Job creation
The mission mode of the 10 lakh government jobs announced by the Prime Minister is in fact aligned to the upcoming Assembly elections, which will culminate in the general election in 2024. The job mission is nothing but a mission to achieve the target of winning a third national term in 2024.
The fact of the matter is the central and State governments have not been filling up vacancies arising from retirement. For example, look at the banking sector. The country’s lead nationalised bank has pruned staff in such a way that it has affected services. A service such as seeking clarification or requesting an update of a pass book or even getting a new continuation passbook, results in the standard reply: ‘ Leave the passbook overnight’ or ‘Download the SBI app’.
Similarly, vacancies of teachers in central schools upon superannuation of teachers are not filled up regularly. Instead, ad hoc teachers are recruited, who join duty in a half-hearted manner. The time has come for the ruling party to stop linking jobs with politics. It is also a mystery why administrative action which should be routine (filling vacancies) needs to wait for the Prime Minister’s announcement.
N. Nagarajan,
Secunderabad
It is fine to be announcing jobs in government entities. It is a step in the right direction, but there is no doubt that the path to be traversed is long and winding. Unemployment is rampant in the country, which has been made worse by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the lockdowns, and the economic slowdown. The loss of jobs in the informal and formal sectors is mind-boggling. A healthy and robust economy with potential for large-scale employment generation is the remedy needed. The Government should leave no stone unturned in its endeavour to create such an environment.
Dr. D.V.G.Sankararao,
Nellimarla, Andhra Pradesh
Avoiding the news
The report, “People avoiding news: Reuters study” (June 15), is just a larger reflection of the declining trend in the reading habit, especially among youth. They seem to distressingly prefer seeking comfort in the one-line messages on various social media platforms. I think most people who read newspapers these days are those who are above at least 40 years old. A hesitancy to read and analyse the news has many repercussions, including a lack of general knowledge to start with.
A.R. Ramanarayanan,
Chennai
It was interesting to note why people tend to avoid the news unlike the time when they would clamour for a copy of the newspaper the first thing in the morning. How times have changed. News is meant to keep a person up to date with developments in the world. It is unfortunate that trust in the news is falling. Has the situation grown so dismal that reading the news makes one feel powerless? And that people would rather not read the news because it ruins their mood? How strange!
Pranati R. Narain,
Bengaluru
IPL auction
It is not for nothing that the IPL media rights auction has seen humongous amounts. Experts would have made precise calculations and the bidders would have taken into consideration the ever-growing viewership. For the common man, the successful bid amounts may have come as a shock but the bidders knew what they were precisely doing.
V. Lakshmanan,
Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
