Sir, It is shocking to see our Government rewarding the outstanding cricketers and other sports persons generously with tax payers’ money. The sportsmen will get paid well in future too, to bring laurels to the country besides earning big prize money. They become so popular, that they can earn money in many ways like advertising also.
Some of them are wealthier than a few cooperative banks! But rarely do we see them getting involved in philanthropic activities. So when a reward awaits someone, he will put in his best efforts to show excellence in his work and earn the prize money besides becoming famous. So why not do the same for those in other fields as well?
Here, I particularly refer to the Engineers of Public Works Department, who are in charge of several important projects. Whenever they complete the work in time and in the best manner expected, they should be rewarded, either as a team or as individuals, with wide publicity. M Ranga Pai
Mangalore
Chinks in the armour
Sir, The tumultuous reception given to Team India on its triumphant return shows how ecstatic the people are about our unexpected victory in the world Twenty20 tournament. But, one expected at least the sports critics in the media would objectively analyse the performance of the Indian team in the crucial finals which would have revealed the glaring chinks in our armour – Sreesanth's and Harbhajan's erratic bowling, Dhoni's unimaginative field placements and failure of the star batsmen. None of this has been highlighted. VIJAY MOHAN
Chennai
Hockey's deterioration
Sir, Once, India was recognised in sports because of our exploits in hockey. But now the sport isn’t getting its due share. Even ministers are unaware of hockey’s importance. That explains why the recent Asia Cup victory of our hockey team got very little recognition. The government, the corporates, TV channels, sports administrators and even the common people, who have gone after cricket madly, should bear responsibility for the deterioration of hockey. V S Ganeshan
Bangalore
Unwanted violence Sir, This refers to the attack on security guards of State Bank of Mysore (DH, Sep 27). There has been a spate of attacks on business establishments in Bangalore in recent months by anti-social elements under the garb of pro-Kannada organisations, with police and the government remaining mute spectators to such incidents. These have nothing to do with protecting Kannada or safeguarding the interests of Kannadigas, but are used to settle personal scores and create animosity between different linguistic groups. It is high time the police takes stringent action against such trouble makers. Anil P
Bangalore
Give hockey its due Sir, As our national game, hockey must be given its rightful importance. While our victory in cricket was celebrated, our Asia Cup triumph in hockey, despite the fact that we remained unbeaten in the tournament, was dismissed with a brief mention. Our government should give hockey the honour due to it. Vasudha
Moodbidri
Honour them
Sir, I feel sad that the hockey players who won the Asia Cup recently have to threaten to go on hunger strike to get their due whereas the cricketers get it at their doorsteps. The state government and the public sector undertakings such as Air India have to have some uniform policy to honour members of all sports. It has become a fashion for the state governments to announce rich rewards for cricketers, while ignoring others’ achievement. P B Srinivasan
Bangalore
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Unwanted violence 
