Telecom turmoil

The big players in the telecommunications industry are undoubtedly engaged in a no-holds-barred exercise to protect their stakes ("Telecom Turmoil", February 14). The cellular operators, who had fleeced the consumer for a long time, now feel the heat of competition the most. Perhaps there was some merit in their protest against providing free Wireless in Local Loop (WiLL)-to-cell calls whereas they had to pay for cell-to-WiLL calls. Nevertheless, their muscle-flexing, by denying interconnectivity to the WiLL operators to force a decision in their favour, was ill-conceived, which they realised when fixed line operators retaliated by blocking their calls.

Such an immoral war was totally uncalled for, but it has done the consumer a lot of good; cellular operators have realised that their days of calling the shots are over and that they would be driven by the market forces. With the tariff issue almost resolved, it is hoped that the consumer would really be king.

However, fixed line subscribers stand to lose by the increased tariffs and there is a need to re-examine the case to provide them relief to the extent possible. The loss would be graver for those who use the Internet liberally. Since the use of the Internet needs to be promoted, there is a case to work out a mechanism to provide relief to Internet users.

Brig V.K. Agrawal (retd)Dehra Dun

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The action of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the former Communications Minister are suspect. The so-called "wonder drug" for all the country's ills, `Privatisation and liberalisation', is proving to be a chimera. The votaries of `privatisation and liberalisation' would want us to believe that increased competition means better services and reduced prices. The opening up of the telecom sector and increased competition should then have seen a decline in rates and tariffs, as in the West. On the contrary, the public is being made to pay more. Does it not fly in the face of the argument by the "liberals"?

What is even more scandalous is that the public sector is driving itself to extinction by raising land line tariffs and, in turn, suspiciously favouring cellular companies to grab the market.

It is a national shame that we have one of the lowest teledensity rates in the world, yet we nurture pretensions of becoming an IT superpower. Even today affordable and reliable communication infrastructure is way beyond our sight and our leaders have the gumption to grandstand and declare at the drop of a hat that India has arrived as the IT superpower of the world.

Vissa Venkata SundarNew Delhi

The IIT story

This is with respect to the article titled "The IIT story: Issues and concerns" by Kanta Murali in Frontline (February 14, 2003). Commenting on one of the so-called pitfalls of the system, the article states: "The IITs have an even more dismal record in admitting women. This is surprising considering that girls regularly perform better in board exams and gain admission in significant numbers to medical colleges and, growingly, to engineering colleges and other professional courses." It is with regard to this that we feel some clarifications are in order. Board exams and medical exams are more a test of rote memory rather than of analytical skills. To say it is not so is to deny the truth. Such exams cannot be compared with the standard of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). An ability to learn by rote the same "stereotype" questions taken from previous years (typical of other exams) is not a measure of quality of the students.

Your suggestion of changing the JEE as its present structure inhibits the entry of women is characteristic of most of the suggestions made recently. The philosophy of lowering the standard of the exam to incorporate "women" will be disastrous for the institute as it has been on so many other occasions. To imply that IITs reserve seats for women on the lines of engineering colleges elsewhere is preposterous to say the least. To clock such action under "active recruitment of women" is to use a euphemism which is aimed at tempering discrimination in the form of reservation as "progressive discrimination". Furthermore, the standard of the JEE is one of the most important reasons for the quality of students this institution produces. To change that would mean ringing the death knell of this institution.

The author makes another statement that needs to be looked into: "A widely used stereotype suggests that girls are better at role learning and are incapable of the type of analytical and problem-solving capabilities required by the IITs. The world over, women have proved themselves as equals in intellectual and professional tasks and it is high time that such stereotypes were demolished." Maybe it is high time that we start accepting facts for what they are instead of insisting that women are as good as men in everything they do. It is time to stop calling facts that are inconsistent with our personal cherished view of the world as stereotypes. It is time to call a spade a spade if it has all the characteristics of a spade and leave it at that, instead of claiming otherwise and being politically correct.

Suraj Verma(A concerned IITian)

Editor's Note: The writer of this letter has seriously misread and misconstrued the Frontline Essay with respect to the issue of under-representation of women in the seven IITs. While commending many aspects of the world-class and indeed world-beating IIT system, and notably the JEE as an instrumentality for promoting excellence, the article calls attention to the severe under-representation of women as one of the weaknesses of the IIT experience. This becomes clear especially when the issue is viewed against the background of a growing presence of women in other sectors of engineering and technology higher education.

The author of the article does point out that "the JEE, as it is structured today, acts as a bar to the entry of women into the IIT system". She suggests a possible explanation - "societal and parental attitudes", in the context of what the JEE requires - and pointedly avoids calling for any quick-fix `solutions' like "changing" the structure of the JEE, not to mention "lowering the standard of the exam to incorporate `women'." In fact, the article makes it clear that it is not proposing quotas for women in the IITs. ("This is not to suggest that they reserve more seats.") However, it calls for a more serious examination of this issue of social composition of the IIT student body than has been undertaken thus far. It asks the IITs to "take a more active role in encouraging women, S.C. and S.T. students, and students from other disadvantaged backgrounds, including minorities, to pursue the IIT dream".

Judging from his view of the capabilities of women in relation to men ("instead of insisting that women are as good as men in everything they do" and so forth), the "concerned IITian" who has written this letter is clearly in need of a better education in gender equality and human capabilities than he seems to have got from his IIT.

