The Hindu : New Delhi News : Stop littering

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Monday, Oct 26, 2009
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New Delhi

Stop littering

Littering is second nature to us Indians. Delhiites are one up on others. They go about littering paper plates and leftovers all over the place after eating out. One can see the piles thus generated near chat vendors, fruit juice stalls and chhole-bhature shops.

There is yet another kind of littering we seem to turn a blind eye to. Year after year we immerse idols of deities into the Yamuna after various pujas, choking the river. Despite the high fences on the Yamuna bridge, people are still seen using their muscle power to throw the puja leftovers into the river. Taking a dip in the Yamuna is equivalent to inviting diseases as it has become a highly polluted drain. There is yet another ritualistic practice. Go to any nearby park or street, you will see images of deities in glass frames under a peepul tree. Soon some people begin to pay obeisance there. You could also see someone leaving some sweets or fruits as offerings. Stray dogs and cats vandalise these and the images are dirtied. Is this the way to worship our deities? It is time we stopped this religious littering.

Martina Roy,

C-2/2281, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – 110 070.

Yes, Minister?

Though the present Law Commission of India has submitted 33 reports to the Union Government since its inception three years ago, not one of these has been seriously considered by the Centre much less implemented.

The latest reports recommend ten years’ imprisonment for causing death by rash driving, amending relevant personal laws to check bigamy, regulation of surrogacy and carrying out immediate reforms in the legal and judicial arena.

As is evident from past practices, these reports would also gather dust in the absence of a will for implementation.

If this is the fate of all these reports, what is the need for the Commission? There is an urgent need to change the present state of affairs.

Further, when there is a permanent body in the form of the Law Commission, why set up other expert bodies such as Malimath Committee for criminal justice reforms, N. R. Madhava Menon Committee for national criminal justice policy, Sorabjee Committee for drafting the Police Act?

The composition of the Law Commission also needs to be made more broad-based with inclusion of senior advocates as well as members from Bar Councils to inculcate valuable inputs and suggestions from the legal fraternity who are well conversant with the ground realities of applied law.

I hope Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily will consider these suggestions and set a time-frame for implementation of Law Commission reports.

Hemant Kumar,

Advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court, # 414, Sector-7, Urban Estate, Ambala City, Haryana.

Aligarh calling…..

With reference to “Lucknow to Aligarh.....” in these columns (October 5), alleging that the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University has no time to visit hostels, meet students and understand and solve their problems, I would like to mention that Professor P. K. Abdul Azis has set up a Students’ Grievance Redressal Committee. The Committee, comprising meritorious students, brings to the fore the real grievances of students. There is face-to-face interaction between the students and the V-C through this committee. As a member of this committee myself, I am well-acquainted with the V-C’s efforts aimed at students’ welfare.

The overall atmosphere at AMU today is healthy and conducive to academic excellence.

Its all-India rank has also improved during the tenure of Prof. Azis.

Arina Khan,

M.Sc. (F), Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh – 202 002.

What price MBA?

I am an MBA aspirant applying for CAT-2009. The cost of the application form for CAT, or any other MBA entrance examination, is pretty high in the range of Rs.1,500 to 2,000. Besides, aspirants are required to apply separately to colleges which admit students through these entrance exams.

Every college requires the forms to be submitted before the entrance exam result is announced. So if I fill up forms for all A-grade colleges, it would cost me Rs.30,000 to 40,000 which is way too high. I request the Union Human Resource Development Minister to look into this and provide a reasonable solution.

Rohit Shekhar,

80, Khizrabad, New Delhi – 110 025.

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