Editor,
It has become rather ritualistic for the Government to order enquiries after almost any tragedy or disaster strikes. Experience tells us that most of these enquiries would be forgotten after the public emotional outpourings have exhausted themselves. Overall, it does not appear that we have in any way changed our mindsets or learnt any lessons from past tragedies. This time we learnt that an internal enquiry has been ordered for the Qualapatty Church tragedy. Judging by the outcomes of similar internal enquiries carried out in the past we more or less know what to expect. But this time we hope that there will not be the usual washing of hands and invention of excuses and also this time we hope that at least those directly affected would be alert to the following considerations:-
- As there have been several assertions by the church and local (headman) authorities that there had been crucial loss of time due to non-response of the fire service to numerous phone calls for help and subsequent reported denial by the same fire service that such calls had gone through to them, the call logs that should be available with the concerned landline or mobile companies need to be examined to ascertain the truth. The same should apply to the MeECL which allegedly showed a callous attitude by taking an excessively long time in turning off the power supply to the church soon after it caught fire despite several calls made to them.
- There have also been allegations that more avoidable delay was caused in attending to the church fire as the fire service vehicles which should have been ready with full water tanks had to first race to Ward’s Lake to fill up their empty tanks and then come to the site of the fire incident. To establish the veracity of these allegations, all concerned should try to ensure that CCTV footage of relevant routes on that fateful morning be examined.
- The fire service has stated that it encountered difficulties in accessing the site of the fire incident due to the narrow approach roads in the particular area. In this regard, all concerned should perhaps raise questions about why the jeep tankers of the fire service were not deployed instead of sending the large truck tankers, knowing fully well that the area is congested.
The above are only some of the commonsensical points that need to be looked into. Perhaps the Church and Dorbar Shnong authorities have more relevant points to raise. Very importantly, these authorities need to persevere to see that this investigation reaches its logical end within a reasonable timeline and that responsibility, if any, is fixed so that future disasters may be avoided/ minimised as far as possible.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request
Passport Seva Kendras
Editor,
The Hon’ble Ministry of External Affairs has established Regional Passport Offices(RPO), Passport Sewa Kendras (PSKs) and Post Office Passport Sewa Kendras (POPSKs) across the country. The applicants can visit the respective passport issuing center at the designated time as per ARN receipt and thus undergo a hassle free passport application process. Further it is given to understand that all the RPOs, PSKs and POPSKs function only for 5 days a week from Monday through Friday and one day in a week reserved only for special clearance drives. Thus no appointments are given on all the Saturdays and on the days of special clearance drives. As most of the applicants are working professionals especially in IT sector, there is now an urgency to make passport application process available even on Saturdays – which is the weekly day off for most of the normal passport applicants.
With the increasing demand to obtain fresh and Tatkal passports, the suggestion will highly benefit the working professionals who otherwise face logistical inconvenience for an appointment on any of the four day-a-week working hours of passport offices. The move will also help RPOs to dispose off requests quickly thereby easing the online appointment availability with shorter wait time.
The Hon’ble Ministry of External Affairs is kindly requested to look into arranging passport application appointment system to be arranged at least on first and third Saturdays of every month. The suggestion can be considered in the best interest of working professionals who otherwise enjoy a weekly day-off on Saturdays and thus enable the applicants to apply for Passports in a hassle free manner even on Saturdays.
Yours etc.,
Varun Dambal,
Bangalore
Pathetic state of classrooms
Editor,
In a shocking incident a 10-year-old girl died after being bitten by a snake inside her classroom at Sultan Bathery in Wayanad district of North Kerala. The class five student, according to sources, could have escaped death if she had been given proper medical aid and attended to and taken to the hospital immediately after she told her friends and teacher about the incident. It is indeed sad that the teachers ignored the matter at first thinking that the child would have got injured by a nail or some sharp object. She was taken to the hospital only an hour after the bite and by then matters worsened leading to her tragic death. The Education Department of Kerala should definitely conduct a serious enquiry and punish those responsible for the incident. There are allegations about the delayed medical assistance given to the child. Video visuals show images of a hole in the floor of the class and this pathetically shows the plight of some of the educational institutions in rural areas. If the authority concerned had been aware and vigilant about such conditions and immediate measures taken such an incident could have been avoided. Sheer lethargy and apathy from the concerned authorities has led to this tragedy.
As Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said – “The teachers are supposed to teach children on how to respond and what needs to be done immediately when such incidents happen.”He has ensured action against all those who acted with carelessness and indifference.
Yours etc.,
M Pradyu,
Kannur