Whispers Forum

Whose Children’s Day is it? Those unable to read or write in their mother tongue even in class VIII? Or those who can’t afford any school other than a government school where failure rate stands at 50% in class IX & X and 40% in XI & XII or 0% pass in maths or science or English in some schools in Delhi? The condition may be no different in other parts of the country. The poor children stay frozen in delusions created in the name of their “chaachaa”. The other children go to “public schools”, many of them begin their life with lies which they refuse to stop telling even when confronted with facts. That is arrogance born of public school culture of the rich, born crorepati even before they start earning their college fees. Chaachaa’s bhatije are to feel happy with the mid-day meal in school without asking any questions about quality, nutrition or hygiene. This after 70 years and a constitution promising free education to children up to age 14.
M L Gupta

The government may be putting all its efforts to promote digital banking but its own Public Sector Bank - Dena bank – seems to be least concerned. It is not even listed on the payment gateways of several service providers like IRCTC. The top of the icing came on Diwali when its ATM cards failed to elicit any money from the machines. The employees at the bank’s branch office too were unaware about the problem as they continued to tell the customers that ATM was out of order. They however rose from their slumber when the customers told them that the cards were not working even on the ATMs of other banks. The ‘technical problem’ which started on Nov 6 evening continued atleast till Nov 8 with the customer care, however, consoling the customers to ‘wait for some more time’. And at the top of all, there was no response even against the mails sent to the CMD & CEO of the bank besides the support service. Is this the way to make India digital ?
Ipsha Sharma

For journalists , information is Power. A majority of them are on pay rolls of political parties, Some masquerade as ‘Corporate lobbyists’ for big business houses.
Some indulge in the game of competitive nationalism to prove their loyalty to the country. Their modus operandi is simple. Getting dirty secrets from cops belonging to intelligence, investigative and anti-graft agencies. Accessing bureaucrats to seek out explosive information for promoting business of their paymasters by blackmailing their detractors. Aisey journalists kaa zameer mar gaya hai ; .
Unhe jeeney ka koi haq nahi hai.
Dr Suresh Mehrotra, you surely stand out different from others of your genre. Calling a spade a spade, is your strength. Getting over15 crores hits for the website, is mind-blowing. Incredible, unprecedented.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Yeh nahi sudhryen ge -the cracker bursters.This time one was looking forward to less noisy,less polluted Diwali though the Supreme Court order did not inspire much hope for the same.Who would check the two hour limit? who will enforce whether the crackers were 'green' or not.That is what happened.People went on with their merciless spree of cracker bursting in Delhi and NCR the places already choked with smog and severe pollution level.In Noida where I live the crackers started as soon as the lights went up by 6.30 p.m in total disregard for the decibel limit or the type of crackers as stipulated by the Supreme Court.The massive joint crackers or the Larhis were so noisy that even with windows closed one was so much disturbed.Ours is an army sector where majority of residents some retired at Brigadier and even higher levels reside.Nobody gave a thought to the plight of these senior Citizens.One waited for 10 pm when this nuisance would stop so that some peace prevails.But no! the cracker bursting went on past this deadline.The authorities miserably failed to enforce the SC order.No plan was made to do so.While it is difficult for police to go from door to door to check the authorities should have taken up with RWAs and tell the office bearers of the same that they would be responsible for implementation of this order .The in-charge of each Ward in the area could have galvanised some action to see that the S.C order is strictly followed.The pollution and the misery that Diwali festival brings with it, it has become a most dreaded festival instead of a joyous occasion one looked forward to in younger days.
Aarti Khosla

The National Day Of Green Hills Govardhan Pooja it is called but it celebrates Green Hills. Is there any other country among the member states of the UN which celebrates the Day Of The Green Hills? Perhaps not. Those familiar with the ecology of the Brijpradesh or territory of Brijbhoomi would vouch for its fragility and need for protection, preservation and conservation of the hills. They are the life line of the area, with land quality not the best and forests not dense enough. The Mahabharat serial locations are from some parts of the region. Visitors to Jaipur by road would note the slaughter to which lovely green hills have been subjected out of ignorance. May be, fear of getting branded anti-secular deters even the leaders and civil society members from acknowledging the great value Hindu thinkers had attached to mountains (Kailash Mansarovar, Himalaya, Arunachal, Sabrimala, Samvetshikhar and scores others granted the status of being “sacred”) and hills. Are we not a more environment conscious society?
M L Gupta

