MyVoice: Views of our readers 16th April 2023

True Leaders Are Like Statues

Erecting a 125-foot statue of B R Ambedkar and naming the new Secretariat after the father of the Indian Constitution are the two sincere and honest acts by KCR to perpetuate our memory of the invaluable services rendered by one of the greatest sons of India. It is one more feather in the cap of KCR. This will be the tallest statue of the towering personality in the world until the completion of the building of the 137.3 metre Statue of Equality in Maharashtra which is expected to be completed in 2024.

In our country there are more than a score statues which are 100 feet and above in height. There is a 100-foot statue of Gandhiji in Bihar which was built at a cost of about 30 crore and of course our 'Statue of Unity" is the tallest statue in the world built, spending thousands of crores of rupees. It has a great commercial value too as a great tourist sport in Gujarat.

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them," said Shakespeare. Gandhiji, Ambedkar and Patel achieved greatness through their inspiring roles in the freedom struggle, their impeccable erudition in the service of the people, and their vision of a strong nation. We think, we need their statues because they keep inspiring generations of people to do their mite for the country.

And I am sure that the trio wouldn't have liked us to erect their statues or would have looked down them as mere waste of money and as meaningless tokenism by our selfish politicians. Yes we must emulate these spotless statesmen otherwise we will be like the speakers in 'The Happy Prince,'a story about a gold statue by Oscar Wilde and the statues may one day meet the fate of the Statue of Ozymandias at the hands of vandals.

Matam Somasekhar Prasad, Hyderabad

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A common man feels whether the grand programme of unveiling giant statue of giant personality of Ambedkar ji is a government or ruling party programme as state Governor, central minister, MPs from state were not invited and it is all ruling party peoples representatives, leaders and their supporters. I feel this is not the way to honour Ambedkarji. It was confined to ruling party only, sending a wrong message to the state and rest of country too. Every issue should not be linked to narrow-minded politics and a broad mind with national interests to carry every one along must be the policy of any government. If this is the mindset of government with political flavour, I am sure state Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan may not be invited by TS government for the inauguration of the new building of secretariat. Power comes and goes but services are forever.

JP Reddy, Nalgonda

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V Ramu Sarma had rightly come out that like Mahatma Gandhiji, Dr Ambedkar, the architect of our constitution, is remembered and his life eulogised by politicians only two days in a year but none ever attempts to follow his ideals which continue to be relevant to our life and society. The organiser of the struggle against social oppression and inequality and one who advocated freedom of the press and freedom of speech and expression that constitution guarantees is sadly misused by the gutless present-day politicians. As Ambedkar has rightly said that "freedom of speech and expression is the bulwark of a democratic form of government and paramount importance under a democratic institution," it means that within limitations and responsibilities cast upon it, the Indian press can criticise and condemn the government and its policies as much as it desires in order to ensure that government works as per constitution. However, as seen, on many occasions, Indian press had failed due to vested interests keeping their stranglehold on it by indulging in sensationalising news through exaggeration to patronise few individuals and parties knowing well that it is very harmful to democracy.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

TSPSC paper leak very shameful & disturbing

The academic atmosphere or its eco-system in Telangana has been spoilt with question paper leaks and the politics associated with it. Whether the students were able to gain access to the leaked paper and benefit from it is not the question. The very fact that a question paper could come out in the open during the conduct of the exam amounts to a "Leak." This goes to prove that the monitoring mechanism set in place to oversee the smooth and fair conduct of the exams has badly failed. One, however, does not know whether this was resorted to (paper leak) deliberately with anyone's connivance.

Heads have rolled and the ongoing ED probe will try to get to the bottom of the murky incident. But the larger question of an indelible blot and the psychological impact which the paper leak might have caused on the students' psyche cannot be effaced that easily. What is disturbing and even shameful is that a paper leak had taken place even in a job recruitment exam of TSPSC. It is hoped that murky incidents like these do not get repeated in future.

N R Raghuram, Hyderabad

Parties should opt for digital outreach

It is noticed that the incident of Karepally, which claimed 3 lives and resulted in injuries to many innocent people, is only due to sheer irresponsibility of the BRS party which conducted a meeting in the name of 'Atmeeya Sammelanam.' Any political party can organise public meetings wherein they will boast about themselves and also work for the strengthening of their roots into the deeper level of the public. But, while organising such public gatherings, organisers should take stringent safety measures. Else, incidents like Karepally would surely recur.

