Golden goose

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emerged as a shrewd politician by taking the unexpected but politically and ad...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emerged as a shrewd politician by taking the unexpected but politically and administratively correct decision of dissolving all the consultative committees of the Planning Commission and thus burying the controversy created by the Left. The decision has left no margin for anyone to voice a grudge. His terse 8220;neither you nor they8221; in reply to the 8220;either we or they8221; threat of Left-leaning economists in the committees must have left them shell-shocked. They got what they deserved. A visibly perplexed D. Raja of the CPI has asked: 8220;What is the logic behind dissolving the consultative committees completely?8221; Well, what was the logic in the Left making so much noise on the issue and calling the presence of the foreign experts in the committees a 8220;surrender of sovereignty8221;?

8212; M.C. Joshi Lucknow

8226; The stalwarts of Left parties have in effect killed the golden goose with their insistence that 8220;foreign8221; consultants must go. Since they wanted to resign, their wishes have been realised with the sacking of all consultants!

8212; Ashit K. Sarkar Bangalore

Plan the process

8226; The dissolution of consultative groups by the Planning Commission reminds one of the axiom that 8220;war is too serious a business to be left to generals8221;. One may say that 8220;economy is too serious a business to be left to economists8221;. The nation has a right to know the justification for setting up consultative groups and then abolishing them. Does it mean that consultative groups sans representatives of foreign organisations 8212; actually, multilateral organisations and two foreign firms 8212; are useless? I don8217;t have much faith in commissions of inquiries, but I cannot resist demanding an inquiry commission to review the working of the Planning Commission. It should examine the impact of the Planning Commission on the economic development of the country.

8212; Sureshchander Gurgaon

A different man

8226; Thanks to Yogendra Yadav for his touching article on Kishen Pattnayak 8216;Politics of a different place8217;, IE, October 2. As a journalist who spent years in Orissa, I can vouch for the silent contribution that Pattnayak made. He is dead. But I am sure his ideals will live on to inspire others.

8212; Ruben Banerjee Doha

8226; The article on Kishen Pattnayak was enlightening. It is difficult to even think that such men can exist in times when the word politician itself has acquired abusive overtones. It is really sad that the media ignored one of the very few politicians who served the people selflessly.

8212; Prasanth Kanakadandi Las Cruces, New Mexico

Third umpire

8226; This refers to the question being resolved by the Supreme Court whether, as per Article 12 of the Constitution of India, the BCCI is state or not. If the court decides that it is state then monopoly, arbitrariness and privileges of a few individuals and groups in the BCCI will soon be a thing of the past.

8212; Hem Raj Jain New Delhi