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

Telangana result of regionalism

This is with reference to the editorial 'Telangana as a state' (August 1). A democracy cannot function well on the narrow regional aspirations to bifurcate states. As regionalism and regional parties in the country are becoming stronger by the day, more new states will take birth and make the Central government weaker and unsustainable. This will not be good for the country as a whole.

Our unethical politicians have turned our democracy into a political trade house where they compromise every ethics and the interests of the people for their benefits. The disintegration of states into smaller ones does not bode well for a strong federal system. Creating more states will add to miseries of the Centre.If the UPA government justifies the creation of Telangana, it should also consider the demands for independent Gorkhaland, Bundelkhand, Vidarbha, Harit and Purvanchal.

But the big question is: Will not such bifurcations prove fatal to our democratic system? The Congress may temporarily gain political advantage, but it will harm its own interests in the long term.

CAPT AMAR JEET KUMAR (RETD), Mohali

For development

The creation of new state of Telangana will fuel the long-pending demands of creating small states in other parts of India. No doubt smaller states ensure better administration and speedier development of the region. In the given situation, the only solution to satisfy such demands across the country will be to set up another States Reorganisation Commission which may give its verdict, most democratically by inviting suggestions, arguments from the entire spectrum of intelligentsia, sociologists, NGOs and political bodies.

BALDEV NAYYAR, Panchkula

DIGVIJAY KUMAR, Dharamsala

It’s welcome

It is really good to learn that a new state of Telangana has finally been carved out of Andhra Pradesh. The people of Telangana have been fighting for the same for over the past five decades (editorial 'Telangana as a state', August 1). They must be feeling happy now. Though the editorial says that there are some difficulties in the governance of smaller states, I feel that smaller states can easily be governed and every part of the state can be reached with greater ease.

R K KAPOOR, Chandigarh

Politically motivated

If we were right in demanding a nation for ourselves free from discrimination and colonialism from the British, why are not they justified in their demand Telangana? Although political opportunism is the sole motive behind the creation, it will have meaning only if it leads to a language of inclusive politics or else it will merely amount to another demarcation on the map. After Telangana, it will be hard to suppress similar demands from other states.

PREET SIMAR JOHAL, Jalandhar

Hypocritical stand

This refers to the letter 'Patronising power thieves' (August 1). The whistleblower, Nirmal Singh, who was earlier posted as shift charge engineer at the Ropar Thermal Plant used to say that the power department is like our mother and those Powercom employees who patronise power thieves are like rapists. During his stay in the Enforcement Wing, Amritsar, Nirmal Singh recovered a penalty of about Rs 5 crore in seven months. It is hardly surprising that he has been charge-sheeted by the authorities who patronize power thieves. It is hypocritical of the CMD or the Punjab government which, on the one hand, wants to curb power thefts, but on the other, issues a charge-sheet against honest officers like him.

SATINDER SINGH 'HARNAL', Ropar

RS seats on sale

A party leader has said that the Rajya Sabha seats are on sale for a sum of Rs 100 crore. The statement indicates that political parties might be selling their ticket and people who want to become ministers, might be required to pay more.

Actually, people are purchasing power and that is the reason, they are not serving the people, but are busy in siphoning off projects money through scams, scandals and corruption. Had those in power any interest in serving the people, most of the problems could have been solved?

DALIP SINGH WASAN, Patiala

Check cyber crimes

We are witnessing a steep rise in cyber crimes, causing irreparable damage to a person's reputation by putting an obscene video of his/her on the Internet. The need of the hour is to keep a check on unscrupulous elements indulging in such cyber crimes as connecting photographs of some prominent male personalities with some other women with a bad intention.

Moreover, cyber crimes also include credit card frauds, electronic commerce transactions, computer hacking, pornography, cyber stalking and software piracy. Stringent punishments can act as a deterrent to the rising number of cyber crimes and criminals.

HARPREET SANDHU, Ludhiana

Babus as public servants The article 'The worst in Asia?' (July 30) by Justice Nirmal Singh rightly portrays the 'self-serving bureaucrats' in unequivocal terms. Bureaucrats are at the beck and call of the politicians, and there has evolved a nexus between them for nefarious activities. But exceptions are always there. Today "bureaucracy and corruption" have become synonyms. The Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions has categorically stated that "in a classic case of the tail wagging the dog, this small pool of people hog the finest privileges the country offers to its bureaucrats." The so-called rulers of the biggest democracy in the world should learn a lesson from the disparaging title that "the Indian bureaucracy is the worst in Asia" It is high time that bureaucrats were made to realise that they were "public servants". PROF I J BHARTI, Karnal