Shame story

Sir — The score card that comes at the end of the editorial, “Neighbourhood watch” (March 8), puts Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s shining Bengal in its place. What good can industrialization do to a state which occupies pride of place in the list of crimes against women like trafficking, rape, and domestic violence? This was indeed a shameful, and fitting, exposure on International Women’s Day. What is most infuriating is that in spite of this shocking human rights record, the leftist government is still trying to pass off Bengal as being at the height of prosperity.

The blame for such a condition lies entirely with the misrule of the leftist government spanning well over three decades. During the time, the party has been generously supportive of the hooliganism of its cadre. In fact, party members and workers have been given a never-ending rope to misuse power, politicize every incident, both personal and non-personal, and become the arbiters of social justice. Without political backing, how could a shalishi court be held in broad daylight, that too within the limits of the metropolis, and then go on to sentence the ‘guilty’ with such temerity?

Yours faithfully,
Amitava Banerjee, Chennai

Sir — The editorial, “Neighbourhood watch”, rightly brings into the discussion the other tragedy at Belur Math in commenting on the state of women in Bengal. In common perception, both the women — one who has killed her children, and the other who committed adultery — are social misfits. In fact, the society is bound to look at them as ‘fallen’ women. One did not perform her assigned duty to care for her children as the mother, and went on to drown them in a fit of seeming madness. The same holds for the other woman, who neglected her social duties as mother and wife by apparently ‘eloping’ with her lover. But this myopic and one-sided view of the two incidents blinds us to the victimhood of the two. If it was mental instability that forced the first to take the lives of her children, how could her husband and family have remained unaware of her condition for so long? In the second case, why did society lay the entire blame at the door of the woman, deny her the chance of putting her past behind her and force her to commit suicide?

Yours faithfully,
J. Sikdar, Calcutta

Poor magic

Sir — Lalu Prasad, a failed hero in his own state, has earned laurels for being a stellar railway minister. Prasad has worked this magic simply by showering largesse on his state in his budget. There is no denying that this populist budget has its eye on the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Yet, it would perhaps be wrong to deny Prasad his accomplishments. He has shown his noble intentions by suggesting that porters be upgraded to gang-men. However, given that modern technology is making inroads into every sphere of human activity, the railways might find gang-men to be a liability in the next few years. Lalu Prasad would not be around then to rescue either these Group D employees or save the railways from the financial stress. The government should review this measure carefully before implementing it. Scores of new trains have been allotted for Bihar, which speaks of Prasad’s partisanship. There must be certain parameters, such as the prospect of earning revenue, before additional trains are introduced. Last year, Prasad had introduced special carriages for carrying vegetables from Patna to Delhi, which proved to be an unprofitable project. The minister obviously has not learnt his lesson.

Yours faithfully,
Subhankar Mukherjee, Burdwan

Sir — This rail budget is definitely a budget for the aam admi. But certain important factors seemed to have been neglected by the people-friendly railway minister. Although many garib raths have been introduced, there are very few trains which connect Saurashtra, in Gujarat, to other places, like Delhi for example.There isn’t a direct air link between the two as well. Perhaps a direct Rajdhani or Shatabdi or garib raths could be introduced from Delhi to Rajkot, which is central to Saurashtra. This should also give a boost to Indian tourism.

The railways need to have strict provisions for checking unauthorized travel. The cleanliness drive, introduced last year, still needs to go a long way. Toilets must be cleaned at every stop. There should be other provisions. All routes across the country must have double railway tracks so that trains can travel faster. The regular first class must be discontinued and the number of AC coaches increased. The Rail Yatri Niwas on the stations should be able to accommodate a greater number of transit passengers. Finally, the number and amount of luggage that can be carried per person in reserved compartments must be specified.

Yours faithfully,
Mahesh Kapasi, New Delhi

Sir — Train journeys today are comfortable and affordable. But irregularities in the running of trains continue. Most trains run late and their compartments continue to be unclean. The drinking water available on the platforms also cannot be trusted. It is difficult to travel in peace, especially on night trains, given the kind of disturbance intruders make along the journey. Such unauthorized travellers should be prevented from entering reserved coaches. Unscrupulous ticket-examiners must be booked for cheating passengers. Finally, I would request Lalu Prasad not to announce new trains till the railways can complete the outstanding projects. For years, a new train route between Giridih and Hazaribagh, as well as between Koderma and Ranchi, have been promised, but neither has seen the light of day so far. The new ones might witness a similar fate.

Yours faithfully,
Danendra Jain, Ranchi