Opinion Letter to the Editor: Tiger, tiger

There should be greater focus on instilling discipline among people who visit the zoo.

September 26, 2014 12:41 AM IST First published on: Sep 26, 2014 at 12:41 AM IST

The recent hype created by the media over the mauling of a visitor by a white tiger at the Delhi Zoo portrays the animal as a bloodthirsty monster (‘A zoo tragedy’, IE, September 24). While it is sad that a young life was lost due to the negligence of the zoo authorities, it is certainly wrong to paint an animal born and raised in captivity as an evil brute. Given the shouting and the stones being pelted on the tiger, even the calmest animal could be provoked into turning aggressive. There should be greater focus on instilling discipline among people who visit the zoo.

— Brinda Upadhyaya

Mumbai

The coal factor

The editorial ‘Off with their blocks’ (IE, September 25), takes a realistic view of the Supreme Court’s verdict cancelling 214 of the 218 coal block allocations to various companies since 1993, on the grounds that the process of handing them out had been flawed, arbitrary and non-transparent. It is a huge setback, particularly for the power sector of a country with acute electricity shortages, and where the major power-generation plants are all coal based. The SC should have, at least, exempted the 46 blocks the government had suggested saving. It could have imposed whatever conditions it deemed fit to regularise those allocations. The companies that had already started production or were on the verge of doing so could have been spared.

Cancelling allocations to companies that had been holding letters of allotment but had not commenced mining was, of course, the right course of action.

— M.C. Joshi
Lucknow

The Supreme Court verdict cancelling the allocation of 214 coal blocks is welcome. Though the verdict has dealt a heavy blow to industries, strong measures must be taken to safeguard the nation’s future. It is sad that the governments that ruled India over the last two decades failed to formulate a fair policy for natural resource allocation. We must also develop renewable sources of energy, such as solar power, and reduce the dependence on coal.

— Kiran Jose
Kottayam

School basics

I DO not agree with the editorial, ‘Take Rajasthan’s cue’ (IE, September 24). Toilets and playgrounds are integral to any learning environment. A lower emphasis on toilets is also likely to have a negative impact on girls’ education, since the lack of toilets in schools is a major reason for them dropping out. The suggestion of overlooking the teacher-student ratio criteria is ironic, since that is also bound to affect learning outcomes. The government should address the issue of learning outcomes through a multi-pronged approach. It should raise the standard for teacher selection. It should also periodically review the pedagogy.

— Amitesh Vatsyayan
Delhi