A blot on us

India lives in villages and numerous farmers and craftsmen, living in rural India, are facing untold misery 1...

India lives in villages and numerous farmers and craftsmen, living in rural India, are facing untold misery 8216;The pattern in the suicides8217;, IE, June 21. This is a big blot on the nation. The situation should be an eye-opener to all right thinking people. Why is this happening? May be it is due to the persistent neglect of hapless people by their elected representatives. The Union government should go all-out for rural development, welfare, health and education. The farmers must be provided with adequate finance, quality seeds, fertilisers and other inputs at reasonable cost. Comprehensive insurance must be provided to all crops of irrigated and non-irrigated types. Minimum support prices must be ensured to all farmers. Industry must be encouraged to set up agro and food processing plants in rural areas.
Apart from these measures, the government must promote the forming of co-operatives among farmers and weavers and establish co-ordination councils at the mandal/taluk, district, and state levels with members from elected representatives, farmers and implementing agencies, to monitor the progress of various schemes and to take corrective action where necessary. These councils must also act as grievance cells. Panchayats must be given a key role in this process.

8212; C.S.N. Raju Hyderabad

New kids

8226; The examples Amrita Shah provides in her column, 8216;Denim, the new khadi8217; IE, June 19 are of Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, and the like 8212; people born with a silver spoon in their mouths. None of them have ever stood in a queue for an application form to get kerosene rations or waited for a tanker of drinking water. What do they understand of India or Indians?

8212; Chetan Badhan On e-mail

Greater integration

8226; If those killed in the Gujarat encounters are indeed terrorists, they deserved to be shot dead and I am personally satisfied with the action taken by Gujarat police, but if they are proved innocent by the CBI then what? There is a tendency to blame Muslims in general and the actions being taken are only adding to the tensions. We need to take another look at the life of Mahatma Gandhi, and understand his concept of satyagraha and national brotherhood. This tendency to ghetto-ise the Muslim community is absolutely wrong. We need greater integration.

8212; Imran Bhaiji On e-mail

Atal on headlines

8226; A.B. Vajpayee is no more a prime minister. He has lost the election and is being criticised by the VHP and RSS. Yet, he continues to be in the limelight. During his vacation at Manali, he kept statements that the media rushed to publicise. He continues to occupy a position of eminence in the media. Why? I don8217;t think he deserves so much importance. Let us, instead, concentrate now on our new prime minister, and his policies to make India a developed nation.

8212; Divyesh Raythatha On e-mail

Sachin speaks

8226; It8217;s good to see that Sachin Tendulkar has some views on something 8216;It8217;s a tough call between Yuvi and Chopra: Sachin8217;, IE, June 18. As an experienced player his views are important. In fact, he should have spoken out earlier because his opinion matters. This is where Saurav Ganguly scored over him and changed the face of Indian cricket in the process. He did what ever he could as a captain, even though he didn8217;t had the aura of a Tendulkar.

8212; Shravan Enaganti On e-mail