My Comment: Please read the news item below. A library in such a sorry state of affairs -- is not worth fighting - not even for entry rights by civilians. We need to bother only when the library is worth something. Vyasamoorthy, P Express News Service http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=123613 Lucknow, April 3: THE board reads: Civilians not allowed! No, we are not taking you back to the British raaj but to our very own Cantt area. If you are a bibliophile and also a civilian in the cantonment area, you should be ready for the rude fact that the area does not offer library facility to those not a part of the defence forces. Those from the force have a well-equipped library on the main Mahatma Gandhi road but no civilian is allowed to have access to the books there, as it is open only for defence personnel and ex servicemen. Moved by the inconvenience of over one lakh civilians who live in the cantonment area, erstwhile chief executive officer of the Cantonment Board, Indrajit Kaur had taken the initiative to get an existing library in Sadar area, near the government hospital, renovated in the year 2000. Books worth lakhs of rupees were purchased and brought here for the first-of its-kind library for people of non-defence background in the area. The library had separate sections for children and adults depending on their tastes, but with the passage of time, the library has become an epitome of neglect. The situation has come to such a pass that it is rarely opened these days and no new books have been purchased for the last three years and the existing books are rotting. "We have raised the issue a number of times but no one is ready to pay heed to the genuine demands of the civilians. All efforts have gone in vain. The issue of library will not be solved forever unless the cantonment board holds its elections (which have been put on hold for the last two years following an SC intervention) ," maintains Shyam Narain Pandey, the former corporator of the cantonment board. ==================== Dr.P.Vyasamoorthy, Advisor, Virtual Information Centre, ICICI Knowledge Park, Genome Valley, Turkapally, Shameerpet Mandal, RR District, Hyderabad 500078 INDIA Email: vyasamoorthy@icicikp.com Phone - Office: +91(40)23480053 Fax: +91(40)23480007 Phone Residence: +91(40)27846631