The Hindu : Other States / Orissa News : Spare parts for solar lanterns

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Monday, Sep 10, 2007
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Spare parts for solar lanterns

With reference to the news item that photo-voltaic cells have become household items in remote tribal villages (The Hindu, August 24, 2007), I would like to state that I am one of the few customers who purchased a solar lamp from th e Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) in the year 1999.

During the super cyclone that hit the State in 1999, there was sudden shutdown of electricity. As a result, most residents were groping in the dark for several nights. Thanks to the solar lantern, there was light in my house. People used to wonder how fortunate I was. I demonstrated the functioning of the solar light and soon the sale of solar lanterns soared.

But after long use, a majority of the users had to reduce the lantern to a scrap as the OREDA could not arrange spare parts. The OREDA and its dealers should make available sufficient spare parts to provide service to customers.

K.C. Mohanti

Baripada

Rein in students

Engineering students smashed public property in the Capital like hooligans. It seems the students are now out to make extra-academic efforts to pass the examination. It is condemnable that students are not in a position to repent for their poor academic performance.

This is a clear indication of the degrading educational standards in private engineering colleges where financial status matters. Most of the students come from rich families which don’t hesitate to donate Rs. 10 lakhs for their wards’ studies. When such students step into the campus, discipline takes a beating.

As Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) starts regulating the errant students, it faces flak. Private engineering college managements, instead of reining in students are instigating them to take to the streets.

It is time to take a holistic approach for ensuring quality education in private engineering colleges.

Debabrata Biswal

Bhubaneswar

Cholera deaths

The incidence of deaths due to diarrhoea and cholera in the KBK districts seems to have been forgotten by the people and the administration as well.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik chaired a series of meetings to know the cause of deaths. His subordinates did not make any mistake and presented scores of facts and figures.

Then came the Chief Minister’s directive to carry out relief measures and ensure implementation of the job guarantee scheme. The job of the government is over there. It has not bothered to initiate follow-up action. The threat of the epidemic raising its ugly hood again is perceptible.

Suraj Mohanty

Bhubaneswar

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