Letters to the editor dated March 8, 2021

This refers to ‘Not all women benefit from WFH’ (March 8). While it was expected that more women would take up jobs during the pandemic and lockdown through the WFH mode, in reality it has not happened.

As far as the unorganised sector goes, it is not always possible to have WFH facility, so it would be important that women's basic needs of healthcare and safety are taken care of by their employers and respective governments. Coming to the organised sector, the IT industry is still allowing employees to work from home. Other sectors of the economy, too, must increasingly adopt this model.

Noida

This refers to ‘Modi calls for ‘real change’; will happen in Delhi, says Didi’ (March 8). It goes without saying that the Bollywood veteran and Bengali icon, Mithun Chakraborty also joining the BJP ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally must have come as a bolt from the blue for the TMC. Significantly, Modi went all out to woo voters by calling it ‘game-over for Trinamool’ even as he put forward an ‘exhaustive’ roadmap for the development of the State.

Interestingly, CM Mamata Banerjee was not 'cowed down' by PM Modi’s allegations concerning 'family-centric' working of TMC as well as the ‘autocratic’ functioning of her government. One has to wait for D-day, that is, May 2, when the cat will finally be out of the bag.

Bengaluru

This is an election year with four States and one Union Territory going to polls. Political parties are vying with each other in making ‘unrealistic’ promises, trying to catch the attention of voters. If past record is anything to go by, these are mere rhetoric with hardly few of the promises getting fulfilled leading to undermining public trust and weakening the democracy. The poll promises manifests in different forms, from extending caste-wise reservation to unrealistic job promises and sops offered to women and the working class.

A basic premise why politicians get away with unfulfilled promises is that there are no checks and balances made before or during their tenure in office. The voting public is puzzled as to who a politician is accountable to when making such promises. Is there any legal recourse if such promises remain unfulfilled?

In the case of caste-based reservations, going by past records, several lower courts have struck down such reservations when done in contravention to the diktat of the country’s highest court.

Chennai

This refers to the article ‘Inclusion is as important as diversity’ (March 7). Many academically good students in schools and colleges, after obtaining requisite degrees join employment. But after joining the corporate world they feel out of place and become outliers in a short span of time.

The key reason is lack of soft skills which our educational institutions fail to nurture, and subsequently the employers pick up the thread. The other reason for employees feeling disillusioned is the flawed policy of most of the organisations of fitting a square peg in a round hole. The job allocations are not done on the taste, passion and qualifications of the employee but just to optimise the manpower.

Noida

While it is heartening that the anti-Covid vaccination programme has gathered steam, several surmountable challenges still remains on the ground, ranging from technical glitches in the vaccine registration process to transparency regarding adverse events.

The government has roped in private hospitals to scale up the vaccination drive, but given the fear of a second wave, the government has the bounden duty to ensure everyone gets vaccine and none be deprived of it owing to their poor financial status. Sustained awarenesses campaign about the benefits of the vaccination also brooks no delay.

Sholavandan, TN

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