Call for better security of women
Sir – The recent incidents of rape in the state has brought to the fore the harsh reality that girls are not safe even in Odisha. The way criminals are having their ways proves that the general public, particularly women, cannot claim their safety and security. It is time we swing into action and stop depending only on the police and administration.
There should be co-operative effort between the police officials and the community members in the form of citizen volunteer forces and citizen wardens in order to aid the police to restore security of the women of our country. Volunteer citizens can aid the police in patrolling and reporting any suspicious activity. The state should employ more mobile police vans between 6pm and 6am, which should take regular and more frequent rounds of vulnerable areas.
Volunteers should also participate in conducting safety drills for women in educational institutes and workplace.
They can help in auditing the police performance on a weekly or monthly basis so that an unbiased report on the working of security forces can be obtained. It would not only increase chances of reducing such crimes, but also strengthen law and order.
It would induce fear among potential criminals, who would know that they are challenging the law as well as the society.
If the police fail to discharge their duty, it is for the citizens to interfere and take part in the security mechanism so that such heinous crimes are kept at bay.
Tanima Banerjee, Dhenkanal
Sir – Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has taken a historic decision to launch public service delivery mechanism from January 1. It is an onerous step on the part of the government and a lot of problems faced by the common man can be solved within a specific time frame. What, however, is to be seen is that how the public servants digest it and show their concern to resolve people’s issues. Many a times it is seen that they are callous to various issues and show their indifference to various situations. But if the mechanism is truly followed, money and labour can be saved to a great extent and justice can be done to the people in time.
Nidhi Datta,Soyabali, Barbil
Sir – For the last few weeks I have been reading with an increasing interest about developments in the Biju Janata Dal. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has now taken the final step against his friend-turned-foe Pyari Mohan Mohapatra by expelling him from the party. But is that the end of intra-party differences in the party where the number of closet dissidents seems to be growing?
The feeling one gets after reading newspaper reports is that while outwardly most of the leaders pay tribute to Patnaik, they will not hesitate to change sides if their own interests are jeopardised.
The real test for the chief minister then will be ticket distribution when elections come calling. The closet rebels and the fence sitters will then bare their fangs and the face of unity in the BJD will start falling apart. But squabbles of the BJD make interesting reading anyway.
Sukant Khatua,Nayapalli
Sir – I wonder why even after 65 years of independence, despite a plethora of economic reforms, we run pre-paid taxi service. Is it not the right of a citizen to get free ambulance facility, if not medical service? Why do people pay tax at all when every small thing requires payment? I feel that the government needs to rethink its policy as everything can’t run like a business mode and certainly not an opportunity for cutting the red ribbon.
Piyush Ranjan Rout,Bhubaneswar
