My Voice: Views of our readers 8th September 2020

Mandir, Masjid and new Secretariat

The construction of two mosques, a temple and in addition to these ( which will be in place of the demolished ones) a new church, all at government expense within the Secretariat area is firstly subversive of the secular ideal enshrined in the Constitution, and secondly destructive of work culture essential for officials, government servants working in the Secretariat ( and other government offices) Muslims will desert work places at least twice during working hours for prayers; ( five times a day). If they are let off, Hindus and Christian workers will for their prayers also claim the right not to work for the period the Muslims desert work places for prayers. Further, Christians go to church on Sundays which are not working days for government offices. Why then is a church in the Secretariat?

If mosques, temples and churches are built in Secretariat, why are they not built in collectorates and other government offices, school and college compounds all over the State? The mosques in the Hyderabad Secretariat compound were a legacy of the Nizam's Islamic rule in his territory . During his rule mosques were built in government lands in all prominent places like that in front of the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad. The construction of Haj Houses on government land with government money ( as the one at the R G I Airport in Shamshabad, Hyderabad and in the city) are all obnoxious use of government land and money for patronage to some religions.

Dr T H Chowdary, Hyderabad

The scourge of malnutrition

India has not been faring well on nutrition front. The stunting and wasting among children are rampant. Half of the world's poor live in India. It's lagging behind poor African countries in some of the human development indices. It's continuing to be at the top in the league of countries in case of hunger index. The accessibility and affordability, but not lack of awareness regarding nutritious food are the main reasons for prevailing malnutrition among people.

So the focus of the government should be on making the food affordable and accessible for the masses in its fight against malnutrition. Creating awareness is secondary. The ongoing pandemic has made things worse, taking away jobs, income and health. First they should be assured nutritious meals at cheaper prices. Next they should be assured some sort of employment. There couldn't be more opportune time than now to start urban employment guarantee scheme on par with MGNREGA to help out urban poor. To fight against malnutrition will certainly help in fighting against corona also.

Dr D V G Sankara Rao, Nellimarla

Govt schools show the way

The worst effect due to corona has been on any area, then it is the Education Department. This department has not only affected the schools and students but also the employment of hundreds of people is at stake due to this department.

Now people are abandoning private schools and turning to government schools. This shows both aspects. According to this year's CBSE results, the results of many government schools were better than private schools. Due to this reason, parents and students now have increased confidence in the government school.

People try to hide the reality by talking about the economic recession and financial crisis of the people, but the reality is that the parents of this new India will eat less of a bun but will provide better education to their children. Therefore, financial constraints cannot be the logical reason for this issue.

For this, the quality of education improving government schools, changing government's attitude towards education is responsible. Within the last one year, the states whose budget has been released, all the states have given special attention to education. This has also increased the confidence of people over government schools.

The increasing number of students in government schools should be seen as a feedback of the New Education Policy. For some time, financial constraints are considered as the reason for this, but for the city people, it cannot be so tight that it cannot teach even its children. And most of the children of the village people also studied in government schools earlier, so there is no question of changing the school.

Narayan Hari, Chandigarh