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

Good Samaritans take the lead

The whistleblower teacher Nisha Yadav, a  government school teacher, who mustered the courage to expose the rape of innocent girls in a Gurgaon shelter home should be applauded for her humanitarian act (news reports "Rape of 2 minors  confirmed at Gurgaon shelter home" and "State in a fix: Who to hand over children to?", May 7 & 8). The civil society in particular comprising academicians, lawyers, doctors, social activists and sensible ordinary citizens of Gurgaon should back her noble effort in highlighting the horrible sufferings of these ill-fated minor girls who were being sexually abused for the last one year.

It is quite shocking to know that all the 19 girls were forced to lead cattle-like existence. It is much more painful and tragic to know that the biological parents of these minor girls have not been traced and I applaud  the common sense of the local administration in refusing to hand over these girls to their unconfirmed "parents".

The minor girls must be protected from any further exploitation and inhuman situations. The hawkish and heartless individuals who deceive the public in the name of running "shelter homes" and remain clinically indifferent to the pathetic condition of  the victims of sexual abuse must be unmasked and given exemplary punishment.

Dr RAJ BAHADUR YADAV, Fatehabad

Last warning

The aviation industry is going through harsh times which is only being compounded by strikes on flimsy ground like not taking up training on Dreamliner aircraft? The government would do well to get out of Air India which has survived so far on artificial life support system by pumping in public money. It would be best to revert the old Maharaja to its original owners or others who can revive the ruined carrier-if they can. Let this strike by the pilots be the last warning to rid us of this flying white elephant which has looted the exchequer enough and now no more.

Air Cmde RAGHUBIR SINGH (retd), Pune

Wasting precious time

Holding seminars in schools and colleges are mere formalities and wastage of time, money and energy (“Seminars an exercise in futility?” (May 8). Seminars have become means of fulfilling the basic requirement of promotions for college teachers and a plus point for colleges for accreditation. The focus of the teachers is shifting from academics to seminars. They remain engaged in presenting papers and getting their papers published in journals or books rather than concentrating on the studies of students. Some magazines have come into existence only to make money by publishing their articles. The UGC must think seriously about the existing promotion criteria for college teachers, which of late has started a mad race amongst the teaching fraternity.

Dr SUKHDEV SINGH MINHAS, Chandigarh

II

Rama Kashyap’s write-up reflects the anguish and pain of an academician. She has touched the right cord by referring to the colleges’ greed of usurping financial assistance from the UGC. With increase in funds to apex educational institutions from MHRD in the name of higher education and educational cess, the UGC has devised a number of schemes for academia to ameliorate the rapidly declining standards of higher education. Schemes are very much needed and are also useful. The problem lies with their implementation and misutilisation of funds, which if utilised for imparting quality education can do wonders.

The problem can be tackled if the UGC provides seminar grants only for contemporary themes and does not impose restriction on sub-heads of the grant so that capable resource persons and keynote speakers may be invited and paid accordingly. It will help make seminars productive, interesting and beneficial.

Dr PK MALIK, Yamunanagar

Girls as Durga? It is a cause of concern that a pragmatic society like ours seems to behave as if we were light years behind. The article “Discrimination begins before birth” (May 8) succeeds in bringing the fact to the fore that the advent of discrimination starts before birth. The brunt of oppression is largely being borne by women even today. The lopsided sex ratio increases vulnerability of various crimes against women. Myths abound regarding worshipping girls as Durga. However, it fails to apply in reality. It is seen that women dominate men in every field be it education, sports or politics. The patriarchal society is reluctant to see women in the hub of development. Why such bias against women? All we need to do is to follow norms of gender equality and take punitive action against those who flout them. ARVIND PANDE, Paonta Sahib, HP