MyVoice: Views of our readers 22nd January 2022

Curtailing working styles of Babus

IAS officers have to go where they are posted within the State they are allotted to or between the State and Centre with prior approval of the former.This good old arrangement is what the Centre now wants to tinker with. Because of its brute majority, NDA government may have its way without proper deliberations inside and outside the parliament, thereby disturbing the Centre-State axis so much so that all stakeholders get into trouble when both the governments play politics depending on who rules where. The officers themselves will face the heat and code of conduct silences them helplessly. The very concept of federalism gets affected and litigations in the name of natural justice may also arise. Even going to Tribunal is also getting scuttled by the new rule which stipulates that only CAT Delhi can be approached should any officer want to contest his posting to Centre unlike approaching respective CATs in their States as is existing now. More so, this will be one more issue to the already beleaguered federal structure of our country. It is hoped that the Centre sees the reasoning with an open mind and a relook at the whole issue is perhaps necessary.

D Nagarjuna, Hyderabad

'Hinduphobia' can cost the majority community

India's move in the UN, through T S Trimurti, to recognise 'Hinduphobia' in an effort to correct the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy passed last year must be comprehensive in order to correct the flaws in the meaningful and determined fight against war on terror post 9/11. Other minority groups like Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains too come under the purview of religious persecution by radical Islamist groups operating within the country, promoting their disgusting agenda, under the pretext of religious freedom and freedom of expression that are often used for anti-national and anti-social purposes. The present fight against such elements by the BJP- led NDA government in India, to bring to book such pseudo-seculars the likes of Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq and Omar Abdullah, Salman Khurshid, Manmohan Singh and Sitaram Yechury, is being viewed as Hindutva agenda promoted by the BJP, by way of rightwing nationalism. The coining of words like Hindu terror and saffron terror during Congress rule in the country was a sad and dismal demonstration of pampering anti-national radical elements among Muslims blatantly. There are political parties like SP, TMC, Congress and AAP that are effectively promoting this agenda nationally to the detriment of Hindu community in the country. Unless, the majority community wakes to this diabolic reality by becoming united it will only mean not learning lessons from past experiences that India had been through.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad

Settle Covid claims at once

Adding salt to the wound of Covid-19 patients, the state government failed to settle the dues as compensation to the families in an amicable way and there is undue delay. Even the surviving patients are not getting medical claim from their policies as the insurance companies are just fail to settle the claims by giving lame excuses. The Supreme Court decided to take the reins and steer the efforts to pay compensation to families that lost their relatives to COVID-19, after noticing that some states responded to the humanitarian move in a lukewarm fashion raising serious concerns on the responsibilities of a welfare state. The court said payment of Rs. 50,000 each as ex gratia to the loved ones of every COVID-19 patient who died was a welfare gesture, and so essential to a welfare state. Delays and bureaucratic red-tape to release the money or process the application did not augur well. Moreover, applications for compensation ought not to be rejected merely on technical glitches. The court ordered the States to reach out especially to children orphaned during the pandemic. With State after State delaying payments to kin of COVID-19 affected families despite their names in public domain, the future of these families remains a matter of serious concern especially as breadwinners have been snatched away leaving many orphaned. It clearly reveals not only the apathy of the state towards its people but also reminds us of the responsibilities of a welfare state. Better counsel should prevail in providing compensation.

Gundu K Mani, Ghaziabad