Bullseye
Sir — A farmer in Maharashtra recently took his protest against mounting debt directly to the tehsil office by riding a bull straight through the front door of the administrative building while demanding a loan waiver. While the mode of protest was unconventional, it underscored the intense financial pressure that small landholders face while navigating a cumbersome bureaucracy. He stated that through this symbolic protest, he sought to urge the government to take concrete steps towards farm relief. The woes of small farmers often go unheard. The desperation of this farmer is a reminder that administrative apathy is as evil as the double whammy of climate change and rising production costs. Sometimes, taking the bull by the horns is the last resort.
Adarsh Gupta,
Jaipur
Leaky system
Sir — The paper leak in the Maharashtra Teacher Eligibility Test earlier this week is the latest addition to the pattern of scandalous entrance examinations in India that includes the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate and the National Eligibility Test (“Another blot”, Jun 29). Paper leaks have become institutionalised. Other educational bodies are similarly plagued by horrors — the hasty introduction of a new digital grading system by the Central Board of Secondary Education led to mismatched answer scripts, portal glitches, delayed results, and a drop in the overall pass percentage this year.
Rescheduling exams is not an answer to the problem. The constitution of high-level committees and suspension of officials in the upper echelons are mere face-savers. A united Opposition and civil society movements can only prevail upon the government to secure the future of our learners.
Ardhendu Chatterjee,
Durgapur
Sir — Despite assurances to the judiciary that the prime minister himself is overseeing educational reforms to prevent paper leaks, the Centre’s callous attitude to the issue stands exposed. The government should be ashamed for failing to conduct examinations properly. The youth has been justifiably demanding the resignation of the education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan.
However, instead of addressing this demand, Narendra Modi recently praised Pradhan. This shows Modi’s total disregard for the concerns of the youth. It also sends the message that accountability for these lapses has become meaningless amidst the larger agenda of the commodification of education.
A.G. Rajmohan,
Calcutta
Sir — It is distressing that the Maharashtra State Council of Examination had to postpone TET just a day before its scheduled date following police raids in Bhiwandi which uncovered a paper leak. This last-minute cancellation left over six lakh aspiring teachers in limbo. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has aptly described the incident as “theft of the youth’s future”. This highlights the need for a structural overhaul of examination security, rigorous personnel checks, and accountability.
Khokan Das,
Calcutta
Sir — The leak of the Maharashtra TET question paper has, once again, exposed the vulnerability of India’s examination system. Coming close on the heels of the NEET-UG and the NET paper leak controversies, it prompted the Opposition to portray the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre as the “Paper Leak Government”.
The government’s failure to learn from past mistakes has led to such paper leaks becoming a regular affair. Repeated lapses raise serious questions about the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded institutions.
R.S. Narula,
Patiala
Sir — The way Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Dharmendra Pradhan for implementing the National Education Policy suggests a lack of concern for the minister’s culpability in repeated exam fiascos (“PM pat for beleaguered Pradhan”, Jun 27). This degree of indulgence for a beleaguered Pradhan will certainly pave the way for other ministers to get away with their shortcomings.
Arun Gupta,
Calcutta
Coastal trouble
Sir — Coastal ecosystems are some of the richest areas of marine biodiversity. India, fortunately, possesses a long coastline stretching over crucial cities like Mumbai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Vizag, and Puri (“Coast crisis”, Jun 29). Global warming and climate change pose considerable danger to the coastal regions.
Tapomoy Ghosh,
Burdwan
Sir — While climate talks focus on carbon emissions and plastic pollution, the surging demand for construction-grade sand is destroying vital ecosystems. Since desert sand is too smooth, the mining industry targets angular sand from rivers, coastlines, and fragile marine environments. The impact of this unregulated extraction is catastrophic. Riverbed mining disrupts water flows, lowers water tables, and destroys aquatic life, leaving communities vulnerable to rising sea levels.
Aarush Banerjee,
Calcutta
Sir — The climate clock is ticking for India’s 7,500-kilometre-long coastline primarily due to rapidly rising sea levels, intensifying tropical cyclones, and severe urban flooding. Millions of Indians live within close vicinity of the seas. These compounding threats heavily jeopardise major economic and environmental hubs.
Ports, industrial corridors, coastal power infrastructure, and tourism hubs face growing climate risks. By 2040, India’s major coastal centres such as Chennai, Mumbai, Kochi and Surat will navigate a massive paradigm shift. Investments in resilient infrastructure, early-warning systems, mangrove planting and climate-smart urban planning could become increasingly valuable.
S.S. Paul,
Nadia