Bright idea

Sir - We show our respect for great artists by building statues and renaming roads or stations . But we can do better. 'Dickens World' in Kent is a venture that recreates the fantastical Dickensian universe. Visitors embark on a unique journey of discovery by taking a step back in time. Museums are coming up in Newtown, Rajarhat. Theme parks modelled on the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee and other notable writers ought to be built. Will the chief minister take a look into this?

Yours faithfully,
Niamul Hossain Mallick, Katwa, Burdwan

Game plan

Sir - There is indeed something special about West Bengal. Why else would people from all over India flock to this 'laggardly wasteland'? Now India's only 'nationalist' party has also set its eyes on the state. A clutch of other states remain unconquered but the Bharatiya Janata Party will not rest easy unless it manages to capture power in West Bengal ('Minus Bengal, job unfinished: Shah', Dec 1). It is a mystery why the ruling party is showing so much of interest in this beleaguered state.

Amit Shah needs no introduction. A number of people are aware of the allegations against Shah. Shah has continued to claim his innocence because the charges are yet to be proved in a court of law. Several leaders of the Trinamul Congress, too, have been accused in a scam. They are also claiming that they are innocent because they have not been convicted yet. Shah's diatribe against TMC leaders is thus amusing. It reminds one of the adage, 'The pot calling the kettle black'.

Instead of playing to the gallery, Shah should answer why civilized, secular people should vote for a party which, allegedly, is indifferent to the plight of the minority community.

Moreover, Gujarat ranks poorly in the hunger index. It has been reported that 47 per cent of its children below the age of three are malnourished. Gujarat's failure to provide water in Saurashtra and Kutch has resulted in farmers committing suicide.

The less said about achche din the better.India still ranks at the bottom in most international indexes of human development. Why don't Shah and his party channelize their energies to reduce the woes of the hapless people of the country instead of shedding crocodile tears for Bengal?

Yours faithfully,
Kajal Chatterjee, Sodepur

Picture perfect

Sir - The Telegraph should be thanked for publishing a photograph that depicted a Muslim woman taking a child dressed as Santa Claus to a school in Allahabad.This image represents the truth about India where ordinary people are interested in leading a peaceful lifeshorn of religious bigotry.At a time when religious fundamentalism and sectarian politics are muddling minds, the image deserves to be heavily applauded.

Yours faithfully,
Shankar Gangopadhyay, Calcutta

Letters from Odisha

More debates

Sir - We must congratulate The Telegraph for exposing the house and land allotment scam. The report, 'Houses two many for comfort' (July 23), gave a list of the people who have benefited from the government's discretionary quota. The report highlighted how politicians had benefitted through the quota system. The family members of the Rajya Sabha member, Kalpataru Das, The Telegraph said, had managed to grab houses and plots through the quota system.

Thanks to the efforts of The Telegraph, the Naveen Patnaik government constituted an official committee to look into the allegations of irregularities in land allotment raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. Now the government has decided to cancel the allotment of plots and flats under the discretionary quota in the past 20 years. This is a laudable move.

Yours faithfully,
Pranab Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

Sir - The Tara Datt committee has exposed the nexus among politicians, bureaucrats and journalists. As per norms, a person should have one plot/house in the name of himself or of family members. This norm has been violated. Besides, discretionary quota is meant for financially unstable persons, family members of martyrs or for eminent personalities. The rules have been thrown to the winds. Allotments under the discretionary quota have been made arbitrarily.

Yours faithfully,
Soumendra Panigrahi, Cuttack

Sir - It is a shame that ministers, bureaucrats, and media persons have illegally taken houses and plots in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The people who are supposed to execute laws, and media persons, who are supposed to expose the loopholes in governance, act hand in glove. Then who will protect the law and who will be the watchdog?

Yours faithfully,
Sheikh Jahan, Bhadrak

Sir - The blanket cancellation of all allotments under the discretionary quota may not stand the scrutiny of law as there could be some genuine beneficiaries as per norms. The vigilance probe ordered by the state government may not have been a free and fair one. There should be a probe by an independent agency.

Yours faithfully,
Dinesh Sharma, Rourkela

Letters from Bihar

Too slow

Sir - I would like to draw the attention of the authorities concerned towards the problems faced by commuters in Patna when the assembly is in session. The roads of the city are already choked due to heavy traffic and the lack of alternative routes. It becomes difficult to travel in areas such as Bailey Road, Fraser Road, Station Road, S.P. Verma Road, and so on during this time. Whenever rallies are taken out by political parties or other outfits, the traffic situation deteriorates. What is worse, whenever the House is in session, it takes me at least an extra hour to reach my office from Kankarbagh, not to mention the excess expenditure on fares.

It is high time the authorities take steps to ensure that traffic movement remains unhindered by processions. While I fully endorse the democratic right to hold rallies, political organizations must be sensitive towards the problems faced by the people. I have seen ambulances get stuck in rallies. School children, too, suffer because they cannot reach home on time. Political outfits should sit with other organizations and find out a way to resolve the problem. Perhaps protest marches should be confined to the Gandhi Maidan. A delegation can then submit the charter of demands. An alternative site for holding protests should also be mooted. Patna is among the very few state capitals where traffic gets stalled due to rallies.

Yours faithfully,
Rajiv Kumar, Patna

Parting shot

Sir - Jitan Ram Manjhi's statement that whatever may be the ground reality, the health sector will remain top on paper is shocking, to say the least. If the health minister knows about the critical condition of the health sector in the state, why is the chief minister making such comments in public? Manjhi may be an honest leader, but he is far from an ideal chief minister. The chief minister is vocal about the existing problems but he does not take steps to solve them.

This is not the first time that the chief minister has made such controversial remarks. The leader had once stated that there was nothing wrong in eating rats. I think Manjhi should take lessons from the former chief minister, Nitish Kumar, when it comes to speaking in public.

Yours faithfully,
Prakhar Sharma, Patna