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Letters

Monika Naik
German Federal President Joachim Gauck has awarded Mrs Monika Naik, In-Charge-cum-Secretary of Bantra St Thomas Home Welfare Society in Howrah, with the Cross of the Order of Merit of the the Federal Republic of Germany. Yesterday (July 10, 2015) the German Consul General in Kolkata, Rainer Schmiedchen, handed over the Order of Merit to Mrs Naik.

"We salute the modest, highly competent and warm-hearted Monika Naik for her courage and dedication to work relentlessly and making an Indo-German partnership project such a big success", said Consul General Schmiedchen.

Mrs Naik, nee Dutta, was born on 21 November 1960 in Howrah. At the age of 20 she started working as a nurse in the Tuberculosis clinic of St Thomas Home in Howrah. At present, Mrs Naik is the In -Charge-cum-Secretary of the clinic.

"German Doctors e.V.", a German NGO, has been working in close cooperation with St Thomas Home for many years. Medical doctors from Germany, sent by the NGO to India on a regular basis, offer free medical treatment to patients suffering from Tuberculosis. Throughout the last 14 years, one German doctor has been stationed permanently at the clinic. The German Consulate General in Kolkata has been supporting St Thomas' Home over the last decades.

The German Government has awarded Mrs Naik the Order of Merit as a gesture of thankfulness and appreciation of not only her exemplary service and expertise, but also for her empathy and dedication towards bringing health and hope back to the life of so many people.
Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Kolkata
11 July, 2015

Fertilizer Subsidy
It refers to welcome proposal of Central government for direct transfer of fertilizer-subsidy in bank-accounts of farmers. Earlier practice to pass on such subsidy through some 'cooperatives' was grossly misused for benefit of those controlling such cooperative-bodies, minting enormous money for their personal use. One such cooperative which even came under scanner of Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) was detected by a vigilant District Magistrate of Delhi for gifting prime-properties in New Delhi/Delhi worth billions of rupees to its office-bearers with even registration-fees paid by the cooperative-body constituted in name of farmers. The body even did not accept appointment of Central Vigilance Officers (CVOs) by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), and making itself accountable to public under 'Right-To-Information (RTI) Act'.

Need is for speedy implementation of proposal of direct transfer of fertilizer-subsidy in bank accounts of farmers. Moreover Central government should probe and expose all such cooperative-bodies which benefited their office-bearers in past by being middle-body to pass on fertilizer-subsidy. Assets of such cooperative-bodies and their office-bearers should be confiscated, if necessary through ordinance or legislation. It is significant that such properties of office-bearers of such cooperatives were either gifted by concerned cooperatives or built by unfair means through control of cooperative-bodies by them. It is ridiculous that on one side farmers were committing suicides, while on other side those controlling cooperative-bodies in name of farmers were building empires for themselves!
Subhash Chandra Agrawal, Delhi

‘CagEd Parrot’
Gone are the days of golden era of Indian politics when the then Union Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from the post soon after a rail-accident without any one having asked for by opposition or anyone else.

It is out of imagination that Ram Naresh Yadav failed to resign instantly from post of Madhya Pradesh governor soon after Supreme Court issued notice against him on demand to file First-Information-Report (FIR) against him in infamous Vyapam scam which even allegedly made his own son commit suicide. This is despite the fact that he is very well aware that he cannot practically remain on his post in time to come.

It should be hoped that ordered enquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be monitored by Supreme Court, because earlier this premium agency has been termed as 'caged parrot'! Many former CBI directors are on record to confess that CBI at times has to work according to requirement of political rulers as is also evident from the fact that it often takes U-turn on its stand in cases involving former or existing Chief Ministers.
Madhu Agrawal, Delhi

Frontier
Vol. 48, No. 7, Aug 23 - 29, 2015