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Time for collective responsibility We always see anomalies around us, like littered polythene bags, defaced walls, dirty streets, encroachments by shopkeepers, unruly traffic, stray cattle, beggars and congested parking area. At the end of the day, we blame the government for every wrong happening in the country. Where is my own accountability as a citizen? What have I done to make things better? Am I not a part of the civil society and isn’t the civil society a part of the government? We never think. After all the government is made of people from amongst us? Then, why do we nurse this attitude of ‘us’ against ‘they’. What we need is collective responsibility, based on individual accountability. We are an extension of the governing authority and have to conduct ourselves accordingly. If we keep pulling down our own democratic institutions and the official machinery, then who will make it work? Of course, we can question the government, but after we have done our own duty. On the slightest pretext, we will sit on ‘dharnas’, block highways and railway tracks disrupting the normal life. We will burn buses, trains, and govt buildings. Why don’t we burn our own houses as a mark of protest? Because we do not consider the government property as our own. We treat the national property as free for all. ‘Loot it as much as you can’, is our skewed thinking. We do not for a moment think that it is our nation, and India is us. By destroying government property, are we not destroying ourselves? If the Lokpal Bill becomes a reality tomorrow, its success will also depend upon you and me. So, the buck stops at us. Hence, it is time we rekindle our inner voice and recognise our own identity as a citizen. In whatever position or party, we have to realise our individual responsibility. It starts from our house itself. In the morning, after sweeping our house, let us not push the garbage in front of our neighbour’s house. Lets not misuse government property or fiddle with our electric meters or try to browbeat the system. Col RD SINGH, Ambala |
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Cong manifesto State Congress Chief Capt Amarinder Singh has promised many sops to the people of the state in the manifesto. The state is already reeling under debt that runs over Rs 74,000 crore. He has promised free power to farmers irrespective of land ceiling, while the state power board is already cash starved. The moot question is he is promising free power to the agriculture sector and an assured uninterrupted supply to the industry, but he fails to explain how he would meet the financial demands of the bankrupt power corporation. Every political party promises to give corruption-free governance before elections. But as soon as it gets power, the ministers and bureaucrats begin to loot the government and the people with both hands. Sky is the limit for them. The editorial ‘On the beaten track’ (January 17) rightly says no party in Punjab is serious about tackling corruption. They are not wary of what Guru Nanak Dev said, ‘Without sinful means it is not possible to accumulate wealth’. The EC has set a precedent to rein in the political parties that use illegitimate and unfair means to woo the voters. The Lokayukta should be the supreme authority in matters related to corruption. There should be no appeal against its verdict. The money and property earned by corrupt and unfair means should be confiscated without delay, besides heavy fine. It will surely work as a deterrent. BANSI RAM, Garhshankar Save wild life The death of six black buck in a week in Adampur and Sadalpur villages as mentioned in the news report ‘3 more endangered black bucks found dead’ (January 19), speaks of mismanagement and lack of security in the wildlife habitats which are increasingly and blatantly getting encroached. The encroachment of forest land in recent decades has reduced the carrying capacity of habitats forcing the wild animals to stray into villages and towns in search of food and water earning the wrath of the people who mercilessly beat or hunt them to death. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) deserves credit for formulating fresh guidelines to speed up creation of eco-sensitive zones which are essentially required to protect the sanctuaries and national parks. For want of specification of eco-sensitive zones, the life of thousands of wild animals is in jeopardy. The onus to manage eco-sensitive zones lies on the committee formed in each state for suggesting result- oriented methods to manage eco-sensitive zones. Lack of security in wildlife sanctuaries, mismanaged habitats and ineffective enforcement staff need to be taken into account. It is our moral duty to give dignity, respect and a natural habitat to wild animals which Nature has given to them. SOSHIL RATTAN, Amritsar
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