Strike a balance

Sir — Is less always more? A minimalist aesthetic — be it the ‘clean girl’ look in fashion or simplicity in architecture and interior design — is rapidly coming to be associated with good taste. But this obsession with minimalism is also killing creativity. Calcutta, for instance, is losing its iconic and ornate red-bricked houses with green windows and frames. Instead, we see crowds of mind-numbing ‘minimalist’ grey and beige buildings. Although it must be admitted that the houses of yore were not eco-friendly, the apartment complexes these days also pay little heed to the environment. Perhaps there could be a middle ground where the best of both worlds are combined to give Calcutta’s built heritage its identity back.

Shaon Roy,Calcutta

Fill the gap

Sir — A large number of patients do not get adequate care in the hospitals and healthcare centres in West Bengal due to the lack of doctors. The proposalof the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, to introduce a diploma course in medicine thus seems to be a step in the right direction (“Need for medical diploma course: CM”, May 12). The course will not only allow several students to start their careers early and create jobs openings but also address the shortage of healthcare professionals in rural Bengal.

D. Bhattacharyya,Calcutta

Sir — Although the introduction of a shorter medical course is a novel idea, it does not address the problem of paucity of doctors. This shortage is aggravated by the mushrooming of private medical colleges around the state that do not maintain high standards of medical education. The diploma course should ensure that the quality of education and training remains uncompromised.

Jayanta Datta,Hooghly

Sir — Mamata Banerjee’s proposed diploma course in medicine seems to overlook the time and effort required to train medical personnel. This is nothing but a gimmick to garner votes. A paramedic cannot be a replacement for a doctor who holds an MBBS degree and has been trained for at least five years. An inefficient healthcare system will do more harm than good.

Diganta Chakraborty,Hooghly

Helping hands

Sir — With funds starting to dry up, the wrestlers who are protesting against the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, at Jantar Mantar have turned to crowdfunding to sustain their movement. Several crowdfunding campaigns have sprung up to help the agitating wrestlers and they have already accumulated around Rs 6 lakhs in cash. This indicates public solidarity with the wrestlers’ cause. The government should take immediate action against Singh, not to mention stop the police from harassing the protestors, journalists and photographers who are part of the demonstration.

M.C. Vijay Shankar,Chennai

Rights denied

Sir — Thirty-six nursing students were barred from stepping out of their hostel for a week as they did not attend an official gathering to listen to the 100th episode of Narendra Modi’s radio show, Maan Ki Baat (“Students miss Maan Ki Baat, get punished”, May 12). This is an assault on the students’ fundamental rights.

Ananda Dulal Ghosh,Howrah

Waste not

Sir — India is one of the biggest users of solar panels and is expected to produce a huge amount of waste from solar cells by 2030. It has been trying to reduce its carbon footprint by increasing the usage of solar power. But the government also needs to formulate a policy to manage the waste that is generated from solar power plants.

Kirti Wadhawan,Kanpur

Parting shot

Sir — Most Mother’s Day wishes tend to enumerate the number of things a mother is capable of juggling successfully. But valorising women for bearing the burden of domesticity, which should ideally be shared, is an effective way of ensuring that they keep slogging away.

Anwar Saeed,Calcutta