The Hindu : New Delhi News : What a waste!

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Monday, Apr 27, 2009
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New Delhi

What a waste!

The one-man inquiry commission constituted by the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to probe the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, has been given yet another extension by the Union Government – the 48th!

The country’s longest-serving commission of inquiry has already got 47 extensions since it was set up within ten days of the demolition of the 16th Century mosque that triggered widespread communal violence in the country.

The probe has already eaten up Rs.10 crore and how many more it will take is anybody’s guess. What purpose would this inquiry commission serve?

There would be another commission which will study the report of the Liberhan Commission.

The whole purpose behind our politicians setting up such commissions is to fool the innocent citizens in the name of caste, colour, religion or region.

Naresh Raj,

34, Power Colony Patiala – 147 001.

SBI’s ways

I had drawn a demand draft (No. 050550) dated February 13 this year for Rs.960 from the State Bank of India, Nirman Bhawan Branch, New Delhi, in favour of the Executive Engineer, Madurai Central Division-I, CPWD, for booking accommodation at their Holiday Home in Kanyakumari. However, because of non-availability of rooms, the CPWD office returned the draft.

On April 8 when I went to the SBI branch to cancel the same draft, I was told that the cancellation charge would be Rs.100! This while I had paid Rs.30 as bank charges when the draft was drawn. There was a gap of about two months and during this period the money was lying with the bank. It would have earned certain amount of interest on it, howsoever meagre, apart from the bank charges already paid.

The draft should have been cancelled without any charge as there was no transaction between the other party (CPWD) and its bankers to cash the same.

Would the SBI authorities explain the logic behind charging a customer for cancelling a draft, and that too more than the commission charged for drawing the draft in the first place?

Are the higher charges meant to be a deterrent to the growing customer base in SBI branches?

R. Narayanan,

64, Sector I, R. K. Puram New Delhi.

Bouncing cheques

The Delhi High Court recently expressed concern at criminal cases relating to bounced cheques pending in five subordinate courts in the Capital. Out of 7.67 lakh pending criminal cases in Delhi, 5.15 lakh relate to bounced cheques, with 4.28 lakh filed by financial institutions! The system is clogged mainly because of cheque-bouncing cases related to EMIs. It is not proper that the courts serve as recovery agents for these financial institutions where cheque-bouncing is a normal part of their business. Separate courts should be set up for such cases to ease the pressure on the courts. A court fee of, say, 10 per cent may be levied on such cases filed by the financial institutions.

Fifty per cent of the penalty imposable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act should be for the judicial system. This amount should be compulsorily charged from the accused once the case is filed, even if the case is compromised during the proceedings or outside the court.

The accused may be required to furnish a bank guarantee of the amount of bounced cheques on their first appearance. Else they may deposit the amount with the court till the final disposal of the case. Otherwise, bank accounts and properties of defaulters may be attached. This may deter most of the defaulters who might want to settle matters just after receiving the mandatory legal notice.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal,

1775, Kucha Lattushah, Dariba, Chandni Chowk, Delhi – 110 006.

What price education?

Amity University, Noida, has turned fully commercial and is ruining the careers of students. It is minting money in the garb of providing education.

My son, Akash Jain, took admission to B.Tech. (2008-12 — Registration No. B.Tech.(IT)/2008/NS/1544). After completing one semester, his admission was suddenly cancelled without any intimation though Amity had taken the fee for the second semester. The reason cited for cancellation was that he had 68.33 per cent (PCM) marks in Class XII.

We cannot buy that, for he had submitted the original marks-sheet at the time of admission in August last year, which was duly scrutinised by the University before it was accepted and admission granted.

Now Amity says he can continue provided I pay additional fees, which are exorbitant and unjust. All our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Akash had secured 7.61 SGPA out of 10 in the first semester. Now he can’t get admission in any other university and would thus be wasting two academic years.

I urge the authorities to do the needful to save education from the clutches of the greedy and provide justice to my son.

Balesh Jain,

B R Industries, Mohalla Sangyan, Saharanpur – 247 001, Uttar Pradesh.

Sheer extortion

Eunuchs have become a big menace in Indirapuram near the U.P.-Delhi border. Customarily their blessings are considered auspicious on occasions like marriage and childbirth. However, it seems the wish of the individual is immaterial when it comes to seeking, or not seeking, their blessings.

Even before one settles down in a new house, eunuchs force themselves inside the house demanding arbitrary amounts like Rs.11,000 or 5,100 in the name of so-called “badhai” for the new acquisition. This is nothing but extortion as refusal is met with the choicest abuses, vulgarity and threats of violence. Talk of police intervention does not have any effect.

Is there any policy to regulate this profession? If yes, then the authorities concerned must take appropriate action to end this menace.

Shailendra Sharma,

103/104, Gyan Khand-I, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad (U.P.).

Hello, RBI….

The Reserve Bank of India’s directive abolishing the minimum charge of Rs.20 on transactions done by customers through other banks’ ATMs with effect from April 1 will hamper the growth of ATMs.

Banks which were eager to expand their ATM networks would see no reason now to do so. This would be particularly true of smaller banks which would make use of the ATM networks of bigger players. Those using other banks’ ATMs should at least be made to pay a token fee of Rs.5 so that there is some incentive for all banks to broaden their ATM base. Arif Mohammed Yeasin Jwadder,

Room No. 167, Allama Iqbal Hall, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh – 202 002.

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