L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

Not easy to unshackle varsity system

Shelley Walia’s article “Unshackle the varsity system” (Aug 31) is at best a Utopian concept and an impractical one. Barring a handful of our universities whose curriculum, degrees and academic reputation have some credibility at the national and international levels, majority of our regional and state universities have poor standing.

In the absence of uniform curriculum and its upgradation to the international standards, these universities will further lower academic standards. The very fact that large percentage of postgraduate students and candidates with doctoral degrees from these universities fail to clear the national eligibility test, speaks volumes of their substandard academic output.

The idea of “unshackling” the varsity system would arise only when the overall standard of the country’s higher education has reached a reasonable level of judging a candidate purely on the basis of interview and discussions in the Indian context rather than on grades. National Commission for Higher Education and Research is step in the right direction.

KULWANT SINGH, Mohali

Lopsided growth

Former and the present Chief Ministers of Punjab have been giving a step-motherly treatment to Doaba and Majha region of Punjab. A majority of the institutions of higher education were set up in Malwa before 2007.

After 2007, the Akali-BJP government also set up higher educational institutions in the Malwa region. Doaba and Majha regions have been ignored by this government. Except for GNDU, Amritsar and PTU, there are no higher educational institutions in this region.

T.P.S. MALHI, Kapurthala

Safer roads

Fatal road-accidents have become a matter of common occurrence in Himachal Pradesh. Sadly, however, the powers that be seem to view the tragic happenings rather indifferently.

Looking at the alarming number of road-deaths, ensuring safe road journey for the public at large seems to have become an imperative of good governance. Its high time the district administration, the transport authority and, above all, the traffic police met the challenge posed by the disturbing situation.

TARA CHAND, Ambota (Una)

Autonomy in J&K

Mr Farooq Abdullah’s speech in the Lok Sabha, published in The Tribune (Aug 30), was thought-provoking. Many mistakes have been made by the Centre in the past such as, halting the operations in J&K in 1947-48, taking the issue to the United Nations and the dismissal of the Farooq Abdullah Ministry some years back. Let us not make another mistake by not considering the autonomy proposal seriously as has been done so far.

Brig. R.N. SHARMA (retd.), Palampur (HP)

Speedy justice?

To the news report (Aug 30) about the record 111 judgments pronounced on a single day by Andhra Pradesh Civil Judge J.V.V. Satyanarayana Murthy, I would like to add that the appreciation give is much more than due. The speed of the work depends upon the legal acumen of judicial officers. What is required is quality of justice and not quantity.

When the speed is so fast, there are chances of more errors. Lawyers do not feel aggrieved by the speed of courts. There are other reasons behind the delay. There should be a seminar once a year in every state where judges and lawyers should sort out the problems related to backlog. Public expects justice within a reasonable period.

R. S. DHILLON, Advocate, Kapurthala

Punish quacks

There is a popular saying neem hakeem khatra-e-jaan, i.e. quacks jeopardise patients’ lives (news report, “Quacks wreak havoc on Majha’s health”, Aug 28). Despite having absolutely no medical knowledge quacks pretend to be skilled in medicine and use the title Dr before their names. The fees of qualified doctors being quite exorbitant, even those patients suffering from serious diseases go to quacks.

It is strange that the health authorities take action only when they receive a complaint against some quacks. Don’t they know that the quacks are operating in every town and city? Why don’t they take suo motu action against them?

BHAGWAN SINGH, Qadian, Hoshiarpur