The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Letters to the Editor

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

Abolition of examinations futile exercise

We hear a lot regarding abolition of the present system of examination these days. No doubt the present system of examination is outdated and outmoded, but our country is not yet ready for complete abolition of examinations. The Central Advisory Board of Education has set up a panel to assess and implement continuous and comprehensive evaluation. The decision was taken after several states like Assam, Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Haryana complained that with the abolition of examinations, students had stopped studying and teachers were not taking their jobs seriously.

Examinations are a continuous appraisal of the achievement of the students in the learning process and the success of the teaching methods of the teachers. It also leads to improvement in the teaching-learning process. The present system of examinations should strive for qualities of validity, reliability, objectivity and administrative ease.

Dr H KUMAR KAUL, Barnala

Energy sources

Eco-friendly solar power can cover the demand and supply gap in power generation to a certain extent. India’s first 2 MW solar power plant will soon start functioning in Amritsar. India’s target of 20,000 MW solar power by 2020 will boost our generation capacity. It is the need of the day to use natural resources like wind power, solar energy and water power instead of coal based thermal energy as these plants are costly and coal mines are depleting day by day.

Biomass power plants and nuclear power plants can further boost power generation to cover the increasing demand of power.

KAMALJIT MALWA, Mansa

Crop diversification

This refers to SS Johal’s article “Farm Diversification in Punjab” (June 28). Growing more paddy means more bore-wells. More bore-wells means more water shortage. Not only this, farmers use more pesticides on paddy crop as compared to other crops. If there are problems, solutions are not far behind. Government should motivate farmers to diversify to oil seeds and pulses. They should be allowed to grow crops in a certain ratio keeping in mind the total area of land of the farmer.

Vote bank politics is the main hurdle in implementing these solutions. What is the benefit if we export wheat and rice on one side and import huge amount of oil seeds and pulses on the other?

CHARANJIT NOHRA, Nabha (Patiala)

Means of oppression

There is no doubt that the police is an oppressive tool in the hands of political masters (Rohit Choudhary’s article “Marketing the police” July 3). Political leaders use the police force to settle their personal and political scores. The Police Department has lost its own identity, it is mostly remote-controlled by political masters. Once CPM recommended a proposal of changing the khaki uniform of the police because the colour was a symbol of slavery and oppression of the British rule. The real problem is the character not colour of the uniform which is meant to save citizens from oppression not to oppress the people.

KHUSHWINDER SINGH SURYA, Tapa (Barnala)

Failing academic health

For the last few years the academic and research activities at the Punjab university have come down to such a low level that during the recent report of the UGC committee meant for assessment of 10 universities for potential of excellence, the Punjab University was placed at No 7 while GNDU, Amritsar, was placed at No 2.

Though, lot of money was allocated to PU by the Centre, the academic health of the university failed to improve. This is due to the reason that teachers of academic excellence are ignored while political stooges and non-performers are promoted. This political profligacy has polluted the academic environment of the university.

IM GOVIL, Panchkula

No ‘fleecing’ done

This refers to the news report published in your newspaper on June 11, 2012, in which one of our resorts was mentioned. The resort in question, Club Mahindra Dharamshala, is a full service resort run primarily for our members. Being a hospitality brand we do entertain guests who choose to visit our restaurant. We have a fixed rate menu card which is printed and handed over to our guests before the order is taken. So the issue of us “fleecing” anyone is out of the question. We wish to state that Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited is a leading player in the leisure hospitality industry and offers quality family holidays primarily through vacation ownership memberships.

SHUBHADA DHARWADKAR, Deputy General Manager, Corporate Communications, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mumbai

Spaniards all the way
The Spaniards just blew over the Italians in the Euro Cup final to successfully defend their title. As if they had reserved their best for the last, they literally toyed with their opponents during the final match — passing, attacking, blasting at the goal and even scoring goals at will.
The most remarkable thing about the Spaniards was that they did not relent after scoring two first half goals. Instead, they exhibited an attacking form and kept on mounting pressure on the Italians who were clearly shocked at the brilliance and clueless to the guiles of their counterpart. It was a real treat to watch the classical concept of football emerging triumphant over the power concept of the game.
DHIRAJ TRIKHA, Bhiwani