Sir — This refers to the editorial, “The only silver lining” (February 24). The just-ended Parliament session has the dubious record of passing the least number of Bills by any full-term House. If the bonhomie displayed by leaders cutting across party lines on the last day is any indication, then Parliament could have done better with similar camaraderie earlier. However, passing of Bills of social values, as rightly pointed out in the editorial, came as a welcome relief.
lakhs of cancer patients will benefit from the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, whose adoption was long overdue. Palliative care of cancer patients suffered because many specialist doctors could not prescribe morphine despite being qualified to do so.
Similarly, the Protection of livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Bill will help more than 10 million urban street vendors. Most of them are migrants and tread with their heart in their mouth, fearing harassment at every step. Street-vending is a dignified form of self-employment which is, unfortunately, looked down upon by many of us.