MyVoice: Views of our readers 29th September 2021

Congress must get rid of Sidhu

This refers to "Sidhu resigns as Punjab Congress chief; Minister quits" (29 Sept). The former BJP member and Congress PCC chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, seems to be overambitious without proving his mettle. Even during BJP years, he was attempting to grow bigger than long-time BJP veterans like late Arun Jaitley and many others. Before joining Congress, his attempts to join AAP failed as they did not attempt to project him as Chief Minister and, no wonder, he joined Congress with the same ambition. In Congress he could not get along with Captain Amrinder Singh who also in his second term started showing his aristocratic behaviour by keeping away from voters and his own party men when crisis started building within. The crisis itself was a blessing in disguise for Congress who were able bring a new face from dalit community. With Captain gone and Sidhu sulking for various reasons, the best course for Congress is to get rid of both Captain and Sidhu and go ahead with fighting under new CM Chinni which would neutralise SAD/BSP combine.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh has immense potential for tourism growth

It gives great pleasure to learn that Andhra Pradesh has bagged the best tourism award. This State has, no doubt, got immense potentiality to make tourism a good revenue yielding activity. Anantapur district being a backward area in many aspects is bestowed with a lot of places worth visiting. Penukonda, the summer capital of Raya rulers of Vijayanagaram empire, is yet to draw the attention of the concerned department. A few monuments belonging to the Rayas period are given away to a person who was claiming to be a swami, instead of promoting them to be a tourist spot. Thimmarasu jail, where the great warrior was imprisoned and the adjoining Hawa Mahal are longing for someone to care them. Similarly, the sculptures of Lepakshi portray the stunning talents in the field of sculptures, besides the temple depicting the talents of those days in civil engineering as well. Thimmama Marimanu has its place even in the Guinness Book of World Records being the most sprawling banyan tree in the world. The award, instead of plunging the State in a state of complacency, should encourage the authorities to take up more places for improvement to draw more tourists and earn more revenue.

AG Rajmohan, Anantapur

II

Tourism is one of the hardest hit sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic as no country has escaped the decimation of its tourism sector. Now many countries are reopening their borders for international travel; however, the cost of travel has increased manifold. To multiply the problems of the most affected industry, the government introduced TCS @5% on overseas tour packages w.e.f 01/10/2020. Further GST @5% is charged on tour packages, resulting in a major chunk of travel cost retained by the government. To boost tourism, the government should focus on approval of India's vaccine recognition for travel abroad and constitute a committee to review reduction of TCS & GST.

CA Sagar Gambhir, Ludhiana

SC's strong remarks

'Doctors not footballs in game of power' (THI's news, Sept.28) is Apex Court's comment on the change of syllabus before the super speciality NEET-2021 and more humane remarks are noteworthy:"We'll not allow the lives of these young doctors to be placed in the hands of some insensitive bureaucrats," since the issue concerns the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, National Medical Council (NMC) and National Board of Examination. Let me say that NMC has buried Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Secretaries are also doctors and they've a soft corner for the doctors naturally as against bureaucrats who're at the behest of Ministry or Board.

Dr T Ramadas, Visakhapatnam

Farmers' stir loses relevance

This refers to the editorial, 'Farmers' stir: Playing with the ego-game.' It is seen that farmers' agitation is fast metamorphosing into a purely political drama that has nothing to do with farm laws passed in September 2020, with a view to improving the lot of farming communities in the country. The ongoing agitation by various Kisan Unions which is mainly confined to Punjab and Haryana, give an impression that it is not a pan-India agitation, which is restricted to these two states for ulterior motives and agenda of middlemen and dalals who have a free sway on the small agriculturists, by effectively pre-empting financial advantages provided by the government, in preventing the produce reaching mandis to get fair price for their crops. The farmers' agitation has now lost its relevance as the Kisan Unions are now plotting with the Opposition in the country, with a view to toppling the NDA Government at the Centre.

S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

Social customs cannot trump individual liberties, safety

The Rajasthan High Court recently pronounced a judgement that couples living in legal or illegal relationships cannot be refused protection granted under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The court affirmed that the state cannot deny protection if one of the individuals is married to another person. The court emphatically said that moral policing cannot be allowed to dictate the actions of the state. It is worrisome that even though the judiciary has come out clearly on live-in-relationships, the debate on its acceptance has not ended.

Society has changed and people must think rationally and progressively. We must value individual freedom over societal constraints. Social changes are reflected in the judgements of courts. Hence, it is of paramount importance to imbibe the realities in the observations of courts. Modifications must be made in the marriage system by incorporating traditional and global practices.

Venu Gs, Kollam