MyVoice: Views of our readers 8th March 2022

Whither women uplift in India?

As we celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, a few real disturbing facts that still continue to hamper women's status and growth in our society and country even today. Female infanticide and foeticide is prevalent in many parts of rural India. The nutritional status of women is concerning and women's health continues to be neglected. The female-male ratio is still low and the percentage of school dropouts among the girls is very high amid the belief that girls are a burden to the family. Girls are married off at young, tender ages of 15 to 16 years. Crimes and workplace harassment against women are at an all-time high. Women's safety is worrisome. Dowry evil still persists. There are still issues of equal wages and denial of promotions to higher positions. Let us hereafter empower the girl child, give her right education and make her aware of her rights and support her in every choice she makes so that she grows into a confident Woman of Tomorrow. BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO!

Parimala G Tadas, Hyderabad

Joblessness is a bigger pandemic

Apropos "India: Fastest jobless economy" (THI, Mar 7). Typically, fast economic growth takes care of unemployment worries. However, in India's case, one cannot assume that just fast economic growth will automatically resolve India's unemployment problem. That's because even when India's GDP has grown rapidly in the past, the nature of this growth has been such that it produced a very small number of well-paying jobs. The worsening situation is partly a result of the long-term neglect of the employment issue in policy circles. The pandemic and the subsequent crisis in the employment-unemployment situation has only highlighted the fragile situation of the labour market. Every month, a million Indians become age-eligible to join the workforce, but the growth in jobs has not kept pace.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

Saffron gimmicks for Prez poll

THI's Nation/World page (7 March) has published the galaxy of our illustrious former Presidents and Assembly poll results which will have bearing on the next President election. I am surprised by the gimmicks of the saffron party in that it has floated the name of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar as a joint opposition candidate in the President election, should he part with the ruling coalition. I wish the President will be one with integrity and not spineless to be called a rubber stamp. KR Narayanan, though a Dalit, boldly made a statement as the President that it was a black day when Graham Steins and his two sons were burnt alive by saffron cadres. Will the sitting President open up at all?

Dr T Ramadas, Visakhapatnam

Deplorable stance of Opposition parties

The writer, V Ramu Sharma, has rightly come out that the uncalled-for snide remarks by certain political leaders over GOI efforts in evacuating Indians from Ukraine at this critical hour were not only out of context but unpalatable. When the process of evacuation was carried out swiftly by a team of four ministers sent there to coordinate with the officials of countries bordering the war-torn nation, such comments only demoralise the stranded Indian nationals living in fear. Knowing India is always mindful of the fact that it cannot support military takeover of another country by coercive methods and that its position at all times is only safeguarding the legitimate security interests of all countries, questioning its intentions by some of the opposition leaders is deplorable. It is shocking that critics are only pointing out the failure of Indian government in not acting immediately once Russia sounded the bugle of an impending war with Ukraine in late January.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

Secure safety of students in future

The present Ukraine crisis teaches us one lesson with respect to students studying overseas and facing unprecedented and unexpected crisis of monumental nature. In future, the host colleges where the students study should give an undertaking that it shall be their duty and responsibility to ensure that students are safely sent back in the event of such situation as we are seeing now. The host government should set aside a corpus fund which would be used during emergency times of this nature. May be a refundable safety deposit may be collected from the students along with the fees for such exigencies or perhaps some sort of insurance to take care of student's safe return during war crisis.

D Nagarjuna, Hyderabad