JOIN USRepeat warnings
With members testing positive for Covid-19, the presiding officers in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are having a tough time ensuring physical distancing in the House during the proceedings. It is common for members to walk up to their colleagues for a brief chat by leaning over the bench or occupying the seat next to a fellow member to have a quick word. Both Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu have to remind members time and again to maintain physical distance. Another issue the presiding officers emphasise too often is the proper way of wearing a face mask, as members are prone to let it slip off time and again.
Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi
Farmers fooled?
Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan, a farmer, is losing Rs 20 for every quintal he sold to an Uttar Pradesh government-mandated procurement centre, thanks to cleaning and unloading charges being deducted. The government had fixed a minimum support price of Rs 1925 per quintal for wheat but farmers are being paid only Rs 1905. When he went to sell the product, he was told to pay Rs 20 per quintal in cash as cleaning and unloading charges. He was shown a government order in this regard and was told that this money would be reimbursed. However, farmers have not received any reimbursement in the last three years. They don’t take cheque or do an (RTGS) account transfer. After he raised the matter, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked the government to take note of the issue.
Shemin Joy
Open manholes
Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) remains in the news for the wrong reasons. From alleged corruption charges against its officials to open manholes in the city, the civic body always gets bad publicity. To avoid some bad publicity, it may soon have to release a sewer map of the city to help people avoid falling into open manholes. As the SMC is not in a position to cover all the open manholes due to shortage of funds, with the help of maps, people can at least get directions to keep from falling into these traps. Alternatively, the body may have to open a toll free number to provide directions to people to avoid open manholes as covering these looks a Herculean task.
Zulfikar Majid, Srinagar
Bamboo cookies
On World Bamboo Day on Friday, Tripura has something new to offer -- bamboo shoot cookies. The cookies mixed with the soft and sweet bamboo species called Muli bamboo were launched by Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday.” Abhinav Kant, the chief of Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI), the brain behind the cookies said this was for the first time that bamboo shoots were used in preparing biscuits. “This is a healthy product as bamboo shoots are rich in proteins, minerals and full of fibre. We chose the muli variety of bamboo shoot as others are not sweet,” Deb said. The bamboo shoot cookies are also beneficial for diabetic patients as they are low in fat and sugar, the CM said.
Sumir Karmakar, Guwahati
Sick manpower
A recent decision of Kerala government to allow asymptomatic Covid-19 positive migrant workers to continue their work at areas exclusively marked for them, without mingling with others had to be withdrawn within hours after it invited criticism. The justification given by the government in issuing such an order was that various industries were raising concerns over the shortage of manpower. It was learnt later that the upcoming elections were a factor. Progress of many government construction projects was affected owing to manpower shortage. The state government intends to complete such projects before the election in order to highlight the government’s achievements.
Arjun Raghunath,
Thiruvananthapuram