The Hindu : New Delhi News : Hello, MTNL…

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Monday, Jul 30, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Hello, MTNL…

I applied for an MTNL broadband connection on my phone (No. 23344293) on the 25th of May this year. But because of some minor software problem in MTNL’s system, I have not been able to get a connection even after the passage of two months. It is ironic how a nation that prides itself on its “IT revolution” cannot solve a simple problem in one of its premier public sector units. I hope this problem is resolved as soon as possible.

Nirmala Jain,

251/2A, Railway Flats, Panchkuian Road, New Delhi - 110 001. Phone number: 23344293, 9999607458

Bus problem

Travelling from one place to another in the Capital is a big problem for those who do not have a vehicle of their own, and specially for students who are totally

dependent on buses to reach their destinations. Yesterday morning I had to go to Kasturba Gandhi Marg. I kept on waiting for a bus for 45 minutes but could not get one. Ultimately I had to go by the Metro. Travelling by buses these days is very dangerous and risky but we cannot deny that buses are very important for our daily life. The disappearance of hundreds of Blueline buses from our roads is absolutely wrong.

The Government should take some quick action to help the citizens. It should arrange for new buses and trained drivers as soon as possible. The Government cannot get away from its responsibility. And if this kind of pathetic condition continues in which general public is the worst sufferer then we are ashamed of our system and its functioning.

Rishali Yadav,

B.A. (Hons.) Sociology, Miranda House, Delhi University, Delhi – 110007.

Roles reversed

A couple of weeks ago the Delhi Government was threatening to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the Blueline bus operators for daring to go on “strike” and putting the Capital’s citizens to great hardship. Things were reversed over the weekend of July 21-22. The Government now is imposing a bus "strike" by commandeering the Bluelines for a mandatory regulatory check, putting the public to immense inconvenience. We are supposed to believe that the civic agencies who have been entrusted with this job for years and who have been negligent all along can get the job done now in “mission mode” over a weekend or two. Can a citizen invoke EMSA against the Government?

Raghuram Ekambaram,

29 Triveni Apartments, A-6, Paschim Vihar, Delhi - 110 063

Railways’ ways

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad presenting the budget of his ministry in February this year had assured senior citizens and women passengers above the age of 45 years that they would be allotted only lower berths in the sleeper coaches of trains. During the past four months I have travelled about six times between Lucknow and Delhi by the 2229/2230 Lucknow Mail. In spite of getting the reservation done quite in advance, I was always allotted a middle or upper berth in AC-2/AC-3 coaches. I noticed that Railway employees and other pass-holders who travel free of cost with their families or companions invariably get lower berths irrespective of their age.

Shariq Alavi,

C-8, Vigyanpuri, Mahanagar, Lucknow - 226 006.

No kidding

The other day I had gone with my friends to India Gate. While we were roaming around, I saw two young girls, just six to seven years of age, with smiling faces and each one holding a bottle of coke. On enquiring I came to know that they had come from a nearby village and had been applying “mehandi” to tourists to earn their living. They had got those coke bottles from some foreign tourists.

The way they were running after people to apply mehandi was quite simply heart-rending. It made me think about the plight of all such children who are supposed to be in classrooms rather than on the pavements of our cities at such an early age and cope with the stark realities of life.

Ruchi Jha,

YMCA (TV Production & Journalism), Jai Singh Road, New Delhi - 110 001.

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