Opinion Food for thought

UPA. The Congress party seems to be trying to make amends for its mistakes. But public memory is not so short. The hardships of the last five years will be remembered,as will the fact that the prime minister barely addressed voters. It is not possible to change the trend of disillusionment overnight. The general elections of 2014 are bound to hold some hard lessons for the ruling party.

— C.K. Ramanathan

Ghaziabad

* The haste with which the food security bill has been passed suggests it has been done with an eye on the 2014 elections. The identification of the beneficiaries is yet to start. Inclusion and exclusion criteria must be reasonably defined. How the food items are to be procured and stored is unclear. This bill will add to government spending and could also increase the current account deficit. Prices of other food items like pulses and vegetables are likely to rise. It should also be ensured that there is no pilferage in the process of implementing the scheme. All the loopholes must be plugged.

— N. R. Ramachandran,

Ooty

Telangana doctrine

*This refers to ‘Not only Telangana’ (IE,August 27). Announcing the creation of Telangana may be a matter of pride for the Congress,but the way the decision was taken suggests the absence of a far-sighted view of India. There are many different voices in a state. The government should hear all of them out patiently. New states should be carved out only through impartial,transparent and substantial processes. The creation of Telangana seems to be more of a political than an administrative decision. When a government is busy looking after the interests of the ruling party,it is dangerous for a democratic culture.

— Uttam K. Bhowmik

Tamluk,

Fighting fear

*This refers to ‘The real deterrent’ by G.P. Joshi and ‘Fear in the frame’ by Ashima Narain (IE,August 27).We talk of women working in jobs that have traditionally been considered male domains. But when women go out and work in these fields,a regressive mindset often cranks into action and there are gross violations. I agree with Narain when she says we need to accept this fear and realise its consequences in order to combat it. It is time that we as a society started teaching our boys equity and respect instead of forcing our girls to lead sheltered lives just to protect them.

— Tejaswani Gautam

New Delhi