Bribe taker8217;s guilt

8226; Whenever I see a notice in offices warning the public against paying bribes ...

8226; Whenever I see a notice in offices warning the public against paying bribes to employees and officers, I wonder whether it serves any purpose. The idea behind it seems to be that all employees and officers are clean, and it is the public that offers bribes. It is the public that is therefore the root cause of corruption in our country. On the contrary the public is forced to pay bribes, harassed as they are. So the notice should really be addressed to employees/ officers that keeping work pending on flimsy excuses and demanding a bribe for doing it is a crime. Our laws need to be amended and the bribe giver should be exempted while the bribe taker punished. After all, nobody can force/threaten/blackmail anybody to accept a bribe. But in spite of rampant corruption, we are still not 8212; thank heavens 8212; the most corrupt country in the world 8216;Ten ways to fight the C-word8217;, IE, Dec 11!

8212; Sudhir K. Bhave Mumbai

New morality

8226; Kuldip Nayar as a rights activist can only find fault with the BJP while
totally ignoring the role of his comrades-in-arms like Manmohan Singh and other pseudo-intellectuals who have been supporting Laloo Prasad Yadav and his mafia at all costs. This is what is known as intellectual dishonesty 8216;A new low of public morality8217;, IE, December 21.

8212; N.D. Deshpande Mumbai

8226; I agree with Kuldip Nayar that public morality is touching new lows. The spirit of the Constitution should be respected and loopholes should not be sought to suit private interest.

8212; Pranav Sachdeva New Delhi

Southern battles

8226; The article, 8216;A cosmopolitan culture goes nuts8217; IE, December 23 is excellent and reflects the thoughts of educated and good-hearted Kannadigas and other Indians. I went to school in Karnataka and I know all their natakas. They have zero tolerance for Non-Kannadigas.

8212; Raghu On e-mail

8226; The author of this piece has to pose questions to herself before she points a finger at somebody else. The last person who should be writing about a culture going nuts is a Tamil person. Just look at Tamil Nadu, where no one likes to be relocated. It is the scariest place for Indians after Bihar. I have interviewed so many persons for software companies in Chennai and nobody takes up a job there even after being offered a good salary. The reason is that the place is un-friendly.

8212; Anish Bangalore

Laloo is a winner

8226; The article, 8216;It8217;s bijli, sadak, pani8230;8217; IE, December 22 is totally baseless. The factors which make Laloo Prasad Yadav a winner are not dealt with: he is a don, a criminal, he can kill anybody, you, me or anybody. Booth capturing will be the key to his victory.

8212; Anup On e-mail

Stimulating

8226; The article, 8216;No 100 per cent guarantee8217; IE, December 20 by Professor Gaiha was a most stimulating and balanced piece on the NREG Bill. Both researchers and policy makers would do well to ponder over its insights. My only quibble is that it is highly condensed.

8212; Vani S. Kulkarni On e-mail