Letters to the Editor: Question Hour vital for democracy and it’s unrealistic to expect China to cooperate

Cut dead wood at all levels

Apropos the article carried on your website that to ensure more efficiency and speed in the functioning of the Central government, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has consolidated guidelines on premature retirement of government employees and clarified that a regular review will be done of government servants in the age group of 50 to 55 years, the same is a very welcome move. Instructions have been issued by the government from time to time for undertaking periodic review of performance of government servants with a view to ascertain whether the government servant should be retained in service or retired from service prematurely in public interest.

It is no secret that our bloated bureaucracy is full of dead wood, as well those who indulge in corrupt practices. In my opinion, such an exercise should not be restricted to any age group but rather cover everyone irrespective of age or length of service. At the same time, the government must not indulge in vendetta by punishing officers it perceives as ‘inflexible’ or not toeing its line.

Rommel Walia

COVID-19: No time for complacency

Now that India occupies second spot in the world in number of cases, we would do well to look at Europe which is giving the world a peek at what happens when the pandemic is brought under control and the economy reopens: the virus bounces back. Cases in the continent are almost back to March levels. In mid-August, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) had said that new infection clusters seemed to be tied to younger people who were venturing out into bars, restaurants and other public places. However, hospitalisations are growing again, signalling spikes in cases among the elderly. The incidence rate in EU and European Economic Area countries and the UK is now 46 per 100,000 people, when it was once below 15. In Spain, the virus appears to be mounting a comeback, with 25,000 new cases. France, Germany, Italy too have all reported their highest new case numbers in months. In India, where the cases have yet to peak, compared to other countries, Unlock 4 is being implemented, with even the Metro services being restarted in many cities. The government would do well to be cautious and take necessary steps to pre-empt as an exponential increase in case load will overburden the already creaking medical infrastructure and lead to everincreasing fatalities, as has been the fear of experts all along.

Suparna Anand

Unrealistic to expect China to cooperate

Even as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Moscow, China is planning a more than $146 billion push to accelerate infrastructure investment in Tibet, according to media reports. The construction plans include completion of the Sichuan-Tibet railway link, a railway line between Nepal and Tibet that has remained in the planning stages, and a newly planned dry port in Tibet. Under such circumstances, not only is China unlikely to pull back from LAC in Ladkah, it will continue to stake its claim on Arunachal Pradesh, which it terms as South Tibet.

Rajat Pandey

Question Hour vital for democracy

One of the main functions of Parliament in a democracy is to seek accountability from the executive on behalf of the people. Questions are the most potent tools in that regard. As per settled convention also, it is only in very exceptional cases that Question Hour may be dispensed with as Presiding Officers are known to rarely exercise this power, and that too only when the Houses unanimously agree. The rare past precedents of exercise of this power to suspend Question Hour included a session called following aggression by Chinese (1962) and when special sessions were called for the purpose of seeking vote of confidence (7th & 16th November, 1990 and 21st & 22nd July, 2008).

Aporuv Sinha