Opinion Burning huts
It is heartening to note that the UPA has dreamt to create a slum-free India in five years through the Rajiv Awas Yojana.
• It is heartening to note that the UPA has dreamt to create a slum-free India in five years through the Rajiv Awas Yojana. But mere announcement or allocation of the funds for a scheme or programme is not enough. Only better implementation can produce good results. Its true that without checking the immigration of the rural population to cities,no such scheme can succeed. In this regard,better implementation of the welfare and development schemes in villages becomes a prerequisite. For instance,eradicating corruption in NREGA can help in achieving this goal.
Manoj Parashar
Greater Noida
• A slum is not just a bunch of huts alongside a river in the urban metro. It is an ecosystem. Within a slum,we would find an entire gamut of functionaries. And these people work for and within the slum. So housing is just a part of the problem/ solution. The bigger part is ensuring that those displaced get employment near where they get a house. Expenses simply add up when a person shifts to a flat/ house. This means that income needs to be spruced up for a slum migrant. Till date,one wouldnt have seen a major theft or terror attack within a slum. Will affordable housing provide affordable security? Well,no. Not even for a price can we get the sort of security we get in a closely knit social fabric like a slum. One practical solution,perhaps,is to provide good sanitation facilities to a slum than to displace the population.
Raghu Seshadri
Date with destiny
• Having licked the dust in the Rajya Sabha,the Yadav troika are continuing with their strategy of obstruction. They somehow hope to revive a Mandal-like movement by projecting the womens bill as anti-OBC and anti-minority. Looking at the wide support the bill has got,its clear that this time their strategy to whip up passions will not succeed. Gender equality is the demand of the times we live in,and no one can stop the march of time,come what may. Womens date with destiny has arrived.
R.J. Khurana
Quitting game
• The editorial Topic of cancer reflects the feelings of most of us towards creating awareness about a tobacco-free global society. We need a large publicity campaign aimed at the illiterate and the general public. In India,there is little campaigning save the statutory warning in small print on cigarette packs and advertisements. The increasing incidence of heart attacks in India,fast spreading among the younger generation is largely on account of smoking. No doubt,the government has come up with good steps to deal with the matter but taxes on tobacco products should go up to help smokers give up.
Vinod C. Dixit
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