In fact, there is no need to conduct any public meetings by any political party to speak about the work they do for the people's welfare. And, there is no need to mobilise people to the meetings. Doing so is a waste of time, money, and energy. Instead of meeting people at public gatherings, the parties can meet people through various means of communication. They can make use of digital technologies to reach out to the masses. But, all political parties are still following the traditional way of meeting people in person.

Dr Venkat Avula, Hyderabad

RBI's directive to benefit borrowers

The RBI has given a much useful clarification in respect of bankers/lenders and customers. As per an RBI clarification, lenders cannot levy penalty for any default/non-compliance of material terms and conditions of loan contract in the form of penal interest that is added to the regular rate of interest. In a draft circular issued by it on "Fair Lending practice-penal charges in loan accounts," RBI said penalty in the aforementioned cases should be treated as penal charges and not as penal interest which would be added to the rate of interest and in this case also a maximum of 2% all put together. It also said that such charges should not be capitalized i.e., no further interest shall be charged on this. However, this will not affect the other procedures like compounding of interest. This circular is addressed to all banks public and private, NBFCs, UCBs and FIs.

This is good news for the borrowers as their loan payments are reduced to that extent. In general, it is observed that very few borrowers are concerned with this and even though he asks the banker no proper reply is expected. They simply say that the interest part is debited at the head office level and if you want any clarification, you may contact them. This attitude of bankers should be changed. Any query raised by the borrower must be responded to if not known they may be given some time to inquire.

The borrowers also must be aware of what is going on in his account and what type of normal charges and hidden charges are applied to their accounts.

TSN Rao, Hyderabad

Some ways to cut food wastage

According to a recent UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) report, roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets lost or wasted. That's around 1.3 billion tonnes. The UNEP's food wastage index report further reveals that India wastes approximately 68.76 million tonnes of food annually, with households wasting around 50 kilograms per person.

This issue not only affects the environment but also has social and economic impacts. Food wastage increases the burden on waste management systems and can lead to pollution of water bodies. Food waste can be reduced through various strategies such as better storage and transportation practices, improving packaging and labeling, educating consumers about food waste reduction, and encouraging the use of food donations and composting. Finally, reducing food waste can also help address the issue of food insecurity, where many people around the world lack access to nutritious and affordable food. By reducing food waste, more food can be made available for those in need.

The Indian government has been taking measures to reduce food waste, including launching programs such as 'Save Food Share Food' to encourage the donation of surplus food and educating students on preventing food waste through the school curriculum. At the same time, emerging technologies like app-based "digital cafeterias" are being developed to help college campuses reduce food wastage by analyzing food consumption trends. Such efforts can contribute to reducing food waste and ensuring that surplus food reaches those in need.

Dr Krishna Kumar Vepakomma, Hyderabad

Asaduddin Owaisi's irrational mindset

It is good to see that mafia dons and hired killers like Atiq Ahmed, who are into the crime in an unbridled way abetted by the previous SP government in UP, are being wiped out from the state in a systematic way. Perhaps, there is no other means to end this menace of political killing in UP than the encounter route.

However, there are human rights supporters and secularists who argue in favour of law of the land and judiciary to tackle such acts; but the individuals who support milder methods to tame the ruffian and hardened killers tend to forget that every day of the existence of the latter will endanger the lives of innocent individuals in the society.

It is surprising and ridiculous on part of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi whose heart bleeds at the killing of these killers, to call these acts to be selective against Muslim community.

It is indicative of his irrational and lopsided anti-national mindset that cannot be missed out in dealing and assessing him in all future moves by him in Telangana and the rest of the country.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad

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Gangster Atiq's son was killed in an encounter reaffirming CM Yogi Adityanath's resolve to finish off the mafia. Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, was killed in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Jhansi. Ghulam, with a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was also killed in the encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force. Asad's encounter comes on a day when his father, gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court in Praharaj in the Umesh Pal murder case. Thus, the UP CM's warning to the media came rather true as he smacked of rhetoric when it was first made.

Jayanthi Subramani, Ghaziabad

Oppn unity matters

The effort for forging Opposition unity seems to gather momentum each day. The realization that only a united Opposition can mount a major challenge to the BJP in the 2024 general election and save the country seems to dawn on the Opposition parties. From Rahul Gandhi, M K Stalin, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal to Sitaram Yechury and D Raja are on the same page on the need to forge Opposition unity.

If the Opposition parties are single-minded about putting up a good fight against the BJP, they stand a fair chance of outperforming the BJP in the electoral battle. The aggregation of secular or anti-BJP votes is sure to be more than that the BJP can hope to secure by playing the Hindutva card.

