Express your voice

8226; This is with reference to The Sunday Express report, 8216;8216;Jesus! BPO has even come to church8217;8217;. This is a dangerous development. Even without BPO, there is no dearth of instances where churches with foreign affiliations and flush with foreign funds engage in proselytisation of poor Hindus through allurement, fraud and emotional blackmail. If BPO window too opens, it will be an avalanche. The Finance and External Affairs Ministries should institute mechanisms to monitor mopping up of funds through this channel and their utilisation. If required, a separate law should be enacted to prevent proselytisation using such funds. If the State does not take the initiative to protect the larger interests of the society, it will result in vigilantes taking the law into their hands as happened in the Staines8217; case.

Lekshmi Narayanan

8226; By declining to answer readers8217; questions on his possible return to the BJP, Kalyan Singh provides yet other example of opportunist politics. Such politicians have ruined our political system. The mushrooming of personality-based small parties must be checked effectively by tightening rules for recognising parties. Only parties which get at least 20 per cent valid votes at the national level should be recognised as national parties. Likewise, those getting 20 per cent valid votes at the state-level may be recognised as state-level parties. Considering the dominating role of alliances in the present era of coalition politics, 8216;8216;national alliances8217;8217; recognition may be given for those parties which contest elections with their own symbols but under a common platform. Stringent rules should also be applied for providing legal status to election-manifestoes. If parties who are voted to power fail to fulfil their poll promises, the Election Commission should be empowered to derecognise them.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

8226; This is with reference to Tavleen Singh8217;s column, 8216;8216;How to make the New Year happier8217;8217;. It is a great article on the distress within the new India. The same problems must continue to be addressed. The country has great potential, but is plagued by the age-old problems of healthcare, illiteracy etc. No matter how educated one is, or how rich and prosperous one becomes, an open sewer or a garbage pile tends to detract from evidence of real progress.

Caroll Donahue-Sundaram

8226; With reference to The Sunday Express report, 8216;8216;Maharaja gets a Christmas card from passengers: never again8217;8217;, if ever there was a reason needed to privatise PSUs, the recent spate of Air India-related incidents should be more than enough. Except for politicians and bureaucrats who benefit from these PSUs, the rest of us just suffer them. A-I has been notorious for changing flight schedules without prior warning 8212; a new flight schedule can come into effect any time.

Pankaj Goyal

8226; I would never fly a nationalised airline in India. Even for domestic travel, I choose to fly a private airlines. This has nothing to do with being patriotic.

Babloo Ramisetty

8226; On December 23, I was scheduled to fly to Chicago from Hyderabad. On December 22, I got a call from Air India saying that the flight from Hyderabad was delayed so I would not be able to catch the connecting flight from Mumbai. I was rebooked for the December 25 flight. On the night of December 25, I waited in the queue at the airport for three hours, only to be told that the flight was delayed and I would have to come back the next night. On December 26, I got a call from Air India saying that I would be rebooked for the flight on December 27. So I went to the airport on December 27, stood in the queue for five hours because there were 450 passengers waiting to get on a jumbo jet and Hyderabad airport is not equipped to handle that kind of traffic. At last I got my boarding pass, cleared immigration and sat waiting for the boarding call at 4:15 am. Then there was an announcement saying the flight was delayed by two hours. At 6 am they said the flight would be in at 8 am. The waiting game continued throughout the day. The ground staff did not have any answers. Finally, we boarded the flight at 7 pm. In Mumbai, we again had to wait for a couple of hours for our new boarding passes and hotel accommodations.

Naveen Alasapuri

8226; Air India is the last airline I am ever going to fly. After 16 years of living in the United States and getting used to the American system, I took an Air India flight to visit the country. Just for rebooking a seat, I had to waste three-four days at the Delhi office. The staff were more particular about taking their tea breaks than attending to the customers. What happened to the good old days when Air India was considered one of the best airlines. It is high time the senior officials took a serious look and started firing unproductive and unfriendly employees.

S Singh

8226; It seems that Air India has learned nothing in the last ten years. I was a victim of similar A-I inefficiency during a holiday to India. Criminal charges should be brought on those responsible. The airlines should be privatised.

K Malhotra

8226; I am a resident of Mumbai, currently in the US on work. I always think of travelling by Air India so as to contribute to my country8217;s economy. But each time I am put off by stories of A-I8217;s negligence. The airline8217;s performance affects the image of our country, and affects to the tourism industry to an extent. There is a strong need for the airline to be privatised and face the challenges of competition.

Ravindra Mhatre

8226; I regulerly fly Air India. During a recent trip, I was told that there were not enough blankets and preference would be given to the senior citizens and children.

Rajesh Kabra