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

Learn lessons from British political system

The editorial “A disgraced Lord: Swraj Paul suffers image loss” (Oct 25) has traced Lord Swraj Paul’s fall from grace. He has been our leaders’ blue-eyed boy and even cited as a role model because of his meteoric rise to fame in a foreign country. Whenever he visited India, he was treated with respect and praised.

Anyway a quick action against Lord Paul by his own Labour Party and the British House of Lords must hold a mirror both to our political parties and Parliament. The enquiry against our leaders for similar issues goes on for years without any results. What is worse here is that the political parties have no compunction in defending even known and habitual corrupt and dishonest leaders.

Despite being the biggest democracy in the world the law of the land does not treat its people alike. We have copied a lot from the British political system but have not implemented its concept of the rule of law in letter and spirit.

HEMA, Langeri, Hoshiarpur

Organic farming

Organic farming is a fruitful concept (article, “Reaping the manifold benefits of organic farming” by Charanjit Singh Aulakh, Oct 20). However, it is not adopted by farmers of Punjab due to the marketing problems and lack of proper knowledge. It needs serious attention of the state government. Training, camps and awareness at the grassroots level is a must. Organic farming is beneficial but calls for a planned strategy. Only then will farmers adopt it.

KAMALJIT MALWA, Mansa

Populist policies

Punjab’s development has been scuttled by the powerful populist politics. All right-thinking people need to deliberate over the policy of populism and the damage it has caused to the growth of this otherwise resourceful country. We have vast resources, yet these have not been properly utilised thanks to the vote bank politics of political parties. Time has come to do away with appeasement policies and freebies. Only then will India be able to grow as a mature democracy.

Dr JAI PRAKASH GUPTA, Ambala Cantt

Politicians & retirement

Amar Chandel deserves kudos for his amusing middle of “If politicians retire” (Oct 9), suggesting that there are tremendous retirement re-location possibilities for the politicians who opt for retirement. Generally speaking, “retirement” seems a dreadful proposition for the politicians at large who wallow in untold wealth thanks to the flourishing “business” of politics.

Mr Chandel’s list of possibilities for re-location of retiring politicians is fairly comprehensive. However, he seems to have missed an important possibility. Politicians could open schools for “scamsters” which, to my mind, is bound to yield rich dividends.

TARA CHAND, Ambota (Una)

Glorious Bhiwani

Bhiwani, a small district of Haryana, has distinctions in various fields of human life and activities. This sleepy tract, where farming is the main occupation of the people of all classes, has shown that there is no better place, as far as the potential and abilities of wrestling, boxing or other games and sports are concerned. In the recently concluded Commonwealth Games, Bhiwani has contributed a lot by winning many medals. In recognition of the distinguished achievement of sports persons from Bhiwani, a large sports academy or a sports university should be set up in Bhiwani. The place will never disappoint the nation.

DAYA NAND, Charkhi Dadri

New Finance Minister

The editorial, “High expectations: New Punjab FM on watch” (Oct 22) was apt. The people of Punjab are keen to see what are the new steps, which the new Punjab Finance Minister will take to improve the deteriorating financial condition of the state. We hope that she will take hard decisions to improve the financial position of Punjab.

PARVEEN MIDHA, Abohar

Save daughters

It is unfortunate that Punjab has the dubious distinction of one of the worst sex ratios in the country (editorial, “Missing daughters”, Oct 16). Although the law to curb female foeticide exists, the problem cannot be solved unless we change our attitudes.

The government must allocate more funds to propagate the cause of saving the girl child besides spreading awareness, especially among the women. Every woman must take an oath not to kill the female foetus.

SOURABH BAMBA, Ferozpur

Police investigation Vineet Kapoor’s article “Need to focus on police stations” (Sept 27) rightly states that the quality of investigation suffers due to the preoccupation of the investigating officer with other duties. Some time back, Arun Bothra was more forthright in his article (June 27) when he stated that the investigation of the criminal cases by the police was not done properly as it had many other jobs to do. Furthermore, crime investigation is a specialised job, which cannot be handled by the general police force. It is suggested that a separate wing of the police be formed in each state exclusively for the purpose of investigation of criminal cases. Its personnel should be given proper training in prevention, detection and investigation of crime and provided adequate resources. The wing may be named “state bureau of investigation” like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and allowed to function independently. The name will give it identity and respectability and may even motivate it to outdo the CBI in performance. Wg-Cdr C.L. SEHGAL (retd), Jalandhar