MyVoice: Views of our readers 14th November 2020

Dubbaka has equal lessons for BJP

For once, BJP chief spokesperson Vidya Saagar Rao is objective in his surgical strike- Dubbaka by-election- a game changer. There can't be two opinions on the fact that the arrogance of KCR and KTR is the main factor for Dubbaka debacle. The writer had also given due credit to the diligence of the candidate Raghunandan Rao in the victory.

Thus the highhandedness of TRS top brass coupled with right candidature of BJP tilted the scales rather than the face value of BJP. The author had made following valid observations. 1) Power is cyclic in any democracy. 2) Arrogance of its leaders can cost the party dear in elections. 3) what goes up has to go down. These fundamental truths are equally applicable to BJP as well. The party is currently on a upward swing. So, it has to come down. Arrogance, indifference and complacence of top BJP leaders is too evident to be ignored. Rao considers Bihar victory phenomenal. Is that so?

Fighting against a veteran CM and blazing PM, opposition led by Tejaswi Yadav kept the NDA on tenterhooks till the last. Does BJP consider it Phenomenal? It will be yielding the driver's seat to Nitish Kumar whose party won lesser seats. Is it phenomenal? I consider it only face-saving. Rising from two MP seats in 1984 general elections to 303 MP seats in 2019 , BJP has come a long way, avers the author.

Well, 35 years is not a short period and I feel that the party had covered rather a small distance in a long period. . That too because of the charisma of its two leaders- Vajpayee then and Modi now. What is BJP minus Modi? Coming back to original point, Dubbaka may not be a game changer. It is a wakeup call. Whether it will wake up or mess up is up to TRS.

Vinay Bhushan Bhagwaty. Hyderabad

BJP can win AP too

With its win in Dubbak, BJP has been infused with renewed enthusiasm which made its president foretell that they are going to form the next government in AP. Frankly, there appears to be no credible alternative before AP. electorate except the waning TDP. This void can be effectively plugged if BJP comes out with a specific progressive and all- inclusive agenda taking into account all pending issues. But the party needs to find a person who is not only articulate and clean but also one whom people trust.

D S P Rao, Kakinada

Good scheme, bad implementation

The Education Ministry has launched National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISTHA) a teacher training programme to improve the quality of education in schools across India. It is indeed a good step to improve the quality of teaching. As a part of this program, all the school teachers (irrespective of position) have been asked to complete a online course comprising 18 modules by January 2021. The course is focused more towards New Education Policy scheduled for implementation from 2022 keeping in view the current situation which means for teachers who are likely to retire in another two years, it is an exercise in futility as when the NEP actually gets implemented the teachers who are on the verge of retirement may not be teaching in schools.

It is therefore surprising that the government school teachers are being pushed into this course at a time when their hands are full preparing materials for ongoing online classes. Each module consumes a lot of time depending on the kind internet connection they have at home as schools have no proper connection. Obviously the Education Ministry is attempting to show off the number of teachers enrolled in the course as a portal counting number of minutes spent by registered teachers. If the government is at all serious, they should make new teachers and those who have service beyond 2023 or thereafter as this would help them to implement new education policy inside the class rooms.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

Covid scare is real, safety is vital

We all know that schools and colleges have opened throughout the country and struggling rigorously to stop the spurt of Covid among students. Some institutions are badly affected by this pandemic because of lack of thermal screens, group gatherings and unsanitary premises.

According to the reports of ICMR, the second wave of covid razing severely among students and teachers. Now parents are not willing to send their children to school by the daily updates they learnt about the crisis. Even though government is giving guide lines, some educational institutions have turned a deaf ear towards the government's instructions and have fallen as prey to Covid. Every parent is questioning the government whether we should send our children to school or to Covid clubs. Coming to private schools and colleges, they are doing as they like without following Covid measures. They don't care about student life and only prefer money rather than being safe.

Subbaiah Vankaraju, Kadapa