Whispers Forum

I agree with Nidhi Jain's ‘New low of Media reporting’ (WIC dt April 17). The media is largely responsible for the mess the country is in today. What about the self-regulatory watchdogs like the Press Council of India and the Editors' Guild of India, mandated to protect press freedom? Did these bodies take any action against the muzzling of press? Toothless tigers. A majority of journos owe allegiance to their political masters. The Media ,both digital and print, is controlled by the business tycoons , who, in turn, are controlled by politicians supporting different ideologies. One wonders how could the journalists report against the media barons and the politicos, who control them ? All TV anchors read scripted speeches, ghost-written by those who are close to the power that be. Free, fair and independent Press is an anachronism.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

The Supreme Court has made it mandatory for all courts to follow its guidelines on following the sealed cover procedure. This is a landmark judgment. Good for democracy and a rap on the knuckles of all autocracies. The top court has observed that non-compliance of guidelines would perpetuate the culture of opaqueness and secrecy. Successive governments at the centre and states, have been submitting the desired information before the courts in sealed covers, strictly for the eye of the Bench. Reason: National security. Similar sealed cover procedure is used by the bureaucracy in public administration aspects like appointments, promotion, termination of service, vigilance matters, disciplinary cases etc. The opaque approach harms the interests of the affected parties in defending their cases effectively due to sealed cover information, to which they have no access. There is another fall out effect while implementing the RTI Act. It is common knowledge that the information sought under the RTI Act, more often than not, is withheld by the Public Information Officers (PIOs) on simplistic ground: breach of National security. While the Supreme Court is making all out efforts to make its proceedings transparent by making available transcripts of its live proceedings. The sealed cover procedure should not be allowed by courts unless they are convinced of the sensitivity of withheld information from the national security angle. Incidentally, it is as much damaging to the interests of aggrieved parties as the practice of giving unreasonable judgments by the subordinate judiciary. The top court is urged to look into it.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

There is no doubt that the train services have improved a lot in recent years and the introduction of Vande Bharat Trains shows we can enjoy comforts and luxuries at par with railway passengers of advanced nations. But why no attention is paid to the masses travelling in unreserved classes as well as in passenger trains. For them the train journey is no less than a nightmarish experience. Why can't we have at least 2 or 3 unreserved bogies in trains instead of just one? Are all the comforts for the rich class?
Nitika Tripathi

Bankura University has invited application for the recruitment of Special Lecturers on a purely temporary basis in the Physics Department. The required minimum qualification is M.Sc in Physics with NET or PhD. The selected candidates will be required to teach four lectures per week with a remuneration of -believe it or not- Rs 300 per lecture amounting to Rs4800 per month! Even a domestic maid even in Bankura has to be paid more than this for working for two hours a day. If this is how teachers with PhD degree are treated is there any wonder why education quality is so pathetic in India! Will someone bring this to the attention of the CM of Bengal?
Raghavan