MyVoice: Views of our readers 13th April 2020

Pensioners, senior citizens bear the brunt

Apropos your Saturday column 'In My Opinion', you have rightly described the outbreak of coronavirus as an 'alien invasion'. The ubiquitous disease has its adverse impact on Indian economy. Now we need not only mere donations, but also the expert opinions of economists too. Therefore we have to continue the lockdown and self-imposed quarantine to quicken the process of a recovery from the ill effects of the dreaded diseases. In Andhra Pradesh as well as in Telangana, the employees as well as pensioners are put to hardships due to the 50 percent deferment of their salaries. The pensioners have been subjected to income tax for three months and when they are ready to heave a sigh of relief, the governments salary cut come as a shock to the pensioners. The regular laborers and vendors are the worst hit. And the small packages of relief doled out by the AP government do not in any way relieve the suffering of these low category people. The government should take all these matters into consideration and evolve a pragmatic policy to contain the deadly virus and ameliorate the conditions of the poor besides giving hope to the pensioners. The government is not specific about the payment of the balance amount. Among the senior citizens, the family pensioners are put to a lot of hardship and the ladies are subjected to domestic misunderstandings as their daughters-in-law are suspicious about cutting their salaries.

Gollapalli Venkataratnam, Rangapuram,East Godavari dist, AP

AP govt on a sticky wicket

The fallout between the State Election Commissioner (SEC) N Ramesh Kumar and the ruling government in Andhra Pradesh unfolded when the SEC put hold on the local body elections amid Covid-19 pandemic. It seems that the ruling party in the government is up for the local body polls, while the Opposition parties aren't. War of words broke out between the parties. The State government took it to the court, but of no avail. The GO 618 promulgated by the AP government directs that the incumbent SEC ceases to hold the office of State Election Commissioner with effect from 10-04-2020 itself. The issue is whether the SEC can be removed from the office with immediate effect before the expiration of the term for which he was appointed. Here, the GO resulted in the immediate removal of the appointee. The government has requisite power to reduce the tenure of CEC, but the issue is whether the SEC can be removed from the office in the midst of his tenure i.e. before the expiration of the term for which he was appointed. This issue has much importance as several questions will be raised with regard to the independence of Election Commission and violation of basic structure of principle of free and fair elections. In matters of premature termination of service, appointment, etc., the Election Commission, as a body, has to be protected from the political and executive bosses of the day. Though, it is difficult to conduct Assembly and remove the SEC under Article 243K (2), a judge of a High Court in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic ordinance cannot substitute impeachment procedure. The State government seems to be on a sticky wicket.

J Dheeraj Reddy, Hyderabad

Let's fight together

It is good to see our citizens are now more concerned about their health and that of their family members, relatives and preferring to stay at their homes only. It is also a good sign that our citizens are cooperating with the Health and Police departments in these tough times. I especially thank the government for the initiative to implement the lockdown till April 30 to control this virus. It also decreases the chances of getting infected from this pandemic virus. It should be understood by every citizen that the government is taking such preventive measures and precautions for the sake of our citizens safety. The government is now focussing more on citizens health and their safety on an emergency level. But some citizens are still ignoring the preventive measures and precautions given by our government and they are not obeying the rules and roaming on roads unnecessary and engaging themselves in social gathering at some places. Even it is more shocking to see that some are also dumping garbage and wastes on roads and not maintaining cleanliness around their houses. It is high time we learnt a lesson from the situation of Italy. I request all citizens to please obey government rules, safety measures and cooperate with all the government health agencies and departments to fight this virus and give support from your side by giving preference to stay at homes only. We salute the doctors also for their services, for treatment in tough times. They are risking their own lives to save people from the virus attack. We all citizens should fight together to save our nation from this pandemic virus.

Mohammad Ahmed Ali, Hyderabad