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Check the imbalance in sex ratio

The data published online by the Lancet, which claims that 4.5 million girls have gone missing in the last decade, underlines that female-foeticide has become an accepted social norm (editorial, “Missing daughters”, May 28).

The most unfortunate aspect of this worrisome scenario is that the educated and financially well-off class of society, which is supposed to help in eradicating such social evils (ingrained in the mindset of society from medieval times) is encouraging them.

The imbalance in sex ratio does not augur well for our society. It will pose danger to the institution of marriage. Earlier it was believed that illiteracy, poverty, backwardness and ignorance in women was responsible for the killing of daughters before they were born. But the Lancet report says that the more educated and moneyed the women are, the better equipped they are to kill their daughters.

Society, the government, the media and social organisations should join hands and collectively fight to eradicate this social evil for the betterment of society.

ARVIND DHUMAL, Jalandhar

It is shocking that the rich and progressive people abort a foetus if it is found to be female in a diagnostic test. It is an immoral act and a crime against humanity. As rightly observed, there is need for stringent action against the perpetrators of this crime.

The latest study has also revealed that women are equally competitive in all spheres of jobs: be it military, medicine, engineering, technology, academics or even mountaineering and winning medals in games. Any talk of empowerment of women shall be hollow if they are killed in a mother’s womb. All social, religious and political organisations should unite for the cause of wider awareness on this issue. Baba Nanak said, “So kyon manda akhiye jis jamme rajan” (Why abuse her who gave birth to kings).

GURMIT SINGH SAINI, SAS Nagar

Storage capacity

Food is a perishable item and has limited shelf life (editorial, “Tackling food wastage”, May 28). The need of the hour is to divert attention from production to scientific storage to save 15-20 per cent foodgrains which go waste every year or it is not fit for human consumption. The concept of distributing six months ration to the poor has also been ruled out because of storage problem.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) evolved as a system of management of scarcity and for distribution of foodgrains at affordable prices. Over the years, PDS has become an important part of government’s policy for management of food economy in the country.

The PDS is not intended to make available the entire requirement of any of the commodities distributed under it to a household or a section of society. It is now one of the largest welfare institutions in the world.

Food wastage is directly linked with the lack of scientific storage and in view of enormous wastage of foodgrains due to poor infrastructure across the country; the foodgrain storage should be included as one of the major point in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

HARISH K. MONGA, Ferozepur

Correction

The article on the Election Commission published in The Tribune on the Perspective page on Sunday, May 29, carried “S.A. Quraishi” as the writer’s name. It should have been "S.Y. Quraishi", the Chief Election Commissioner of India. The error is deeply regretted.

Editor-in-Chief, The Tribune

Learn etiquettes
The middle, “NRI’s dilemma” (May 26), by Sandeep Virk brings home the realities of the Indians’ nasty habit of jumping the queue. Despite being one of the oldest civilizations in the world, we have yet to learn the basic etiquette of standing in a queue. Day in and day out, we see people jumping the queue to grab something out of turn. Be it railway booking counters or local bus stand or passengers alighting and boarding a train, people are seen in a hurry elbowing others and pushing their way through the crowd.

Instead of letting passengers alight from the compartment, people start pushing their way to board the train, making a mess of the otherwise pleasant rail journey. Even on entering the railway compartment, some ruffians tend to forcibly occupy reserved berths without themselves having reservation.
People are seen jumping railway crossings, walking across railway lines instead of using foot bridges, thus endangering their precious lives. People jump traffic signals with impunity. Even at religious places, people can’t relinquish their habit of jumping the queue and getting a “Darshan” of their deity out of turn.
Every year many people lose their lives in the stampedes at religious places. These are avoidable follies which people indulge in out of some strange impulse. It is really perplexing why so many Indians are in such a hurry. Ruskin Bond has expressed his anguish in the story, “The last time I saw Delhi”, thus, “When I hail a scooter-rickshaw and it stops a short distance away, someone elbows his way past me and gets in first. This epitomises the philosophy and outlook of the Delhi-wallah.” It is time we learnt the quintessence of a queue and stopped questioning its sanctity. I think we should go back to our school days to learn our elementary lessons, “Haste is waste” and “No hurry, no worry”.
BHUSHAN CHANDER JINDAL, Shimla