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The IIT system of selection of undergraduates should be only on merit. The underprivileged classes must have adequate opportunity for training and meeting the exact specific standards of the IITs, let there be no compromise on that.

India should continue to subsidise education/higher education as this is the only way to improve our overpopulated country in all spheres. In various ways, IITians are returning to India what they got from the IIT system. The IIT is one of the few institutions where critical thinking and analysis are imparted. We lost this over many centuries owing to foreign rule. Today's society can be improved with appropriate cutting edge technology.

Let us create a conducive environment and provide incentives for postgraduate and doctoral studies with appropriate relevance to our society and attract the undergraduates. Let us also create opportunities and change our school systems so that the student earns while he or she reads, so that only really interested and genuine students go for higher education.

Let us improve and raise the standards of other technical and other professional institutions to this level, as brain power is the way for improving our country in all spheres of life.

Venkatesh Subramaniam, MDTexas Tech. University, HealthSciences Centre,Texas

The U.S. and Iraq

The tell-tale photograph of the placard announcing `Saddam, I want your oil' in the article on Iraq ("World peace in the balance" February 14) reaffirms most credibly the views and contentions expressed by John L. Seitz more than a decade ago in his attention-drawing book Politics of Development. Seitz mentioned that Jimmy Carter, while he was the U.S. President, believed that the "energy crisis should be considered as the moral equivalent of war" (page 80) and that the decision was first taken by the U.S. government, announcing in 1980 during the Carter administration, to use military force, if necessary, to keep West Asian oil supplies in friendly hands (page 81).

Seitz has also stated that the creation of a U.S. Rapid Deployment Military Force then was designed to enable the U.S. to fight in West Asia at short notice. Seitz stated further that the U.S. arms sales to West Asian countries like Saudi Arabia, as also the related U.S. diplomatic activities, were designed to help pro-Western governments maintain control in the key oil-producing countries.

The self-assumed role of the U.S. administration now to wage war to ensure peace exposes its hypocrisy. The world has to take note of the fact that whereas Cervantes' Don Quixote had only peace-pretensions when he sabre-rattled windmills, Bush (Jr) presents the picture of a mindless warrior bent to destroy devilishly.

Dr. K. John MammenThiruvananthapuram

Award for Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy is the woman with a big heart among modern-day writers ("Salute to freedom's flag", February 14). At a time when money-mindedness is rampant in society and the corporate world, her liberal contribution to a large number of civil society organisations is laudable. These organisations should live up to this confidence by being diligent in their work.

Arvinth SingaramCoimbatore

Harivanshrai Bachchan

The obituary on the `Grand old man of Hindu Poetry', Dr. Harivanshrai Bachchan, by Rajendra Sharma ("The romantic rebel", February 14) made emotional reading.

An era has ended in Hindi poetry with the passing of this great soul. Today's generation may identify Harivanshrai Bachchan more easily as the father of superstar Amitabh Bachchan, but we, who studied his immortal Madhushala in high school and college, will always remember him as the pioneer of the `romantic and progressive movement' in Hindi poetry.

Despite having a Ph.D. in English from Cambridge University and having worked as a professor of English literature in the Allahabad University for many years, Bachchan excelled in Hindi literature as well. His writings marked a new beginning in Hindi poetry and prose, with the creativity of his pen merging the simplicity of language and lyrical imagination to express the emotions closest to his heart.

Bachchan made Hindi kavi sammelans as popular as Urdu mushairas, giving Hindi poetry a vast audience, a rarity in those days. Apart from the numerous poems, which have made him famous, Bachchan's four-volume autobiography, Kya Bhoolon Kya Yaad Karoon, is considered to be a classic example of prose writing. He also has the rare distinction of translating the Bhagavad Gita to Awadhi, one of the local dialects spoken in parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Even in the world of cinema, Bachchan has left an everlasting impression with his composition "Rang Barse Bheege Chunarvaali Rang Barse", a song for Holi, sung and acted to perfection by Amitabh in the film Silsila.

Bachchan's death has left a void in the world of Hindi literature, which would be extremely difficult to fill.

S. BalakrishnanJamshedpur

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Hats off to Frontline for the timeless tribute to Harivanshrai Bachchan. Hindi literature has lost one of its most inspiring poets and a humanitarian. Bachchan endeared himself with his poetic acumen. His writings had a spell-binding effect on readers. His works, indeed, made him the poet of the masses. Bachchan will be truly missed.

Abhijeet D. MoreNashik

Criminal justice system

R.K. Raghavan in his column in the January 31 issue ("Reforming criminal justice systems") concludes that "criminal justice administration has hit the rock-bottom in our country". If his assessment is indeed correct, one cannot but wonder how bad and prevalent the miscarriage of justice must be in India with respect to death penalty cases.

Even in a so-called advanced country as the U.S., the justice system is increasingly viewed as badly flawed in this area. An eloquent testimony to this sad situation is the fact that outgoing Governor Ryan of Illinois recently commuted to life sentence all those who were left on death row in his State.

Perhaps in a future article Raghavan would care to explore in his unique incisive manner, the extent to which the administration of justice has gone astray in capital punishment cases in India, and the unwarranted misery it has heaped on the families of the victims executed.

Muthian GunasekaranLos Angeles, California