MyVoice: Views of our readers 2nd October 2022

Cong presidential election a farce

The much-announced election for the party president of AICC has been taking queer twists and turns to ultimately end up as contest between the three individuals – Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and K N Tripathi. It is a foregone conclusion that the grand old man of AICC Mallikarjun Kharge will be the sure winner as others in the race seem to have already conceded their defeat ascribing several virtues to Kharge as 'Bhishma of Congress' etc.

Mallikarjun said he has the backing of the members of G23, while it is not clear how the G23 members could suddenly decide to switch their loyalty in favour of Kharge instead of Shashi Tharoor. It is equally funny when Digvijay Singh suddenly withdrew his nomination to the post; and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot proved out of the picture without any trace; it remains to be seen if Gehlot will be punished for his wicked act of staying in power as CM with a view to prevent Sachin Pilot being made the CM of Rajasthan.

It is interesting to watch on the TV debates when inconvenient questions are asked to the Congress spokesperson on the sham presidential election - the individual often gets irritated and puts a counter question to the moderator why such questions are not asked with regard to the party presidential election in BJP.

As wise President and loyal leader of the Congress party Pranab Mukherjee said, "Certain offices should not be sought, rather they should be offered" must help stir the conscience and democratic principles that is lacking in the party in goading the high command, not to be always overtly considered in terms of loyalty factor of the candidate for the post.

- K V Raghuram, Wayanad

II

Apropos, article "An election not worth its name," (The Hans India, Oct 1). Given their projected neutrality in the election, Sonia Gandhi and her two children didn't propose any candidates but the overwhelming presence and backing of the Gandhi-nominated Congress establishment – for Kharge's nominations left nothing to imagination.

Kharge's political profile and the nature of the Gandhi-Vadra controlled Congress establishment indicate that it would be difficult for him to overcome the perception of a 'rubberstamp' president under 'de facto' leader Rahul Gandhi.

Kharge's limited national profile, age and not so impressive connectivity with key Congress leaders and leaders of national Opposition could risk him being seen as a 'rubberstamp' president hand-picked by the Gandhi-Vadra establishment, something the BJP would try to do, as it depicted prime minister Manmohan Singh, to argue that the Gandhis retained control of the party and pitch the 2024 elections as a 'Modi versus Rahul' battle.

Also, while the Congress is bound to send a political message of a 'Dalit president,' Karnataka's two Dalit sections, called Right-Left, have little association with or appeal for he socio-political narrative of dominant Dalit sections in North India.

- N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

Selfie Mummy Google Daddy

At a time when everyone is getting addicted to smartphones over a decade or more, the added camera features, videography etc., are turning all in particular children and of course adults addicted to mobile phones for f selfie, whatsapp and now Insta and what not. For online classes during the pandemic, parents were forced to provide smart devices to school going children, which has enabled the children to learn more about mobile and its uses like gaming etc. When we analyse this, we have to understand that it is our leaders, and parents in particular, who are to be blamed for the menace which is turning everyone into an addict of smartphones.

While using selfie to create social awareness is fine, it has crossed all the limits leading to death of several people. PM Narendra Modi is proudly claiming how mobile phones are helping the people and credited his government for increasing the mobile network. Sadly, neither he nor his government has taken steps to prevent mobile phone addiction. Of course, the less said the better as more than children the parents are getting more addicted to smartphones so much so the children are getting much smarter to use them for various activities that have a negative effect on their brain. No wonder some 80 parents themselves came forward to back a Kannada film aptly named "Selfie Mummy; Google Daddy" which I chanced upon to watch. The funny film has sent across messages to all parents and adults. In the film a school principal is unable to manage mobile-addicted children and tries to make the parents learn how to overcome mobile addiction by making them spend a week with mobile addicts at various stages. In real life, if the mobile menace is not stopped now, we may see mobile de-addiction centers all around us. I urge the government to make arrangements to make the parents see the film "Selfie Mummy Google Daddy" free of cost.

- N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

Govt medical doctors suffer acute distress

In the olden days, 'Vaidyo Narayano Harihi' (doctor is revered as god Narayana) is an approved dictum, now-a-days, it has lost its meaning. The mutual trust between doctor and patient had broken down beyond any repair. Yes, many doctors working to earn money than gratitude form their patients.

Of course, India has one of the lowest doctor-patient ratios in the world. Most of the qualified and specialist doctors prefer working in urban area leaving the fate of patients in rural India to the quacks. Many doctors who work in corporate hospitals for a higher pay pack work as agents to generate revenue for the hospital. Those who have health insurance are charged high rates and every possible test is forced upon hapless patients to yield high revenue for the hospital. Those working in the government hospitals are much harried and overloaded with work with 1:150 patients. They are further burdened with the shortages of medicines and staff. Doctors are often subject to nervous breakdown; working in government hospitals is a thankless job for the specialist doctor as the system is rotten with all ills. Sooner or later the lucrative private practice will tempt many stressed doctors to opt for positions in corporate hospitals. This vicious circle aired assumed alarming proportions in India and shortage of specialist doctors in the government hospitals crippled the functioning.

A central law is essential for the technical classification and standardization of treatment. The doctors and the hospitals need to justify each and every medical test done on the patients. Statutory bodies should undertake clinical audits of tests and surgeries. The earlier they do it the better for the millions of Indians as it provides much-needed relief from the medical mafia network.

- Rama Krishna

M, Kakinada