About governance

8226; Shekhar Gupta's 8216;Who8217;s afraid of the bulldozer8217; IE, December 24 was truly ...

8226; Shekhar Gupta8217;s 8216;Who8217;s afraid of the bulldozer8217; IE, December 24 was truly hard-hitting. As a concerned citizen of this country, I am horrified with the commercialisation and criminalisation of our politics. It is sickening that we, the citizens, elect people who loot us. Thanks to the Express for your continued focus on good governance issues.

8212; Dinesh Vaidya Pune

8226; What is most amazing and disgusting about the New Delhi demolitions is the sheer audacity of encroachers in flaunting their illegally constructed properties and their supreme confidence about 8216;the system8217; that will enable them, and many like them, to keep these intact despite High Court orders. The court ordered Delhi demolitions are an acid test for the government. If they are now stopped the message will be clear: have money, flout laws!

8212; Kishore Karnad Baroda

One for Congress

8226; I Strongly suspect that there would have been no expulsions from Parliament if the majority of MPs had been from the Congress/UPA or the Left parties. While the bribe-taking puts the nation to shame, I think the Congress and the Left have used it to make life easier for themselves by dismissing a few opposition MPs. The shame faced by the BJP is a bonus to these parties. If the Left and Congress were really so shocked about corruption and wanted to act on it, they should have removed Laloo Prasad Yadav from the cabinet long ago, got rid of Natwar Singh even quicker.

8212; Gopinathan Chesterfield

Now, discuss

8226; This has reference to the UPA8217;s decision to introduce state funding of elections. This promise made in the CMP is an excellent idea. There are, however, big questions about the manner in which it will be implemented. This requires detailed discussion between government and political parties.

8212; Pranav Sachdeva New Delhi

In the mind

8226; This refers to Pamela Philipose8217;s 8216;Kingdom of the official secret8217; IE, December 26. The Indian bureaucracy not only has the rigidity of a traditional mindset but is also feudalistic in its approach. Its power becomes unimpeachable when people by and large are either illiterate or ignorant and non-assertive of their rights. The new law may introduce even more red tape to make official information more unwieldy and inaccessible. Our bureaucratic functioning does not need new laws and rules, it needs a training to change mindsets.

8212; Ved Guliani Hisar

Impeach them

8226; I fully agree with the views of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee that the MPLAD Scheme should be scrapped. I cannot but recall the proceedings of the impeachment of Warran Hastings in the House of Commons in 1785 when Edmund Burke said: 8216;8216;I impeach you in the name of the people of India, whose rights you have trodden under foot and whose country you have turned into a desert. Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, in the name of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I impeach you, the common enemy and oppressor of all.8217;8217; We require many Edmund Burkes in our midst today to impeach the men and women in our legislatures who are emasculating the people of India.

8212; S. Narayan Mumbai