Reforms needed

The suspension of a young IAS officer in UP has raised doubts over the functioning of the political system. With each passing day the tribe of honest officers in our Central services is getting extinct. The way UP IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal has been humiliated on the dictates of political masters is really unfortunate. The suspension of an honest officer does not bode well for the smooth and corruption-free functioning of government institutions. Therefore, the long-awaited issue of electoral and administrative reforms should be addressed on priority.

RISHI GOEL, Kurukshetra

Unjustified suspension

It is not only the politicians who are solely responsible for hounding honest officers like Durga Nagpal, but also some belonging to the IAS fraternity and civil servants belonging to the state administrative services across the country. Some of these are hand in glove with politicians for their vested interests like plum postings. A few honest, law-abiding officers are obstacles in their way and so are demoralised in every possible manner. What is the Central IAS officers association doing? Given the plight of an IAS officer, one can well imagine what other officers, below the IAS level, have to face.

V KAUL, via email

Uncouth comments

The outrageous "tunch maal" comment by Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh against his own party's MP Meenakshi Natarajan was in bad taste. The uncouth comment came close on the heels of Narendra Modi's "puppy" comment that raised much heat and dust across the country. This was followed by a deluge of comments pouring in, one after the other. When will we learn to conduct ourselves with dignity? The political parties must ask their 'wayward' leaders to exercise greater restrain while using double-meaning words in public. Let us not abuse the freedom of speech.

RAMESH K DHIMAN, Chandigarh

Smartphones

Recently a 23-year-old Chinese woman was electrocuted while talking on her iphone-5 when it was plugged in. There are potential risks of high-voltage shock and electrocution if there is a current leak with the charger or the computer where the phone may have been plugged in for charging. Mobile users should not operate or talk on their phones while the device is plugged in to be on one's safe side.

KIRANDEEP SINGH, Barnala

Dismal education

All educational programmes - be it Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan or Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha - have failed to achieve 50 per cent success in their missions across the country. Recently, most teaching aspirants had failed in the Haryana Teachers Eligibility Test conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education. Only 1.44 per cent candidates could clear the Level-2 eligibility test meant for graduate teachers. And the pass percentages of Level-1 primary teachers and Level-3 post-graduates were a poor 9.6 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.

The other day, a daily carried a news item relating to the performance of students of government schools. It revealed that students of Class V cannot read books meant for Class II. About 70 per cent students of Class III are not able to read the books meant for Class I. We have failed to improve the education scenario in India.

TEK CHAND, Una