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

UPA’s nine years of poor governance

The UPA government has painted a very rosy picture of its performance on the occasion of its nine years of rule. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken over the reins of the country, he was adamant on “zero tolerance for corruption in the country”.  Sadly, now the UPA government, headed by him, is being dubbed as the most corrupt government with the biggest number of scams having been revealed under its regime. The Congress’ wronged policies have made the rich richer as well as the poor poorer. And the middle class is staggering under the weight of ever-increasing debt burden and rising inflation.

Even a large number of Parliament sessions were disrupted in protest against scams and bribe cases involving Congress leaders. The Congress was responsible for them. Major Bills such as Women’s Reservation Bill, Lokpal, Judicial Accountability Bill, National Food Security Bill, Land Bill, etc are deliberately being delayed by the Congress. It has done an incalculable damage to institutes like the CVC, CAG and the CBI.

It has failed to check rising inflation, unemployment, incidents of crimes, particularly rapes and murder, falling rates of the growth of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors and above all the overall GDP has declined to near 5 per cent.  Instead of owning the responsibility for its acts of omission and commission, the government has always tried to duck the main issues and tried its best to deflect the public’s attention from these.     

SK KHOSLA, Chandigarh

Amend RS poll law

The news item ‘PM files affidavit correcting age to 80 in RS poll papers’ (May 22) reminds one of the famous (or infamous) age – row concerning the previous Army Chief, Gen VK Singh. If a person like the Prime Minister can make an error while filling in his age and correct it through a simple affidavit, why a similar error committed by a young aspiring cadet in his entrance form could not be corrected?

Reverting to the Rajya Sabha election, can a person belonging to one state contest the RS election from another state? The RS poll law provides that an individual contesting RS election from a state should be its local domicile or normally residing in the state. Candidates overcome this by hiring or buying a house in that state and managing the residence proof. But, is it an ethical practice? The RS poll law should be reviewed and amended to plug the loopholes that permit an “outsider” to contest.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is sure to win the Rajya Sabha seat from Assam once again. We wish him all success but suggest that he should also contest the next Lok Sabha election from his native place or any other place of his choice. This will make him the true representative of the people.

It is also suggested that an amendment in the Lok Sabha election law be made to provide that a Prime Minister should necessarily be a member of the Lok Sabha or get elected to it within six months.

WG CDR CL SEHGAL (RETD), Jalandhar

Bitter pills

Apropos of the news item ‘Iron pill trouble :133 kids fall ill in 2 Haryana dists’ (May 23), such an incident has also been reported from other states in the past, including Punjab. According to the NRHM Director, these are minor complications and there is nothing to worry about. But the incident has instilled fear in children as well as parents. So, first of all, he must have to dispel their fears if the health scheme is to be made successful. On their part, the authorities concerned must discover the cause of the complications and ensure that these do not take place a second time when they take these pills. Moreover, timely treatment must be ensured by the government if it faces a similar incident in future.

   HARINDER MITTAL, Bathinda

Sorry isn’t enough

Our Sports Minister, Jitendra Singh, felt sorry when he came to know about the match-fixing scandal.  It is on record that till date our PM or CMs never did so when so many scams and scandals were unearthed in recent months. After all, these leaders are elected by the public and every citizen of India expects better performance in almost all areas of governance. If they fail to do so, they must hold themselves responsible. To offer apologies for scams, though not being culprits, indicates that one has remorse for wrongful activities of others working with or under them but these are not enough.

DALIP SINGH WASAN, Patiala

Pay for water

The editorial ‘Water carries a cost’ (May 25) was didactic. It is for the Government of Punjab to implement its decision to collect the cost of water drawn from the ground. There is no life as well as flora and fauna on earth without water. In view of the reckless wastage of water and in the absence of any concerted efforts for conserving it, it is wise to ban those construction sites which do not pay for its use. As rightly observed in the editorial, the government should follow the mandate of the court in letter and in spirit in the wider spectrum of good sense.

GURMIT SINGH SAINI, Mohali