Tamil Nadu

Railway reservation

To avoid bulk booking by travel agents and also for booking under ‘Tatkal’ system, it is necessary to produce the identity of the actual person who is travelling. This photo identity should be produced compulsorily at the time of booking and also during travel. Incidentally, it is seen that most of the citizens have identity cards issued by government and reputed private organisations. These cover almost 90 per cent of the citizens and there should not be any difficulty in carrying ID cards by genuine passengers.Producing ID cards during travel will result in identifying unauthorised travellers and also extremist/terrorist/unsocial elements. Also, it will be helpful in identifying the victims during accidents and in settling compensation. To check bulk booking and misuse of tatkal system, reservations should be made one day in advance and not five days as in existence now.

C.M. Jeyaraam, Secretary, Citizens’ Voice Club.

This refers to the letter ‘Air bus service’ (Aug. 8) by Lakshminarayanan K.N. Mr. Lakshminarayanan has mentioned about the decision of the transport authorities to withdraw the air bus service on route number 1C. There are 17 such buses plying all over the city in various routes. These buses are a boon to the aged and the sick passengers with their convenient design, low level steps and carefully planned seating arrangements. But this is only one side of the coin. What is the other side? Rich people do not travel in town buses. Only workers and the middle class people use them everyday to go to their workplaces. The fares in ordinary buses are Rs. 2 for the first two km; Rs. 3 for the next, Rs. 3.50, Rs. 4 and so on. But the minimum fare in the air buses is Rs. 5 for the first two km i.e. two-and-a-half times more than the normal fare for the same distance and in the same route. This most people cannot afford. To make matters worse, some regular buses have been withdrawn forcing workers and less privileged people to travel in the air buses by paying a higher fare. No wonder, these buses do not get enough passengers to make them viable. An extra fare of 50 paise in addition to the minimum fare of Rs. 2 in the air buses will be legitimate. This will benefit the middle class and the low income group people.

R.S. Narayanan,

Peelamedupudur.

It appears that students and teachers of Class X have sought for reduction in syllabi. The Governor in a convocation address recently had observed that our educational standard does not compare favourably with those of foreign universities and so it should be our endeavour to bring it on a par with them. In India colleges pick up from where the high school level stops and if the syllabi of classes X and XII are diluted, colleges will have to go an extra mile to cover the topics left out. And our academic standard which was hitherto internationally recognised will lose its credibility. In education it is not enough to aim at quantity alone; quality is equally, if not more, important. It should not be allowed to slide down.

S. Venkatachalam,

Kavundampalayam.

I happened to attend a meeting organised by a social organisation ‘Kural’ to pay homage to Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw at the Chamber of Commerce hall. We should appreciate this. Whenever a small political leader dies, the whole city is brought to a standstill. Here is an organisation which has not forgotten a real hero and a patriot.

S. Rangarajan,

N.S.R. Iyengar Road.

This refers to the letter of Mr. C.M. Jeyaraam on courier service (Aug. 11). I should like to add a few more suggestions to ensure a proper and purposeful courier service. 1. The couriered cover should bear the courier company’s stamp/branch name/phone number. 2. The consignment note or a copy with number and date should be given to the recipient at the time of delivery of the article. 3. The courier company should in the consignment note also mention the number of days the couriered article will be kept with it before returning to the sender to enable the recipient living in independent houses to take it. 4. Couriers should leave a note in the recipient’s letter box with date and time of their visit which will enable the latter to contact the courier for the article.

T.S. Doraiswamy,

Coimbatore.

Transport has become a bugbear for the residents of Tirupur. The existing ill-formed, narrow and zigzag roads do not facilitate smooth and safe traffic. There is heavy traffic round-the-clock. At certain points it is impossible for pedestrians to cross roads. Accidents occur frequently. The Corporation should take steps to ensure citizens’ safety.

The roads should be widened with sidewalks for pedestrians. Traffic signals should be installed at busy road junctions. Speed breakers should be provided wherever necessary and zebra lines drawn for pedestrian crossing.

M.R. Pillai,

Rupa Nagar.

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