The Hindu : New Delhi News : Reader's Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 22, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Reader's Mail

Thought for the day

Talking about the striking doctors and medical students, Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee, head of the Group of Ministers appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deal with the reservation issue, said: "Those who are agitating are also our children."

As a father-in-law, father and grandfather of seven medicos, I am haunted by a disturbing thought: When our law-abiding, peace-loving, non-violent children are facing brutal blows at the hands of so-called law enforcing policemen, when they are forced to take recourse to a hunger strike, how can the Honourable Minister and so many parents go to sleep peacefully or enjoy a hearty meal?

Manmohan Sethi,

Kanta Sethi Hospital,

A-777, Avantika,

Sector-2, Rohini,

Delhi - 110 085.

Power politics

The manhandling of anti-quota demonstrators by the Mumbai police is highly condemnable. The politicians who merely want to secure their own seats in power are least bothered about such actions. The people who are affected by such moves should join hands to show their solidarity through peaceful demonstrations throughout the country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is well known for his balanced decision-making and I am sure the quality of education in this country will not suffer during his tenure. Is reservation of a few seats at IIMs and IITs really going to uplift the OBCs? A country like ours should find more avenues for higher education instead of preventing bright and deserving students from pursuing their studies. The comments of Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh hitting out at the Knowledge Commission are unwarranted. His statements are provocative and he is trying to divide the people.

P.G. Neelakandan,

C - 102 Kairali Apartments,

Plot No. 10, Sector 3,

Dwarka, New Delhi - 110 075.

Quota raj

Admissions to institutions of higher learning should be enabled for the beneficiaries to acquire the ability to absorb things capably. For some among them, it may take a little more time than the time frame for the likely elections in the year 2009, for which the self-lovers among our politicians are trying so desperately to decorate themselves with the quota elbow grease.

If implemented, it will divide society further, reviving all over again the acrimony which this step generated in the past, and detract from the prominence in India and abroad of our alumni passing out from the institutions of higher learning along with those availing of the quotas.

A. L. Nair,

107-B, Beverly Park I,

DLF City II,

Gurgaon-122 002.

Hello, DTEA....

The Tamil schools run by the Delhi Tamil Educational Association (DTEA) were once torch-bearers of academic excellence. Of late, they are going through the darkest phase since their inception. The academic standards in these schools have undergone a sharp deterioration, as there has been a complete collapse of their organisation and administration.

The DTEA is running the schools in Delhi as Government-aided institutions subject to the provisions of the Delhi Education Act, 1963, and the rules framed thereunder. But these rules are not followed properly. To cite an example, each school is required to have its own Managing Committee consisting of representatives of the management, the teachers, the parents and the Director of Education, Delhi; but nothing has been done in this direction.

The Delhi High Court also has passed an order directing constitution of such committees but the present management has not implemented even this direction. The reconstitution of the committee said to have been done is not in accordance with the rules and the court direction.

Under the rules, the management is required to deposit in advance as its contribution an amount equal to 5 per cent of the staff salary for every quarter (the rest being borne by the Delhi Government) in the staff salary account. Unfortunately, the management is not doing this.

I request the Delhi Government to appoint a fact-finding committee to look into all aspects of the functioning of the DTEA management to remedy the situation.

T. Subramanian,

No. 8519, Pocket-8, Sector C,

Vasant Kunj,

New Delhi - 110 070.

He'll be missed

As the founder-chairman of the Collegiate Commonwealth Group of India, I have had the opportunity to interact, along with my student-members, with a galaxy of diplomats from countries belonging to the 53-nation Commonwealth. One of the friendliest, most informative, accessible and articulate of these diplomats, Britain's Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi, Mark Alastair Runacres, is retiring from the Foreign Service this coming June.

Mr. Runacres always invited us, at least once and sometimes twice a year, to enjoy a typically British high tea at his Bungalow No. 2 in the British High Commission compound at Chanakyapuri and spoke to students on Indo-British relations with special reference to the Commonwealth. On September 8, 2005, when British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in New Delhi for the Indo-UK and Indo-EU summits, he arranged for me to be present at the launch of the Indo-UK Education Initiative at India Habitat Centre, and for my students to participate in a TV interaction with Mr. Blair.

Mr. Runacres likes cricket and this always helped enliven student interactions with him. His wife Shaun and two young children often dropped by during our tete-a-tetes.

Mr. Runacres will be back in India in another "avtaar" later this year. Meanwhile, he will be remembered for representing the best of Britain's foreign and Commonwealth service in New Delhi and will be missed on Shanti Path, especially by our group for whom he was a Rock of Gibraltar.

Vinod Chowdhury,

Senior Reader in Economics,

St. Stephen's College,

Delhi - 110 007.

Me too

I refer to the letter of Ms. Ramani Thomas in these columns (May 15). As a fixed deposit holder of Escorts Limited I too am in a similar situation.

My FD for Rs. 20,000 matured for payment on January 8 this year but the company is delaying the payment offering one excuse or the other.

Their offer of equity shares in place of FD is unacceptable as I want only my money back. How can such a reputed and established company behave like this? The Government and the authorities concerned should come to the rescue of senior citizens like us.

Vijayalakshmi S,

B-5 Swastik Park,

Bodakdev,

Ahmedabad - 380 015.

(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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