Aam Advertisement Party

Refer to ‘Questions raised over transfers of bureaucrats who differ with Punjab Government’; wasting public money is an art and the AAP has mastered it. The AAP government has transferred the Health Secretary of Punjab for refusing to sanction money for advertisement of Mohalla clinics in states other than Punjab. The Health Secretary refused to sanction the amount saying that it would not be able to justify spending Rs 30 crore for the promotion of the scheme in states like Tamil Nadu. Recently, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor directed the Chief Secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from the AAP for allegedly publishing political advertisements as government advertisements. The AAP should be renamed the Aam Advertisement Party.

RK Arora, Mohali

Translation of verdicts

In reference to ‘SC judgements’; the suggestion by the CJI that all SC judgments should be in all Indian languages will make all verdicts accessible to the masses. It might minimise the misinterpretation of certain landmark decisions which are taken as guidelines by the lower courts in deciding similar matters. But translation must be in letter and spirit by putting rare words in parenthesis. A new law channel should be launched to telecast important proceedings of the constitutional Benches and awaken the citizens about their legal rights. It must work directly and solely under the apex court. Students studying in various law universities and colleges will benefit from it. The practice of translations in state languages should be extended to all high courts after the apex court.

Dilwar Ali Meerak, TOHANA

Undermining judiciary

In the recent past, there has been statement after statement by the Law Minister and the Vice-President of India criticising the Collegium system of the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act in 2015, the doctrine has held the country in good stead. Instead of making statements, the only constitutional way of overcoming the Supreme Court verdict would have been for Parliament to pass appropriate legislation for establishing an appointment process. But an attempt is being made to undermine the independence of the judiciary. One of the pressure tactics adopted by the government has been to not clear the recommendations for the appointment of judges that clearly affects our judicial delivery system. This shows how badly the current regime wants to control the judicial appointments. The Supreme Court has clearly asserted that the Collegium system is the ‘law of the land’ and must be followed.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh

Foreign campuses

Apropos of ‘Craze for foreign varsities’; talking of higher education, the import of universities and faculty is, in a way, close to an anti-national act. It reminds one of how the English people came to India for trade, and ruled our country for a long period. Nothing of the kind would occur today, but it smacks of our poor show. We shall be exposed to the rest of the world as an inefficient, incapable and lethargic nation, dreaming of becoming ‘vishwaguru’. It is a slur to our rich civilisation and culture. A sea change in our own higher education system, with highly qualified faculty, needs to be channelled to meet our nation’s requirement. After decades of Independence, we have not been able to reach a respectable stage globally, as we do not figure among the first 200 universities of the world. Our leadership should take a serious note of it by reversing the flow from export to import in education. Education today is a business deal, negating the true purpose of producing enlightened humans.

BM SINGH, AMRITSAR

UGC move commendable

The UGC’s decision to permit the opening of autonomous foreign universities in the country is welcome (‘Craze for foreign varsities’). With their acclaimed superior academic knowledge and skills, it will improve the functioning of Indian institutions and inspire them to achieve international standards. At present, their performance is far from satisfactory, courtesy the lackadaisical attitude of our political class and academic bureaucracy. An overdose of student politics, unfair faculty appointments, lack of adequate infrastructure, teachers’ obsession with western degrees, job insecurity, scams and scandals in our temples of higher learning have constantly hampered the growth of age-old indigenous academic traditions. An earnest endeavour is needed to stem the rot. The provision of imparting quality and affordable education at home will discourage many ambitious parents to send their wards abroad for costly education. This will give a much-needed fillip to national development and the creation of an egalitarian society.

DS Kang, Hoshiarpur

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