Hospital ordeal
It is incredible to read about the sorry state of one of the famous metropolitan cities and the commercial capital of the country (Page 1, “Mumbai runs out of beds in ICUs, patients suffer”, April 17). If China can build a huge hospital within a few days, and with hundreds of beds equipped with all facilities, it is unfortunate that it is dismal in India. Can anyone imagine a more pathetic situation than what had happened to the 49-year-old man who had to run from pillar to post waiting for an ICU bed and finally breathing his last without getting medical aid from any one of the five hospitals he visited in the city. This is a shocking case of callousness, unpreparedness and a total lack of foresight. If this is happening in a great city like Mumbai, what about the rural areas of Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha? Why the Centre and State government have driven Mumbai residents to this misery is unintelligible. The biggest question is this: will they wake up now to save people of Mumbai from perishing unattended?
J. Eden Alexander,
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Entrance examination
The pandemic and the crisis it has created as affected education gravely. As we know, the questions in the Joint Entrance Examination-Main (erstwhile AIEEE) are basic in nature while those in JEE-Advanced (erstwhile IIT-JEE) are more analytical in nature (Editorial page, “A case to use JEE-Main instead of JEE-Advanced this year”, April 17). There should be no move to dilute the quality of intake in the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology.
Naveen Shekhar,
Siwan, Bihar
JEE Mains and Advanced are totally different exams. It may not be an exaggeration to say that an average student can clear the JEE Main cut-off by sheer cramming and making intelligent guesses. This is not the case with the JEE-A. It is a very comprehensive check of a student’s understanding of concepts. While making a guess that 90% of students have a rank difference of 100 in both exams, one is ignoring the marks distribution for the exams. While many students are above 90 percentile in JEE-M, JEE-A has a much sparse distribution. IITs are facing a crisis because of the relaxation of admission norms in some instances. The IITs are the most premier academic institutions of the country. They should have students having the best cognitive abilities and intelligence.
Harnit Singh Sudan,
Jammu
With his sound arguments, the writer has given words to the concerns of several IIT and NIT aspirants who find themselves in the deep end now. An indefinite postponement of the JEE-Advanced examination will only disrupt the academic schedule. Delaying evaluation and the counselling process will further delay commencement of classes. Therefore, it is reasonable to reduce the academic burden on students. In the wake of virtual learning becoming the new normal, a few students are even wondering whether they will physically enter classrooms in the prestigious institutions. If the writer’s recommendations do materialise, a number of students will heave a sigh of relief.
Varsha V. Shenoy,
Kodialbail, Mangaluru
