Mohapatra spared, CM at ‘fault’

Sir – While one can understand why chief minister Naveen Patnaik has shed his belligerent stand against the UPA government at the Centre, one is unsure about the reasons behind his failure to take strong action against the party rebels led by Pyari Mohan Mohapatra.

One theory is that he is buying time to assess the likely fallouts if he chooses to expel his former advisor.

The other theory is that he knows pretty well that he would find it very hard to defend his action in the court of law because he has not been acting in accordance with the party constitution, which suggests he is somehow at fault.

Another possible reason is that he is badly isolated within his own party and has very few people who are willing to swim and sink with him.

Whatever be the reason, the fact that he has been dithering has created an impression that Naveen Patnaik is no longer the Iron Man that he had so far posed to be.

Shankarshan Rout,Bhubaneswar

Hospitality shocker at Ravenshaw University

Sir – The decision of Ravenshaw University authorities not to allow admissions to Afghan students from next year is quite disturbing.

Part of their argument is that these foreign students had problems adjusting to the place (Cuttack), couldn’t communicate well in English and their academic standard was below par.

That they clashed with local students on the campus, which later snowballed into a major controversy, is another matter.

But the fact remains that the authorities failed to take care of our “guests”.

If the Afghans were poor in English, it was obvious that they couldn’t have made much sense of what was being taught in class, the medium of instruction being English. Hence, they got poor marks. Now, wasn’t it the responsibility of university authorities to provide them a part-time guide who could address this language handicap? Or conduct extra classes with the help of a translator to ensure that they stayed on the same page as the rest of the class?

The Afghans did not feel welcome at Ravenshaw at all. Giving them hefty stipends every month and making grand announcements to put them up in a separate “international” hostel cannot be called hospitability.

There is no doubt that the campus brawl caused great damage to the reputation of the university, Odisha, and India but the decision to do away with students from Afghanistan once and for all has truly come as a shock.

Sonali,Cuttack

 

NCC as optional subject a welcome step

Sir – The state government’s plan to include NCC as an optional subject in colleges is a welcome step.

These days, students are so burdened with academics that they hardly get the scope to play outside or do any sort of physical activities, recreational or otherwise.

While children, at least up to Class VI or VIII, can still afford to spend time on the playground, they hardly have time to do so as they grow older. And by the time they reach college, “outdoor activity” becomes an unfamiliar term for them.

But once NCC is included as part of the curriculum and marks are attached to a cadet’s performance, it will definitely encourage more students to take it up. A NCC background also gives one an edge over the others during admissions for higher courses and even employment. Kudos to the higher education department and NCC officials for coming up with this plan.

Pravash Satpathy,Neelakantha Nagar, Bhubaneswar

Promote hockey, the professional way

Sir – Odisha Cricket Association announced that the Odisha Premier League, which courted controversy after its maiden season, would resume next year with a brand new format.

While so much effort goes into organising cricket tournaments, it is disheartening that other sports do not get due attention.

We have several hockey players, who have brought laurels to Odisha with their performance in national as well as international tournaments. But there is no initiative on the part of the Odisha Hockey Association (OHA) or the government to introduce hockey leagues.

However still, quite a lot can be done to boost hockey. A professional hockey league could be organised in the state, initially on a small scale. Veteran hockey players such as Michael Kindo and Dilip Tirkey could be signed up as coaches. The matches could be organised in Sundargarh, which has three hockey turfs, and in Bhubaneswar (Kalinga Stadium). Corporate organisations could also be involved to finance the tournament.

I sincerely hope that the government and OHA take note of this humble suggestion.

P.K. Mishra,Rourkela