Timely intervention

This refers to the news report “Food inspectors extra vigilant during festival” (THT, Sept. 28). It’s commendable that the Department of Food and Quality Control has stepped up vigilance on the quality of food products available in the market with festivals of Dashain and Tihar just round the corner. This was the right move at the right time, as adulteration in food products has been a growing consumer concern in Nepal, and increases even more during the festive season.

Shiva Neupane,

Melbourne, Australia

Invest in IT

While the developing nations have already entered the age of the highly advanced Ubiquitous-

governance (U-governance), lack of initiatives on the development of information and communication technology has left Nepal far behind other countries in this field. While the office bearers do not seem cognisant of the immense opportunities offered by the ICT sector, absence of concrete policy has stymied the development of the country. In order to increase efficiency and expedite the development process the government should invest in the ICT sector.

Rabin Rachalica,

Green Team, Bhaktapur

Going wrong

Spice Nepal has proven to be a tough competitor to other telecom service providers with its scheme of free talk time. However, to provide services in a consistent manner, it also has to take care of technical problems that might crop up. Though these services are an

incentive to customers, they are being charged for the same. The service provider either has to scrap the scheme of free talk time, or ensure that customers are not cheated.

Bharat Kafle,

Battisputali, Kathmandu

Campaigning

It is heartening that the political parties have eventually started campaigning for the polls. In Ilam, party cadres have already started to paint the walls with political slogans. But the political parties should also ensure that they clean the walls after the polls are over. It is our duty to keep our city clean.

Saroj Bhurtel, Ilam

Tarnished

It was not easy for the Maoists to adjust themselves immediately in the mainstream politics after a decade of insurgency.

However, by deciding to launch protests to push their 22 demands, the Maoists have shown that they do not care much about the aspiration of the people for peace. The fact that they are backing off from the elections has once more damaged their reputation as the advocates of democracy.

Dwaipayan Regmi,

Biratnagar

Piracy

The illegal sale of pirated versions of computer software has been on the rise. The software that would cost thousands is available at cheap prices in the market and no effort has ever been made to stop the illegal purchase and sale of software. It has been found that even IT experts in the country have been using the same pirated versions. The government should strictly implement piracy law, so that pirated versions are not sold in the market. Instead, it should make people aware of the alternatives.

Suhrid Satyal, via e-mail