Reading rains

• If the met department swings from hope to despair, sounding uncertain about the monsoons, it greatly inconveniences farmers and the rest of us. It leads to wrong or late decisions. Since most Indian farmers still depend on the rains for irrigation, late or scanty rainfall means adverse effects on agriculture and soaring prices. With the prospects of drought in the north and severe power shortages, the Union government should embark on more scientific and technology-equipped met forecasts and also similar advances in agricultural water management.

— Bala Kiran

Pune

Energy bans

• To get some respite from long power cuts in Delhi and the rest of the country, the government should consider the following: a ban on electronic billboards and other energy-guzzling displays; zero-tolerance towards power pilferage; proscription of weddings and public programmes at night. India also needs to upgrade and order its power production and distribution structures under the Centre.

— Mahesh Kapasi

New Delhi

Curate’s egg?

• Pratap Bhanu Mehta rightly cautions us in ‘Who ate his homework?’ (IE, June 27). Doing away with Class 10 board examinations may prove to be a curate’s egg — good only in parts rather than a panacea for all ills in the education system. By retaining the Class 12 exams Kapil Sibal will only postpone and heighten the trauma for teens. A major systemic change in education that could affect a generation needs informed debate and must not be treated as part of a “100-day” programme. Admissions to Class 11 could meanwhile be determined by multiple assessments: internal assessment (say, 60 per cent weightage), board (30 per cent) and student evaluation by the admitting institution (10 per cent).

... contd.