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

Give job to donor widow

Apropos the news item “After man’s death in accident, wife donates his organs” (May 21), Anju Sharma of Kafota village in Nahan district of Himachal Pradesh has exhibited a rare courage of conviction, poise and human values even in her moment of extreme sorrow. She has rendered service to humanity by donating her husband’s organs and thus saving and illuminating many lives. It is akin to a supreme sacrifice. The society and government ought to recognise her service. She appears to belong to a lower income group as her husband was a primary assistant teacher. Providing her a government job will ensure financial security to her.

Er L R Sharma, Sundernagar

Few women MPs

The strength of the newly elected women MPs in the sixteenth Lok Sabha has marginally improved to 61 or 11.23% of the House. It is nevertheless highly dismal, considering that women constitute nearly half the electorate. Significantly, the Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced six years back in the Rajya Sabha (May 2008) with much fanfare. Though the Bill was though passed by the Rajya Sabha in March, 2010 it could not sail through the entire tenure of the fifteenth Lok Sabha. One wonders when it would eventually see the light of the day.

HEMANT KUMAR, Ambala City

Will BJP help Akalis?

While wooing the voters during election campaigns, the Akalis had raised the issues of river waters, inclusion of Punjabi speaking areas and Chandigarh in Punjab and justice for the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. But Sukhbir Badal never raised his voice on the issues with the government. Now that the BJP, its partner, is forming the government at the Centre, will it help resolve these issues?

Baldev Singh, USA

Change of mood

The resentment of people regarding the tax pattern has cost the BJP-SAD(B) dear. Even BJP national leader Arun Jaitley had to taste defeat though there was a Narendra Modi wave in the country. While the BJP Assembly seats adjoining Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana performed better than expected, the main cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur, Faridkot and Fatehgarh Sahib witnessed a change of mood of the urban people towards AAP (Aam Aadami Party). The BJP high command will have to review its current organisation and ministers’ performance in the parliamentary elections.

Diwan Chand Mohindru, Jalandhar

Virbhadra must quit

The main reason of the Congress’ defeat is the government’s lopsided priorities and its indulgence in vendetta politics (editorial “Chief ministers humbled”, May 19). Instead of fulfilling promises made to the people, the Congress government recklessly indulged in mass transfers of employees and ordered enquiries and cases against adversaries and filed defamation cases against inconvenient individuals.

However, it was not expected of a leader of Virbhadra Singh’s stature to not give priority to the people’s needs, such as carrying out repairs of damaged roads and thus avoiding frequent bus accidents and killing hundreds of passengers, solving employees’ problems who often hit the road, demanding payment of arrears, enhancement of wages, release of blocked pension arrears of retirees, restoration of disrupted drinking water supply in rural areas, eliminating frequent power shutdowns etc.

After a wait of more than 18 months, people's patience turned into anger and they showed the Congress the exit door. Virbhadra should demit office and pave the way for a dynamic young man to bring the system back on line.

RM Ramaul, Paonta Sahib

Now, probe Vadra deals

A letter writer has sought the Modi government’s intervention to probe allegations of land grab against Robert Vadra. While The Tribune did an excellent job by exposing the scandalous trade dealings being done under the patronage of the Akali-BJP government, it is the duty of the paper to also make a similar investigation into the Vadra case. Apart from doing public interest service, it would help the newspaper shed its perceived pro-Congress leanings.

BALVINDER SINGH, via email

Leaders vs party

The Congress believes in the culture of protecting its top leadership and not the party. In the just concluded elections, its total came down to just 44, much below its worst total ever. The party should salute the 44 victors for bucking the trend. Nitish Kumar, JDU leader in Bihar, took the responsibility for the dismal performance of his party and resigned. But the top leadership of the Congress can do no wrong in the eyes of its rank and file, and the blame is laid on less important leaders.

Harjap Singh Aujla, (New Jersey) USA

Modi’s first test

Now that Narendra Modi has brought his party to power with a thumping majority, he needs to fulfil the promises made in his campaign. The first promise of minimum government and maximum governance needs to be followed in letter and spirit. He will have to keep his ministry lean and wind up unnecessary departments and ministries or merge them. This will be his first test.

MK JINSI, Zirakpur

Not worthy of ‘Middle’

Some narratives in the ‘Middle’ column of The Tribune abjectly fail to qualify the standards expected from the publication. The middle ‘Judging in Geneva’ (May 20) was one such piece which neither carried any element of entertainment nor any message worth noting. It was, in effect, a curriculum vitae chronicling the achievements of a grandfather down to the grandson, i.e. the writer. Such a CV should have been sent to some placement agency and not to a prestigious publication’s discernible readers who expect knowledgeable and entertaining fare every day.

If The Tribune does not care about its column space, the readers do care about their time and the stuff they should get.

Kiran Sharma, Sundernagar