There are 3 organs of the State, the judiciary is only one of them. There is well laid down separation of powers and each organ has to ensure the line is not breached by it. The principle of checks and balances ensures that the balance is maintained and checks are in place to deter encroachments. But if one violates the line and acts arbitrary, is there any remedy? Yes, the remedies are there. But applying those checks to maintain balance and lawful exercise of power assigned separately to each organ may be painful and thus needs to be avoided. The parliament is supreme. The judiciary can subject laws passed by the parliament to judicial scrutiny to ensure that the constitutional provisions are not violated. This is how one organ exercises check on the other. Who checks the judiciary if it violates the doctrine of separation of powers and the principle of checks & balances? The parliament has that responsibility to check the judiciary when it acts unconstitutional or arbitrary; violates the constitution relating to separation of powers and the principle of checks & balances. The executive is accountable to the parliament and comes under its authority for separation as well as checks & balances purposes. The judiciary is entitled to scrutinise government decisions when challenged before it and in exceptional cases on its own also. But it can’t behave like the supreme council of ministers. I draw authority for this conclusion from Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer: “The doctrine of independence is not to be raised to the level of a dogma so as to enable the judiciary to function as a kind of super-legislature or super-executive”. Many more legal luminaries have held the same opinion. Even Jawaharlal Nehru, first prime minister of India, held similar views. Quoting them all here would make it a long article, but interested readers ought to study the subject without getting carried away by shallow, superficial, inane and paid opinions in the print and electronic media. The constitution of India has not made any one organ “SUPREME”; they are all EQUAL and are obliged to respect that constitutional mandate. It is disturbing to note that the supreme court of India has been indulging in repeated violations of these principles, ordering the government of India left and right in a highly peremptory tone (complete inquiry in 10 days; file affidavit in 10 days). If the court shows same urgency in cases before it, there would be no pending court cases and the figure of 3.5 crore pending cases will come down drastically, may be, even zero. Judges are wise because they are learned and this has to be reflected in their language, honest, fair and unbiased orders, opinions, views, remarks, observations. Democracy in India will suffer if the judges act as judicial officers of the state and lawyers and journalists at the same time. Let them show restraint in the Rafale deal between France & India. Also, judicial reforms must start right away and completed in the next 3 months. This business of affidavit, notary etc. has stymied even a healthy legislation like the Consumer Protection Act, which was envisaged to be a system free of lawyers, but has turned into a legal complexity dominated by all the ills of a decadent and corrupt justice dispensation system.
M L Gupta

The unveiling Of Statue Of Sardar Patel by Prime Minister on October 31st was such an unusual and spectacular show. It was unlike any other unveiling of statues which proliferate in many states. This was something different apart from its becoming the tallest statue in the world. The use of technology in its unveiling and the sights that followed took one's breath away. Prime minister deserves all the praise in conceiving and conceptulizing this idea. As for Mayawati's criticism of BJP criticising her attempt at statues to her mentor Kashi Ram and Dr. Ambedkar at Noida and elsewhere while themselves going on this big project in Gujarat, my answer is that while her project in Noida swallowed thousands of trees and destroyed the best green belt of the town there was no destruction of any type for Statue of Unity. Instead the whole area around has been developed into beautiful gardens and parks which will please the visitors.
Aarti Khosla

In the budget 2018-19, Govt. of India gave relief to Sr. Citizens that no TDS will be deducted from the interest up to Rs. 50,000/- in a year on FD and Sr. Citizens account in post offices and banks but post offices are deducting TDS even if the interest is Rs. 20,000/ in a year. They do not take any responsibility citing the reason software is not taking care of this aspect. Every post office in its sweet will deducting TDS making the case taxable knowing fully well that the interest in a year is less than Rs. 50,000/. Secretary, Department of Post is fully responsible for getting this directive implemented through centralise software modification. Now TDS has been deducted and Sr. Citizens will fae difficulty to claim it back from Income Tax department. More than six months have passed after budget presentation but the correct action has not been taken. Who is responsible for such lapses? Govt. has to fix such slips in the system otherwise real benefit of the scheme is not passed to the concerned persons. It is appreciated if Secretary, Department of Post make sure that software take care of not deducting TDS from Sr. Citizens if interest rates are less than Rs. 50,000/ in a financial year from FD and Sr. Citizen accounts and modification is done at the earliest so Sr. Citizens are not put to inconvenience. Deducting TDS from the permissible limit give the wrong image of Govt. like getting Rs. 15 lakhs. Wishing for correcting it early.
Naveen