•It’s very sad to learn of the death of the young school girl (‘First India H1N1 death...’, IE, August 4). The government must, more actively, scan incoming passengers at airports. So far, this job has been confined to ineffective paperwork. The burden of a likely epidemic cannot be borne by hapless citizens, especially when the virus is passing “indigenously”. A timely awareness drive could have mitigated its spread. But since the virus has claimed its first fatality, efforts should be made to equip hospitals and chemists with the antidotes available. In Pune, as in most other Indian cities, state-run hospitals are trying hard but are desperately out of depth and resources to handle all cases. Lessons should also be learnt from, say, the US, which has a high incidence of fatalities due to swine flu, but has also instituted a system to tackle disease outbreaks. Its Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has wide-ranging powers and can even issue national advisories to control any disease. India must be better prepared in this regard.

— R. Gupta Pune

Route legal

•Buta Singh is being unreasonably angry. His contention that, as chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes, his son’s arrest is a political ploy of victimising him does not hold water. His son, Sarobjot Singh, has been implicated in an intriguing web of alleged corruption. There is evidence of an apparent conflict of interest given the father’s official responsibilities and the son’s activities. It’ll take some time for the intricate layers of truth to unfold. Buta Singh should let the law take its course.

... contd.