• You have correctly said that politicians have for once done a good job in passing the historic Constitution 97th Amendment Bill banning all defections and reducing the size of ministries to 15 per cent, subject to a minimum of 12. However, your numbers need correction. Meghalaya has now 42 ministers. Under the new law, it will have to drop 30 ministers and have only 12 (‘Over 300 Ministers to lose their jobs.’, IE, December 19). This is great for the country and will hopefully produce better governance. —Robert Kharshiing, MP New Delhi No, PM • I hold Prime Minister Vajpayee in high esteem but I totally disagree with him when he says that reservations are needed in private sector (‘No coercion.PM’, IE, December 20). In fact the government should look into when they should start dismantling the reservation system in government sectors, thus providing an opportunity for healthy competition among citizens. —Narender Goud On e-mail A road map • Whatever may be General Musharraf’s intention in saying that he is ready to “set aside” the question of plebiscite in J&K, it is undoubtedly desirable to start talking about all questions, including Kashmir, with Pakistan and the Kashmiris (‘General shift’, IE, December 20). If we are ready to give the people in the Valley a good federal status, the result of a plebiscite is very likely to be in our favour. So, why not to make a counter offer of holding a plebiscite separately in the Valley and PoK? —Tryambaklal U. Mehta On e-mail • As usual, the politician-general has sprung a surprise. His offer to forget about the UN resolution about plebicite in Kashmir is a sort of coup for Pakistani diplomacy. But are we ready to face him? Can we engage with him in a meaningful dialogue and achieve a counter coup? We are watching Mr Vajpayee. Let us see if he can bring peace to the subcontinent (‘Welcome, say Delhi and Washington’, IE, December 20). —Col A.I. Nomani On e-mail Unsubstantiated info • I was surprised to have read the article, ‘Sukhoi check defective so India order stop payment’, by S. Datta (Sunday Express, November 14), which contained unsubstantiated information about the Su-30MKI aircraft. Unfortunately, I must admit that the staff of the newspaper did not take time to verify the factual correctness of the allegations made, with neither the ministry of defence, Government of India, nor the Embassy of Russia, nor the representative of Rosoboronexport in India. Articles of this ilk not only tend to undermine the universally recognised high standing of one of the world’s best combat aircraft, but cast a shadow on your reputed newspaper as well as on the fruitful multifaceted military and technical cooperation between Russia and India. There is no doubt that journalists have a right to receive information from various sources. However, such pieces may jeopardise the traditional good understanding that the Embassy has maintained with The Indian Express. —Alexander M. Kadakin Ambassador of the Russian Federation New Delhi
