>>The opening sentence of “ >Safety in food security ” (Nov. 7, 2013, OP-ED page article) read: “When India became independent, the Constitution declared it to be a socialist, secular, democratic Republic.” A reader said: “The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were added to the Constitution (more specifically to the Preamble) by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976.” The reader is right.
>>The opening sentence of “ >Gandhiji’s charkha sold for £1,10,000 at London auction ” (Nov. 6, 2013) wrongly said the portable teak charkha was auctioned for £1,10,00. The headline gave the correct figure - £1,10,000. In the third paragraph, the year of issue of American monthly - Popular Science - was wrongly given as 1031. It should have been 1931.
>>Stephen Corry, Director, Survival International, U.K., wrote to this office in connection with the following reports – they appeared in Andhra and Karnataka regional pages - saying they had some offending references in their texts while describing people belonging to some tribal communities.
The reports were: 1. >Bear mauls Chenchu tribal to death in Chinabodu (Oct. 21, 2013); 2. Tribal festival held in Bhadrachalam (Oct. 19, 2013); 3. Tribal habitations to get safe drinking water (Oct. 16, 2013); 4. ITDA initiative to help Konda Reddis (Oct. 16, 2013); 5. Satyagraha by Girijans (Oct. 3, 2013); and 6. MLA to seek special package for Koragas (Oct. 16, 2013).
Mr. Stephen Corry urged The Hindu to use the term 'particularly vulnerable tribal groups' while referring to those people.
In response to the reader’s letter, Hyderabad Resident Editor Nagesh Kumar said: "The reader is right in his observation. The Government of India renamed the primitive tribal groups as 'particularly vulnerable tribal groups' in 2006. I will advise all reporters not to use the word `primitive' while referring to tribals."
The Office of the Readers’ Editor recommends exercise of caution by the Reporting and the Editorial desks in this regard.
