Broom work acts as inspiration

Sir — This is with reference to the article “Shivapuri residents pick up broom” published on August 22 in your daily.

The scenes of local residents gladly involved in sweeping and cleaning their locality in ward no. 44 were greatly inspiring. It is true that we residents are also to blame for unhygienic conditions.

Learning from the residents of Shivapuri in Jagatpur, people in other areas must also stop waiting for the municipality and instead of complaining about the authorities’ inaction, we must ourselves pick up the broom. Not only will this lead to speeding up of cleaning work by the authorities, such a level of awareness about health and hygiene among people can change the face of sanitation in the city.

Kailashnath Senapati,Cuttack

Off with online

Sir — I have been coming across regular reports in your newspaper about e-admissions and e-counselling which has marred the admission process for students, starting from Plus Two to technical courses under the Orissa Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE)-2011.

In particular, the recent article “CAG finds fault with e-admission”, which highlighted the shortcomings of the online admissions for Plus Two candidates, has established the deficiencies of the system.

On the website of the department of higher education (DHE) - www.dheorissa.in - there is a column called “social media feed” with a scroll running. One of them reads: “Let us know your problems on Twitter so that there is a citizen’s opinion on the way the government functions, this is democracy”. Another one goes like this: “There are still many more colleges to be taken up under the e-admissions so that the sufferings of the admission process is eradicated”.

Although I am computer savvy and could have voiced my opinion on Twitter, I want to reply to the DHE “social media feeds” through your paper: When almost half of the applicants are not computer savvy and cannot even fill in e-application forms, how does the DHE expect them to leave comments on Twitter? And if the “democratic government” really cares about the “citizens’ opinion”, it must understand that Orissa is not ready for online admissions and must do away with the system from next year. Adding more colleges under e-admissions would add to the sufferings of the applicants as well as of teachers, who are at their wits’ end.

Soumya Ranjan, Rourkela

Relief cry

Sir — The woes in low-lying areas of Bhubaneswar like ours are spilling over with each passing day as the monsoon rain coupled with low depression showers continue to lash the city and its outskirts. We, the residents of Bibhav Estate, are bearing the brunt of unplanned drainage systems and a delay in laying a 100-foot road near our colony which is becoming a headache for the entire area. Water from the entire Baramunda Village, Unit VIII area, CRPF and parts of the Siripur area is rushing through the catchment of the newly-planned roads under construction and we would like to urge the authorities through your esteemed columns to take up this issue and sincerely consider finishing the work to provide us relief.

D. Mishra, Bhubaneswar

Unsung heroes

Sir — This is with reference to your story “Unsung awardee cries govt. neglect” published on September 1 regarding the plight of weightlifter, Bijaya Kumar Satapathy, who won the Arjuna award three decades ago.

It is highly unfortunate that sportspersons, who have made the state proud at the national and international levels, are suffering because of government apathy.

In the past year, there have been at least four instances in which sportspersons have been forced to take drastic steps to attract the attention of the government.

Star hockey player, Prabodh Tirkey and three women footballers, who won gold in a national football tournament, have left the state for want of better opportunities; mountaineer, Kalpana Das — the first Oriya and only woman to have scaled Mount Everest went to Puri Jagannath temple to put across her demand for a state government job; athlete, Jauna Murmu, who struck gold in a team event at the last Commonwealth Games, had to wait for almost six months to be rewarded for her achievement.

It was great news for all Oriyas when Berhampur boy, K. Ravi Kumar received the coveted Arjuna award and prize money of Rs 5 lakh from President Pratibha Patil. However, it has again brought to the fore the case of other deserving sportspersons, who are awaiting their due from a government, which has, so far, shown no sympathy or sensitivity to our sporting heroes.

Purnima Priyadarshini, Bhubaneswar

Culture crash

Sir — The picture that ours is a state with a special affinity towards culture might soon be limited to history.

Being a follower of Odissi dance and having been trained in it, I feel ashamed that even as Oriyas, we are happily ignorant about the pioneers of dance and music of Orissa.

The legendary Sanjukta Panigrahi, who passed away in 1997, had a great contribution towards popularising Odissi dance throughout the world. Girls from affluent families pursued the dance form following in her footsteps.

However, the state culture department organised hardly any event in memory of such a legend on the occasion of her birth anniversary on August 24. While this occasion should have seen the department organising festivals all across the state, it was sad that there was only one concert held by the Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneswar.

Arpita Sahu, Bhubaneswar

Kudos!

Sir — Kudos to The Telegraph team for bringing out a series on the civic problems of the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

The overall ward-wise coverage of the ancient city in your esteemed daily has been simply superb and sets a new standard in civic reporting. Especially on Cuttack which, in fact, needs better coverage in the media as it is now plagued with several environment-related concerns, more so, in the post-dengue situation.

We expect more such reports on the city, which still remains the cultural hub of the state with leading educational institutions including Ravenshaw University housed here. In fact, we request you to carry more stories on Ravenshaw.

Pradyumna Tripathy, Cuttack