Express your voice

8226; Half a freedom by Tavleen Singh The Sunday Express, August 23 illustrates the stark contrasts that exist in our society between the haves and the have-nots. No doubt the international community has taken note of the economic progress India has made in the past few years. Arun Shourie has gone to great lengths to convince the discerning and cynics alike of this achievement in a series of articles that appeared in the he Indian Express during the past week. India is spoken of with respect among the international business community now and finds a prominent place in the international media instead of just a mention in passing. Be that as it may, we should not try to sweep the other side of India, where millions do not know where the next meal would come from, under the carpet. It is an appropriate time to infuse young blood, who are prepared to move away from the beaten track, into the political scene. These innovative minds would definitely be able to take our country to higher planes of socio-economic development.
8212; V P Damodar

8226; Tavleen Singh has rightly said that beyond the economic muscle which we have been drumming about a bit boisterously; there lies a country where half of the population is stricken by extreme poverty, lack of justice and administrative corruption which ensures that the money supposed to ensure the social welfare of our unfortunate brethren actually goes into the pockets of government officials. Corruption in India has reached such unimaginable proportions that no one wants to discuss any issue that can directly or even indirectly reduce corruption. If there is one achievement that the Indian bureaucracy in the 56th year of the nation, can be proud of, it is this.
8212; Arun

8226; This refers your article, Half a Freedom . I fully agree with your observations regarding effects of recent changes in our economic policies and the need to accelerate our efforts for better infrastructure, health care, education, environment and good life. As is known, Nehru was a Fabian Socialist, an idealist, and an internationalist. Hence all his policies were directed towards central planning and promotion of public enterprises, resulted in the 8217;licence-permit-quota Raj8217;. Following his footsteps, his daughter went on a nationalisation spree, without introducing an element of accountability. As a result, there was no encouragement for the private entrepreneurs. Bright young people were thus compelled to seek jobs in government and PSUs. Further, leftist-orientation ensured that no body was made duty conscious, but was given the right to strike sometime violent at the cost of the national interest.
8212; Dr S K Agarwal