Act before it’s too late to clear the mess in medical education

Apropos of ‘The rot in medical education runs deep’; commercialisation is the most significant factor which has led to the deterioration of medical education. It has ignited a ‘quality versus quantity’ debate. Running a medical college has become a lucrative business. Private colleges manage to get permissions and approvals from the National Medical Commission using unfair means under political patronage. Professional ethics are gradually being abandoned for monetary greed. Medical education is collapsing under the pressure of wrongdoings of a few. The write-up is a wake-up call for all stakeholders to bring in revolutionary reforms before it is too late.

Vitull K Gupta, Bathinda

Left plays an important role

Refer to ‘How will Left fill Achuthanandan void’; as long as injustice and exploitation continue, the Left will remain active and vibrant. CPM leaders like BT Ranadive, P Ramamurthi, EMS Namboodiripad, Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet enriched the Left movement by their original thinking in the context of the socio-economic realities in India. They opposed the political and tactical views of their counterparts in the Soviet Union and China from time to time. They rightly condemned the Left adventurism of Naxalites. They won the people’s hearts by inspiring them to rise above the narrow identities of caste and creed to fight for building an egalitarian, socialist and democratic society.

Raj Bahadur Yadav, Fatehabad

Adulteration causing malnutrition

Apropos of ‘Nutritional challenge’; the worrying figures quoted in the Rajya Sabha regarding malnutrition among children are not solely due to unavailability of food but are gravely linked to rampant food adulteration and the unchecked consumption of processed foods. The FSSAI’s 2024 data reveals adulteration failure rates of 26.71% in milk, 48.02% in paneer, 33.33% in ice cream and 21.62% in ghee. A recent survey by a national newspaper found a huge percentage of lactating mothers’ milk samples containing pesticides and harmful chemicals endangering lives of infants. If adulteration continues unchecked, India risks crippling the physical and cognitive health of its future generations.

Surjit Singh Bhatoa, by mail

Innovation in fraud

Refer to ‘Fake embassy’; this can happen only in India. A fake embassy ran for eight years without anybody raising eyebrows. It took the law too long to catch the fraudster. A few years ago, a fake SBI branch was detected in Tamil Nadu; the parents of the main accused had worked as bank employees. In Kashmir, a person impersonated a senior official and enjoyed government benefits, including personal security. The Ghaziabad case is nothing but a new method of cheating gullible people.

Deepak Taak, Panchkula

Harmony of old times

Apropos of ‘RSS chief holds fresh dialogue with Muslim leaders’; Mohan Bhagwat’s meeting with leaders of the Muslim community is a welcome step. Citizens like me, who have lived in times of communal harmony between Hindus and Muslims before the Partition, would certainly like to witness the same amity again. Everything moved smoothly till some political elements created a wedge of hatred between two peace-loving communities. More friendly meetings like this one will pave the way for their peaceful co-existence.

VK Anand, Chandigarh

Acknowledging martyrs’ sacrifice

Vijay Diwas, observed on July 26 to commemorate the sacrifices of soldiers during the 1999 Kargil War, is not just a day of remembrance; it is a call to unite and express gratitude. Every citizen must honour the supreme sacrifice made by the men in uniform so that the Tricolour may keep flying high. We must renew our commitment to uphold the values for which our soldiers fight — patriotism, integrity and resilience. Let Vijay Diwas serve as a reminder of our nation’s unwavering spirit and as a solemn promise that we, as citizens, will always stand by those who protect our freedom.

Harpreet Sandhu, Ludhiana

Letters to the Editor