, these young men/women sponsor their parents and younger siblings who immigrate to Canada in a few years. After 10 years of stay in Canada both parents start receiving monthly old age supplement (pension) of $1000 each. Now that the pride of Mr Pandher has been hurt due to aspersions on the functioning of the BSF, he, as patriotic Indian, should not accept any Canadian immigration in future even if offered on a platter. Will he? S.S. Beniwal, Chandigarh
Talks and terrorism
Earlier we talked of talks. Now we are talking of reducing trust deficit. There is no harm in resuming dialogue with Islamabad as it is the
only sensible way of resolving our differences. But the important thing is sincerity which is
lacking in out talks. Earlier during Foreign Secretary-level talks, the Islamabad representative appeared interested more in addressing the Indian media than discussing important issues during bilateral talks. He looked eager to score brownie points. If the US and Russia were successful in ending their animosity of the Cold War era, it was because they were sincere in their efforts. People enjoying power in Pakistan do not see anything wrong in the conduct of Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind 26/11 and the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiyaba, even when he openly declares jihad against India. The Pakistan Government has failed to eliminate terrorist outfits from its soil as their terrorist infrastructure is still intact. Let Pakistan understand that talks and terrorism cannot go hand in hand. Arvind Hastir, Gurdaspur
An unnoticed tragedy
The collapse of an under-construction chimney at the Paricha thermal plant on May 24 in Uttar Pradesh seems to have escaped the attention of The
Tribune. This accident is a repeat of the collapse of a chimney at the BALCO plant in Madhya Pradesh last September. But such failures in
quick succession seem to be not enough to awaken the authorities. Being an insider of the construction industry, I am of the considered view that the corruption prevalent in the construction industry is taking its toll and the real cause of collapse is the slender design and total lack of quality control. These things are the byproducts of corruption in the form of cuts and commissions widely
prevalent and being considered almost legally permissible. We are blindly adopting the Western model in the matter of construction of mega projects with the input of Indian integrity. Such failures, therefore, seem to be in waiting as a huge construction programme relating to power projects in the private sector is underway. It is for Central and state governments to evolve a foolproof mechanism and regulatory framework to arrest the rot. This can help avoid the loss of human lives. S C CHABBA, Patiala
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