The cause of social justice on the agenda and as an election plank could diminish the 'overarching' appeal of Hindutva. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's failure to bring his much-promised 'achhe din,' too, would add to voter enchantment and exacerbate anti-incumbency.

It is important for the like-minded secular parties that there is no split in the secular vote to the BJP's advantage in the first-past-the-post system. A lot hinges on key Opposition leaders finding common ground for a joint fight against the BJP that threatens India's continued existence as a secular democracy and putting the country's future above their personal ambitions and parties' interests. They owe the country nothing less.

G David Milton, Maruthancode (TN)

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Apropos, "Mahagathbandhan 2.0?" (THI, Apr 13). Parties opposed to BJP are often at loggerheads with one another, and any coordinated action among them is never easy. Contradictions are many, at the ideological and personal levels; and they represent conflicting interest groups in most cases. The meeting of various Opposition parties in Delhi was exploratory rather than decisive. What is clear, however, is an increasing realisation among non-BJP parties that mutual animosities might turn them into easy prey for the BJP, whose hunger for power is infinite. But, the BJP is the hegemon in the Hindi heartland, while it faces resistance from regional parties in several States. An alliance between the regional parties does not lead to any transfer of votes as they exist in different regions. Some of these parties are rivals at the State level, as in the case of the Left and the Congress in Kerala. Therefore, pre-poll alliances are of limited consequence, generally speaking. Alliances with shared programme and vision, amplified by sustained outreach to the public are more important.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

Vande Bharat: Give due credit to previous govts

The introduction of Vande Bharat trains in Indian Railways has given a solid lift to Indian Railways. They are brilliant examples of Atmanirbhar Bharath and we all Indians are proud of it. Yes with vision of our PM and his Make in India visioin, the significant frameworks of Vande Bharath have been planned and implicated by the Indian engineers. Modiji rightly said that Vande Bharat express trains signifies that India wants the best of every thing and these trains are a symbol of new Indias capability. Now Modi Government wants to show case the Vande Bharath express production as " Make in Indias" success story. Till now it is all ok.

The Modi government is boasting that Vande Bharath is first semi high speed train runs with 130 kmph speed. In fact, the previous government itself introduced Rajdhani and Shatapdi trains which also run at 130 kmph and, in fact, at present, all LHB coach trains are running at 130 kmph. Many new trains were introduced by Congress Government but they never boasted like our present PM. In fact, one should know that before and after introducing Vande Bharath express trains nearly 76 passenger trains are cancelled causing a suffering to poor passengers. It is a fact that in the case of Vande Bharath express trains, only rich can afford and the poor may not be able to afford these trains. Modi government has forgotten that the introduction of Vande Bharath was possible because of his predessors also. Vande Bharath express trains was designed and developed at Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF). This factory was inaugurated by the first PM Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955. All rail coach factories were constructed by Congress governments. Vande Bharat gained the name as most luxurious and prestigious train because of not only Modi but because of the vision of his predessors also.

Zeeshaan, Kazipet

Big setback to KCR's dreams

The Election Commission of India stating that the BRS party floated by KCR doesn't qualify to become a 'national party' is a big and severe blow to the Telangana CM KCR who has overconfidence that he is the only "intelligent person in Indian politics to become the Prime Minister" and "every other person past or present is incapable and unfit to lead that country."

This is utter unfair and incorrect. The BRS is bound to take some more time in getting a national party recognition.

KCR can still go ahead even with regional party status in capturing other state voters' attention, especially in some pockets of Karnataka, Andhra and Maharashtra, focussing on the benefits to farmers and the unemployed especially.

These two sections may certainly pave a way in tilting votes in the favour of BRS slowly.

KCR cannot expect miracles immediately but everything depends on how he is presenting decades-old issues and his quick fix solutions for promoting the standards of living for the downtrodden sections of the society.

Katuru Durga Prasad Rao, Hyderabad

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Following the ECI decision, TMC, CPI, NCP, etc., have lost the national status while the AAP is accorded national status. The BRS which was upgraded as pan-India party lost its identity in AP; so, as usual it remained as the state party of Telangana. AAP which was born in 2012 during the anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare subsequently forayed into Punjab and won it Assembly elections in 2022. Further it contested Assembly elections in Goa, Gujarat and Meghalaya. The ECI ruling is a death blow to TMC and BRS as both the parties are trying their best to influence voters across the nation in the ensuing general elections. The parties which are entitled to enjoy national status are enabled to contest elections across the nation with their party symbol, have right to get land for party office in Delhi and ample time in national media. So, putting best efforts to remain in national politics is important.

Pratapa Reddy Yaramala, Tiruvuru (AP)