Private universities

Some of the private universities in our country are business Institutions of a dubious kind. Those private universities as the prime educational institutions don't ensure facilities that a university should.

That the University Grants Commission has realised the truth is the ray of hope for our cumulatively deteriorating education system.

MdKhairulAlam

Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University

Dhaka-1207

UNO at 59

We congratulate the UNO on its 59th birthday, but at the same time, a lot of questions arise about its success and acceptability. The aim of the UNO is to foster friendly relations among different nations and encourage international co-operation in the solution of economic, social political, cultural and humanitarian problems. AU disputes and incongruities should be resolved through peaceful means and no members should encroach upon any state which should always be allowed to possess territorial integrity and independence. Although the UNO has been formed with noble objectives , its record of achievement in securing international peace and promoting international cooperation is poor. The reason is perspicuous. The Big Powers have failed to subordinate their individual interests to the common good. Power politics guide the decisions of the Security Council After the Cold War, one country abuses the UNO and it (UNO) carries out its activities in different parts of the world as a puppet of that country.

There are many unresolved issues across the world. The way these problems are being tackled proves that the UNO is first becoming a cockpit of conflicting ideologies and rival ambitions.

As a result of all these, people are losingfaithintheUNOand it is likely to suffer the same fate as the League of Nations did.

Mostaque Ahmed (Raju) SSBHall

Jahangirnagar University

Cutting costs

I fully agree and most people will join me in what Mr Saifur Rahman said about cutting the expenditures of Dhaka Eastern Bypass from Tk 317 crores toTk250 crores. By doing this he is saving Tk 67 crore. There are many other instances where public money is being squandered.

It is high time that the government had a look at what is going on in the Ministry of Communications. Abdul Malek

Larmini Street

Wari, Dhaka

Name game at its worst

We are dismayed to learn that the name of National University is going to be changed. Is there any need to change the name?

We used to think that changing names and giving names to new institutions after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other prominent figures of the Awami League was a trademark of that party alone, and it evoked displeasure in

the minds of people. It did little to increase respect for the great leaders. Despite our request not to change the Chittagong Airport's name, it was renamed as "M A Hannan International Airport." And when the BNP came to power in 2001 the name was again changed, now it is called "Shah Amanat International Airport."

The decision to change the name of National University has made us very unhappy. It will blur the image of the BNP and In no way add to the respect that people already have for Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman. The BNP should consider all the aspects of the issue and refrain from making the same mistake again and again.

But the objection coming from AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil is hard to digest, we can only say, "Look, who is speaking."

Nurjahan

Chittagong

Weak regulatory system

In the Third World countries, the

official regulatory systems are weak, for reasons well analysed by the researchers at local and UN levels. Fhe inspection teams do not carry out their duties properly, enforcement is lax, and there are very few court cases due to graft and corrupt institutions. This is not enough, most of the regulatory clauses are out of date, and need revisions and updating thousandsofreviews.

The judiciary is a visible victim of the law's delay. Law-making is a slow process in the developing countries, where the politicians want instant, visible demonstrations for immediate public consumption. The foreground becomes more important than the background, with the result that groundwork, foundations, and base activities get neglected. Looking at the multistoried buildings coming up in the metropolis and other major cities, the prospect of the coming collapse of die inadequate infrastructure is ominous.

The political rulers are too busy with political rehabilitation work (maintenance and oiling of rusty mechanisms), and can hardly spare -

sufficient time to the posts they hold in the government and other local bodies. A minister talks more about politics than about the bustling activities in his ministry. This negligence indirectly strengthens the indolent civil service, and the politicians becomip too much dependent upon them; resulting in poor disciplinary actions, and low efficiency of the civil sen-ice (political service is rendered first, and the routine activities car i wait). The vicious cycle continues w i th successive regimes.

There ate bottomless-basket areas also in governance and administration. The political culture, it appEtars, never had any bottom at all! Due to poor leadership, politics is now also topless. The question at Ises what to do with inert bodies. One is reminded of the polythene. shopping bags, which are clogging up almost everything. A political poser: Pay attention to the message oi * the medium?

The situation in Dhaka is typical, if not wors e, with the added mentality that thiEJ opposition is supposed to have no status or business, either in the society, or inside the parlia-

ment. This feudal mentality has its background in the emerging nations. Those who have not seen or used power at different levels, are very sensitive towards it, and tend to look at it subjectively. Newcomers to seats of power (however humble) are extra sensitive, as during the honeymoon period. What is the difference between a novice driver and an expert automobile driver? the passenger is not aware of the braking and the change of gears. How long it will take our politics to reach that stage?

The LDCs lose a lot of the nation’s time adjusting to changing situations in the society. Thus the priorities get distorted, and systems losses increase in all sectors. Ad hoc administrative decisions become the rule of the day, relegating the status of foresight, judgement, and critical reviews. After some time, the routines get upset, and the politicians hassle the bureaucracy with a lot of file work. Do your own work, and there will be no complaints.

It is taxing to run routine systems and development projects, as the chaos level is high all around in the

official and political circles, even for routine processing. Corruption and under the table and back-door activities accentuate the already uncontrollable situation. The problem is not the capital sector, but operations and maintenance. The last two responsibilities cannot be based on common sense and general knowledge. Where is the time and resources to plan the training and orientation programmes?

The gagged media is rather helpless, specially the print media, due to illiteracy and inaccessibility of the rural readers. The latter depend on audio-visual data, easily provided by the electronic media of radio and television (and now satellite television channels via the flourishing local cable networks). Therefore broadcasting continues to be gagged by the successive regimes, as an exclusive medium of government propaganda.

Elections provide a new management within the above scenario. How to change the scenario?

AMawaz

Dhaka