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Journalism of Courage
8226; Maja Daruwala8217;s article, 8216;Information Law: Dead on Arrival8217; IE, October 1, highlights the government seeking to exclude 8220;file notings8221; from disclosure under the RTI Act. These notings are not so much the mind of the government as the process of that mind working towards a decision. When responsibility cannot be anything but 8220;collective8221;, what public interest can be served by knowing how much knowledge/ignorance individual officers at each level have displayed or what their analytical abilities or malafide intentions were? What ought to matter is the decision distilled at the end of these mullings. Unfortunately, administrative discretion is an evil necessary for bridging that yawning gap between the law and reality, allowing administrators the flexibility to find solutions to deal with vague and dated laws. The right to information would be better served if the public could know whether the decision taken was rooted in the rule of law. They ought, therefore, to demand for an account of the factors which went into taking the decision.
8212; Madhumita Mitra Washington DC
No light
8226; Apropos of Raghuvansh Prasad Singh8217;s piece IE, October 3, all I can say is what a great difference there is between his thinking and his working! What he says is true, but it appears to be a mere utopia. Has Prasad tried to implement his ideas, even if only in his own Lok Sabha constituency? Vaishali is my constituency, although I don8217;t live there anymore. Prasad has been representing it for almost a decade but has the ground level situation improved? Before writing more pieces like this, I can only suggest that he reads Shekhar Gupta8217;s 8216;Why Ranjeet Dawns8217; IE, Feb 26, in which he describes the ground picture in Bihar more accurately he even referred to Saraiya, which falls in Vaishali. Have you, or your paralysed government 8217;90-8217;05, done anything to achieve your own vision of India Empowered? Prasad and his party never wants to make people empowered because it will expose them. I remember having to wait as a young student until daylight, in order to study, because there was no electricity. Prasad should at least ensure that things in Bihar are raised to the 1990 level!
8212; Avinash Roorkee
Sandwiched army
8226; With regard to the report,8216;ULFA encircled, Cong does an Andhra in Assam8230;8217; IE, Oct 4, it is inexplicable why the government chose to call off the army operation against the ULFA in Tinsukhiya. Had this not happened, the ULFA would have been forced to come to the dialogue table on Delhi8217;s terms.
8212; Ruchi Mishra Gurgaon
Quite right
8226; The views expressed in your editorial, 8216;India8217;s interest first8217; IE, Oct 4 about India8217;s vote against Iran in the IAEA are realistic. India has for long taken a cynical, one-sided, and appeasing stand in matters related to the Islamic states but, as you have mentioned about Iran, the attitude of these states to Indian interests in matters like Kashmir or the UNSC permanent membership has always been disconcerting. It is rightly said that India8217;s primary national interest should lie in ending its own nuclear isolation.
8212; M.C. Joshi Lucknow
UPA drifting
8226; Going by the tactics of the Left, it looks like we are on the threshold of mid-term polls. Once again we are facing an unstable situation. The alliance the CPI struck with Paswan in Bihar, and the recent nation-wide strike call are some examples of the drift within the ruling coalition.
8212; Satyadev Hyderabad
