Opinion Coalition side-effects
Your bold and forthright editorial Mamata should go (IE,July 20) is apt but the compulsions of coalition politics puts paid to any corrective action....
-
Share -
-
-
Your bold and forthright editorial Mamata should go (IE,July 20) is apt but the compulsions of coalition politics puts paid to any corrective action. Politicians of this ilk,who have other agendas,have no concern for national interest. Banerjee is pursuing her one-point agenda of unseating the communists in West Bengal. There are others in this government who are perpetually absent from Delhi. The root cause is electoral politics. It is a far cry from the days when Lal Bahadur Shastri tendered his resignation as railway minister after an accident.
John Alexander Nagpur
Professional failure
An expanding population and a galloping economy have resulted in passenger and freight outputs registering a six-fold leap,since 1950.The marginal increase in track kilometre and rolling stock has only added heavily to the wear and tear of both,which has a direct bearing on safety. Track renewal/maintenance and signal upgrades require massive funds that could never be generated because of the need to keep fares low,driven by political populism. Between 1970 and 1990,the cost of inputs had gone up twice compared to earning per passenger km. This would be much larger now.
Railways has an extensive professional set-up. But by accident or design,almost every rail minister has acquired a larger than life image with an otherwise modest portfolio now being associated with patronage. Thus,the onus of accidents should fall more on an established professional board and less on its minister.
R. Narayanan Ghaziabad
Coasting on zero
The editorial The Underminer (IE,July 19) depicts an accurate picture of what ails the UPA and particularly,the Congress party. However,one will also have to realise that Sonia Gandhi is also responsible for this state of affairs. She,as the party president,should effectively tell the likes of Digvijaya Singh what is proper and what is not. She appears to behave less than responsibly when he sends suggestions to the PM which the government cant afford to implement with available resources. Is it because she is virtually commanding a government without bearing any responsibility for the consequences? We expect better from those who are leading this nation.
Sadashiv S. Apte
More power to Hegde
This refers to Shekhar Guptas interview with the Karnataka Lokayukta,Justice Santosh Hegde (IE,July 20). Corruption has to be fought tooth and nail if this billion strong nation,with 70 per cent of them poor,is to survive. The Lokayukta is one institution that can show the way but most of them have failed to even marginally eradicate corruption. Justice Hegde was the one who revolted,which shook the rickety foundations of the Karnataka government. He was prevailed upon to return,but has lost none of his fire,as is apparent from the declaration of his intent in several interviews he has given.
R.J. Khurana
-
Share
-
-
-
Share
