Twice the load

Sir — Indians know all too well the phnakibaaj kerani who cheats on his work with leisure. But apparently, the pandemic has given rise to a new class of people who cheat on their work with — lo and behold — more work. ‘Professional two-timing’, where people work for more than one company, has spiked owing to employees working from home. While this sounds like the script for an espionage thriller, the reality is a lot less exciting. The rising cost of living globally coupled with the shaky economy are forcing people to work over time. After all, working full-time for two organizations, even if it is from home, is no joke. Companies should offer adequate incentives to employees wherever possible to keep them loyal.

Aniket Chakraborty,
Calcutta

Water woes

Sir — The Trinamul Congress just unveiled Kolkatar 10 Diganta, its manifesto for the civic polls. One of the promises is to revamp the city’s drainage system. While there is no denying that the TMC has improved Calcutta’s civic facilities, the drainage system still leaves much to be desired. Many areas in Calcutta are waterlogged even after light, out-of-season rainfall.

One of the reasons for the persistent waterlogging is that drains are clogged with waste by street-side food and vegetable vendors. Special initiatives and vigilance are required to ensure that these people follow waste disposal rules.

Arun Gupta,
Calcutta

Sir — The TMC has promised to clean up the Adi Ganga canal. Yet, in the portion of the canal that runs underneath the Karunamoyee bridge near Tollygunge, it is the government’s construction of a by-road that has left the water littered with construction waste. In March last year, the municipal corporation had set itself a target of 30 months to overhaul the creek. Over a year has passed since then; the TMC must show proof of the work that has been done so far if people are to believe its manifesto.

Durga Charan Goswami,
Calcutta

Sir — The highlights of the recently-released TMC manifesto are a water logging action plan, an aim to achieve ‘zero blockage’ of drains and the rejuvenation of the Adi Ganga canal. Alongside, the party also promises to carry out beautification of the ghats, heritage walks and cultural festivals. In this context, it is important to keep in mind that beautification should not amount to cutting off grown trees and replanting ornamental trees that cannot sustain local ecologies of birds and insects. The municipal corporation has done this before and decimated avian fauna considerably. Experts should be consulted before beautification drives are undertaken.

Partha De,
Calcutta

Bitter truth

Sir — The prime minister, Narendra Modi, talked about the virtues of Indian democracy at the Summit for Democracy organized by the president of the United States of America (“Democracy can deliver, Modi tells summit”, Dec 11). What he said is theoretically true. But in reality, while Modi was speaking of the inclusive character of the Indian democracy, his party colleague and the chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, was withdrawing permission for open-air namaz at designated places in Gurgaon (“Khattar bars namaz in open”, Dec 11).

This is no coincidence, nor is Khattar’s directive a stray one. The systematic violation of the fundamental rights of minorities, Dalits, human right activists, Left-leaning liberals and many others has been taking place since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power. This stark contrast between words and deeds must be wiped out to keep India
united.

Bhaskar Sanyal,
Hooghly

Sir — Right-wing extremists received a shot in their arms when M.L. Khattar announced the withdrawal of an earlier agreement which permitted Muslims to offer Friday prayers on government-allocated land. This is blatantly unconstitutional. Why should one particular community be barred from exercising their freedom of religious choice? The order goes against the principle of secularism enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Rajeev Singh,
Ujjain

Free for now

Sir — It is heartening that the human rights lawyer and trade unionist, Sudha Bharadwaj, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court after three years of languishing in the Byculla jail (“Sudha walks free on bail”, Dec 10). It seems as if in New India it is a crime to fight for the emancipation or the rights of tribal people and Dalits.

She was jailed because she spoke up for the dispossessed and denied bail in spite of several ailments. It is sheer luck that she did not meet the same fate as that of the late Father Stan Swamy, who passed away owing to similar treatment by the government. Such aberrations in the justice system have eroded people’s faith in the constitutional machinery.

Janga Bahadur Sunuwar,
Jalpaiguri

Sir — Sudha Bharadwaj may have been released on bail, but she has effectively been silenced. Unless she is given permission to practice law, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to fight the government. The Opposition parties should come together and retain lawyers for all those arrested under false accusations in the Elgaar Parishad case. The Bar Association should volunteer its services too.

Shreya Basu,
Noida

Parting shot

Sir — The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP, K. Kanimozhi, rightly raised the issue of reserving 33 per cent of the seat in Parliament for women. Yet, her party, as part of the UPA, too, dragged its heels on this bill for years.

N. Mahadevan,
Chennai