The article on Chandra Shekhar (Rebel With a Cause, March 5) glorifies a person who has been a mere opportunist. I fail to understand why India’s leaders and bureaucrats come alive to the country’s problems and start talking of morality only when they are out of power.
When Shekhar was a member of the ruling party and even as prime minister, he cared little for eradicating illiteracy or unemployment. While in the Opposition, he wanted action taken against Rajiv Gandhi in the Bofors case, but when he became prime minister with Rajiv’s help, he quietly forgot about it.
Another disturbing point is his observation: "You encourage institutional corruption, and raise a hue and cry over individual corruption." Without individual corruption, there cannot be any institutional corruption—after all, institutions are conglomerations of individuals.
V.S. Garg, Moradabad(UP)
The present UF set-up with 13 parties and 14 ‘prime ministers’, has no performance to compare with the achievements of past prime ministers (Honeymoon’s Over, March 5). Except I.K. Guj-ral, the UF candidates are unfit to be in positions of power in Delhi. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Rajiv Gandhi who occupied the prestigious chair were highly-qualified broad-minded political leaders who worked for the weaker sections.
C. Venkat Rathnam, Bangalore
As Bill Gates has been saying recently: "I am impressed" (with Miracle Budget, March 12). This was the fastest draw from a magazine that I have seen in recent times.
Good, optimistic cover story and consistent with your earlier article that the rumours of the death of the Indian economy were highly exaggerated.
Sudipta Ghatak, Mumbai
The finance minister has done well by proposing that car owners, telephone users and house owners will have to pay income tax. But, the modalities of collection of taxes is not clear. Perhaps car owners could carry income tax return certificates with their driving licences. And cops should have the authority to check income tax papers too. The lack of such papers should be punished with a fine, failing which the vehicle should be impounded.
Similarly, telephone owners should show tax papers while paying phone bills, failing which the phones should be disconnected. Such a system will have high compliance rate at little administrative cost.
Bhuwan Mohan, Delhi
Your budget round-up delves deep into the dynamics of the exercise and comes out with a brilliant analysis of the ‘Miracle Budget’ as you so aptly characterise it. Chidambaram’s first budget predictably suffered from financial measures incapable of registering imprints of any consequence. The constraints under which he was forced to perform his statutory duties left no scope for spectacular attempts to be bold. With the gradual improvement in situation in terms of political cohesiveness and economic durability, the resultant exercise opens up a new vista of perspective planning in economic terms.
Debasish Dutta, Uttarpara, West Bengal
Your correspondent deserves credit for furnishing well-tabulated information on what Deve Gowda in his first seven months as prime minister had done for the development of Karnataka—an achievement that no prime minister from Pandit Nehru to P.V. Narasimha Rao can lay claim to with regard to their home states (The State of Bounty, February 26).
Deve Gowda may experiment on these lines by choosing two or three states in the north, south, east and west, for similar attention every year—regardless of which political party is in power in the state.
As for Karnataka, Parliament should have its winter sessions at Bangalore on a permanent basis—hopefully followed by a similar arrangement for the Supreme Court of India.
G. Ranganathan, Chennai
The North-east has been neglected by successive governments at the Centre (Big Brother and the Seven Sisters, March 5). In order to break the vicious circle of lack of infrastructure leading to poverty, disease, criminalisation and drugs, there is a need to start somewhere. And the provision in the present railway budget should be a good beginning. Further, the support from the general budget for the projects announced by the prime minister should be of help. However, special projects on education and health care need to be introduced to accelerate growth. And the improvement in transport should attract investment.
A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram
It hurts to see that the retired top brass in the armed services, of whom a high sense of patriotism and morale could have been expected, has deceived the nation by remaining silent spectators at the time of finalising the purchase contract of the Bofors gun (Guns Without Ammunation, March 5).
A simple question arises: why did they not open their mouth when it was actually warranted under their official as well as moral duties? Now they are only too quick on the draw with charges against each other.
P. Gautampurkar, Kota (Rajasthan)
The list of projects entrusted to Snamprogetti during the regime of the Gandhis instils many doubts. That Snamprogetti is an Italian company makes it clear that the money of the Indian taxpayers was leaking steadily towards the direction of Rome.
It will only be in tune with our national ethos to mint coins with the faces of Jayalalitha, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Now we understand why there were no coins with the figures of those hapless prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Moraji Desai.
S. Gandhimathi, Chennai
Russia’s stand on the Kudank-ulam nuclear power project is a landmark in Indo-Russian relationship. It has been observed that the US is poking its nose in other country’s affairs. (A Determined Salesman, February 26). Without developing a negative attitude towards America, India should maintain comfortable relations. India should use nuclear power for peaceful and useful ends and concentrate on developing nuclear technologies without relying on others. Hopefully, a tripartite relationship between India, Russia and the US will emerge.
Paresh Kumar Swain, Bhubaneswar
This refers to Once, Even Donald Ducked (February 26). The title of the article tells all. Yes, for once, the self-proclaimed destroyer of batsmen, Allan Donald, did duck at the onslaught of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the replayed final of the Standard Bank triangular one-day series at Kingsmead, Durban. Match referee Barry Jarman’s action or lack of it, as far as South African players were concerned, has left a bitter taste. Whereas, Saurav Ganguly and Pankaj Dharmani were fined 25 per cent of their match fee for excessive appealing, no action was taken against Shaun Pollock for his abusive language, nor against Hansie Cronje for elbowing Srinath. Donald too should have been taken to task for his ungentlemanly behaviour. Yet, he was allowed to go scot-free.
Suresh Basrurkar, Pune
Your write-up Working Class Hero (February 19) has discovered a man fighting for human rights in the true sense. Such persons who actually render invaluable services to the society often go unnoticed by the media and instead publicity-hungry mongrels appear on the front pages. One hopes Kaushala Prasad Mishra’s aim to get compensation for 8,000 workers suffering with byssinosis will be realised. It is comforting that even in this age of materialism and opportunism, there are philanthropists who are eager to wipe away the tears of others.
The write-up also exposes the poor working conditions that prevail in most Indian industries, which cause chronic diseases to the workers.
Anand Prakash Mishra, Gaya
My sympathies are with Vinod Mehta for arguing a very weak case in his article, In Defence of Politicians (March 12). Legally speaking, everyone is innocent till proved otherwise, but in the eyes of the public, politicians are corrupt till proven otherwise.
Mr Mehta has not considered names like Phoolan Devi, Mulayam Singh Yadav or Laloo Prasad Yadav. The truth is that criminals have assumed the leadership of the country in the name of caste or religion. If a ‘dictatorship’ like that in effect in Singapore takes place in India, it will restore order in society, which is essential for the welfare of the country.
Prajan K. Jain, Delhi
Half-a-dozen upright and exceptional politicians cannot disprove the rule which is that most of them are crooked and corrupt. Besides, the public perception of politicians as crooked and corrupt is nothing special to India but, with apologies to the late Indira Gandhi, a universal phenomenon.
C. Antony Louis, Mumbai
Vinod Mehta’s column makes a few assumptions which to the worm’s-eye view represent a bit of an ‘us and them’ approach. If it takes a ‘hate politician’ mood to set off an alternate method of governance, so be it. Getting rid of a cancer by amputation has a lot going for it.
Veeresh Malik, New Delhi
