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Reader's Mail

Scrap Rajya Sabha

It is high time the Rajya Sabha was abolished. It has come to be a refuge for retired old politicians who cannot win an election from anywhere.

The results are there now for all to see. A majority of the Central Ministers including the Prime Minister himself are from the Rajya Sabha. Some of them have never been a member of the Lok Sabha -- the House of the People -- or won any other election. Yet they claim to be the people's representatives and continue to occupy ministerial berths!

Raghu Nath Singh,

60 Gopal Bari,

Ajmer Road, Jaipur.

New Wage Board?

The demand for setting up another Wage Board for journalists and other newspaper employees is trade union atavism of the kind that baffles old-timers in the profession.

The comrades who say that a new Wage Board has become overdue should be telling us what they have done to get the previous Wage Boards' awards honoured and implemented faithfully by many newspaper employers.

With the exception of a few newspapers -- The Hindu prominent among them -- many of the so-called big, established newspapers have refused to honour their mandatory commitments, denying a succession of journalists their legitimate dues over the years.

Maybe the aggrieved employees should have sought relief through the judicial process. But considering the colossal costs and time involved in the process, who would have chosen this tortuous and tiring path?

Not surprisingly, some politicians have joined the chorus for a fresh Wage Board now in the hope of currying favour with budding journalists. But these politicians and trade union leaders will do well to first get the legitimate dues from previous Wage Boards redeemed by the employers for the benefit of old-timers in the profession.

An Old Hand,

Press Enclave, Saket,

New Delhi - 110 017.

Railways' ways

One of the proposals in the Railway Budget for 2006-07 presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in Parliament was to upgrade over 200 trains to "superfast" status. This is a clever way to earn undue profit through the backdoor without providing any extra facility to passengers. When an "express" train is declared "superfast", the Railways earn at least Rs.2 crores per year as supplementary charge. When an express train is designated as superfast, the supplementary charge per ticket works out to Rs.10 for an ordinary second class ticket, Rs.20 for sleeper class, and Rs.30 for first class and AC coaches. It is pertinent to mention here that declaration of an express train as superfast does not increase the operating cost of the Railways so as to warrant imposition of an additional levy on the passengers in the form of supplementary charge at differential rates. When the Railways curtail the number of stops and reduce the waiting/halting time at a railway station, that particular express train assumes the form of superfast in the time that is saved.

Every year since Mr. Lalu Prasad became Railway Minister, more and more express trains have been converted into superfast to reap undue profits. This is being done without any demand from the travelling public. The disturbing feature is that such converted superfast trains run with old and worn-out coaches thereby endangering the safety of the passengers. Besides, most of the superfast trains are superfast only on paper. They never reach their destination/station at the stipulated time, resulting in a lot of inconvenience and loss of time to the passengers.

Strictly speaking, the classification of a train as superfast is a misnomer and except for Rajdhanis and Shatabdis none of the trains deserves to be classified as superfast.

K. S. Gopalakrishnan,

80, Vasant Apartments,

Mayur Vihar Phase-I Extension,

Delhi- 110 091.

A good show

The recently concluded "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge-2005" series was a classic example of a nicely hosted and produced singing talent hunt show that Zee TV can count on for years to come. From start to finish the series went on to catch everyone's attention with its unique styling and format, leaving little scope for the average performers to move ahead. It was not easy for the final contestants, Debojit and Vinit, to reach this far with their mentors testing their capabilities in different scales and on different platforms.

Debojit has finally emerged as India's voice. Such programmes on television have proved that India is about the most happening place on earth with high class singers and music composers. With numerous talents across the country, music needs no other definition when it comes to our homegrown composers and singers.

Full marks to "Sa, Re, Ga...." producer-director Gajendra Chauhan for delivering such a memorable programme and to Shaan for the huge success of the programme that has opened up a number of avenues for young music enthusiasts.

Good show!!

Manoj R Kumar,

A3/79, First Floor,

Janakpuri,

New Delhi-110 058. Buses for IGNOU

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is the world's largest university based in Maidan Garhi, New Delhi. A large number of students have to visit IGNOU day in and day out for their educational needs, redressal of grievances and obtaining information and certificates/degrees. They have to take buses from different places in the city such as Kashmere Gate (ISBT), New/Old Delhi railway station, Nizamuddin railway station, etc., but there is no direct bus facility for them, resulting in a lot of inconvenience.

It is, therefore, necessary that DTC's routes 501 and 500 from Mori Gate Terminal to Saket and Super Bazar to Saket, respectively, are extended up to Maidan Garhi, just 2 km ahead. The frequency of buses on this route is 10 minutes. The new service will benefit a great many visitors to the University.

Ravi Mohan,

Chief Public Relations Officer, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi,

New Delhi - 110 068.

Powerless

I am facing power cuts at my residence for four hours daily -- in the morning from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and in the afternoon from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. This has been going on for more than six weeks now.

I have regularly registered complaints at the notified helpline No. 4289556 and also talked to Mr. Dhananjay Vasni, Area Manager of BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. I have all along received from them the stock reply, "It is a scheduled shutdown and is being controlled from above. Nothing can be done about it."

It is a serious problem: no electricity for four hours daily when you need it badly! It is time BSES Rajdhani restores normalcy.

O. P. Sarin,

CA-96/1, Tagore Garden,

New Delhi - 110 027.

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Reader's Mail".)

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