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Curbing absenteeism

Apropos the news item "Health minister transfers two in surprise visit" (June 20), the checks by the minister Surjit Kumar Jyani in the civil hospitals and dispensaries across the Punjab is a good initiative to check what kind of service is being provided to patients. He showed zero tolerance towards erring officials and absentees.

He also asked the medical superintendent to check the attendance of the staff daily.

KIRANDEEP SINGH, Barnala

The thoughtful CM

This is in reference the news item “Kairon dissociates from sons” from the issue dated June 23, 1964, in the column “On this day….50 years ago” (June 23). In joint Punjab, the then Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon was the most respected leader and he represented the common man in the real sense. I remember an incidence of 1958, when as Chief Minister, Kairon Sahib used to meet the general public. My father visited his office in connection with some transfer. On return, he narrated to us the following: “Kairon Sahib reached his office at 8.50 am sharp. Exactly at 9 am, a peon invited the handicapped visitors into the CM’s office. This was followed by outstation visitors, military personnel, ladies and, finally, the local males.”

The thing to be appreciated was no visitor had come with anybody's recommendation.

Dr VK Anand, Patiala

BJP-HJC ties

This has reference to the report “State BJP leaders not for HJC tie-up” (June 22). The BJP fought the recent parliamentary elections in Haryana with HJC alliance and won seven seats which. Before the elections, HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi had exhorted his supporters to help make BJP candidates victorious which they did. Their efforts bore fruit. In caste-dominated Haryana villages, the BJP had no popular base at the grassroot level, though it had gathered some strength in the urban areas. The tie-up of the BJP with the HJC proved beneficial to the BJP. Now, the BJP should work along with the HJC in public interest.

DR RK Sharma, Faridabad

Medical ethics

These days, many doctors give precedence to money and do not care about the life of the patient. I am a victim of this callousness as I lost my mother some years back, when the doctor refused to operate upon her till she got more money. In such a situation, the near ones sometimes resort to mob behaviour.

There are several other abhorrent instances in the medicals profession such as overcharging, compelling the attendant to pay for the services not performed and not attending to the patient in emergency at night.

P Bansal, Bathinda

Tax suggestions

There should be two categories of taxpayers — the salaried and business classes, with the salaried people getting more tax concessions. Honest taxpayers and tax evaders cannot be treated equally.

Also, the upper cap for deposits in the post office savings schemes, the PPF or MIS should be done away with. Allow people to invest in these schemes without a limit. Even black money lying dead in gunny bags should be allowed to be deposited in these schemes. This will help convert black money into white and be put into circulation. Then the government's empty coffers will start overflowing with surplus funds that can be used for development works.

WG CDR CL SEHGAL (RETD), Jalandhar

Train safety first

If we can have trains shooting around on tracks like bullets at speeds of 200 to 300 km per hour, thereby cutting down on travel time drastically, why not?

However, before we achieve that, there is a dire need to take a hard look at the safety standards, punctuality and sanitation record of the Railways. Our track record on these counts is dismal. Even with the current top speeds of around 120 km per hour, there are too many and frequent safety lapses, leading to serious accidents, where innocent passengers lose lives.

The Railway Ministry needs to do the exercise thoroughly and improve the safety standards and modernise the basic facilities at the railway stations and in the trains before embarking on any ambitious projects of upgradation. Without that, high speed bullet trains would be an invitation to disaster.

Subhash Kaura, via email

FIFA: Huge upsets

The football World Cup has witnessed some huge upsets. Even before the completion of the first round of matches, three of the cup favourites have been shown the door. Spain, the current title holder, England and Italy have been humiliated by their less fancied opponents. It proves that there is no place for complacency at the international level. It is encouraging that new teams such as Costa Rica, Chile and Australia are emerging on the scene and are seriously posing a big threat to the best teams in the business. Another noticeable aspect has been the positive approach of the teams. So far, there have hardly been any tame draws. Most of the matches have been extremely exciting and high-scoring too. In the first 25 matches, 68 goals have been scored as compared to 46 scored in as many matches in the 2010 World Cup.

Dhiraj Trikha, Bhiwani

Serial bites

Football lovers are sorry about Uruguay's best offensive striker Luis Suarez biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder. Suarez has a history of biting in the football world. In 2010, while playing for Ajax, he bit midfielder Otman Bakkal on the shoulder and was banned to play for Ajax. In 2013, he did it again: while play for Liverpool, he sank his teeth into Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic's right forearm. Now, FIFA has charged Suarez and banned him from playing matches. Interestingly, if Suarez has a biting problem, then Italy also has a reputation of abusing opponent’s best players. Who can forget the 2006 final when Materazzi provoked Zidan to head-butt him? Soccer fans feel that Suarez deserves stringent punishment and should be given the boot for some time.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

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