MyVoice: Views of our readers 10th January 2025

Stampede deaths could have been averted

It is unfortunate that despite modern technology, the TTD is still using the push-pull type of reservation system. Keeping 90 counters for 1,00,000 devotees means forcing 1,000 devotees at each counter. It becomes a task for the security staff to monitor all 90 counters. The devotees reach from all corners of the world. Some come with their kids and elders, who need physical assistance. Stampedes are certain when a large number of people are confined to one area in a specified time. After the accidents, it is routine to shower sympathies with compensations, but it is impossible to heal the mental agonies of the suffering. The TTD Board immediately shall get rid of those long queues and shift to 24x7 digital method of distributing tokens for darshanam. These tokens shall be distributed in a spacious hall with large number of chairs. AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is requested to introduce darshanam only through the token number system!

G Murali Mohan Rao, Secunderabad

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At least Six devotees lost their lives, and dozens sustained injuries in a stampede on Wednesday night in Tirupati while waiting for the issue of tokens for the Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam of the Lord Venkateswara Swamy on Tirumala Hills on Mukkoti Ekadashi Day. Hundreds of devotees from across the country gathered for tickets of the annual Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam. Religious places are becoming a death trap for the devotees.

C K Nikhil Subramaniam, Mumbai

Tax relief may boost consumption

It refers to the editorial: “Slowdown blues for Indian economy.” It is not surprising to learn that the Indian economy will go from fourth gear to second gear in the current financial year as all pointers are indicating this. Public capex is way short of target, Private sector is dragging its feet on new capex. RBI’s tough monetary stand is making the task all the tougher. Services sector is doing reasonably well; it is the manufacturing sector which has hit a big hurdle and we all know that it is crucial for not only job and income growth but the economy, too. It should not be forgotten that GoI has provided relief in terms of corporate tax as well as PLI schemes to attract investment into manufacturing and boost this sector. So, providing income tax rate cuts in the forthcoming budget may drive consumption boost and in turn forcing private companies to invest into new capex.

Bal Govind, Noida

Pranab memorial an honour to his services to nation

Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter had expressed anguish for not erecting a memorial in honour of her father and central government informed her that a memorial would be erected in. Delhi in honour of Mukherjee, which can be called an error rectified. In this regard, the Union government has chosen a site for it at the Rashtriya Smriti Sthal in Rajghat where other memorials had been erected. His daughter rightly reminded the government over the oversight in honouring a past President who had served the nation for more than four decades in various capacities. It is worth mentioning how the issue had been politicised over a spot to cremate Dr Manmohan Singh and such anxiety in the case of P V Narasimha Rao was not adopted.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

AAP stands a fair chance in polls

In a bid to counter the BJP’s jibe, the AAP asked the party to throw the doors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Rajmahal” open to the public and publish its pictures. The AAP also questioned the moral authority of a leader who spent Rs 2,700 crore for himself, travels in a Rs 8 4,000 crore plane and wears a Rs 10 lakh suit to hurl the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ jibe at it. The AAP government implemented several welfare schemes benefiting the city’s impoverished and improved education and health care for the Delhiites. To its credit, the AAP, unlike the BJP, does not relegate the bread-and-butter issues of politics to the back-ground of its campaign. It runs a positive campaign on issues that matter to the lives of people. The AAP stands a fair chance of scoring a hattrick.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN

Clarity is more crucial than knowledge

In this age of misinformation and disinformation, we must remain vigilant in extracting authentic information. In 2025, we, as techno-humans, will become data gatherers due to the overconsumption of data, which leads to unnecessary hoarding of data on our mobile devices, laptops, and computers. As the famous historian from Israel, Yuval Noah Harari, once rightly said, the 21st century is not the century where knowledge is power, but where clarity is power.

Dr Jitesh Mori, Kutch