Opinion Home front

Very often,women working at home are considered unemployed,even though they might work as hard as their husbands.

The Indian Express

September 15, 2012 02:22 AM IST First published on: Sep 15, 2012 at 02:22 AM IST

Home front

Very often,women working at home are considered unemployed,even though they might work as hard as their husbands. Of course,the marital relationship should not be brought into the commercial realm,but allocating a portion of the husbands salary for the homemaker is a way of recognising the worth of the work she does. It also assures her an income and with it,financial independence. Suren Abreu,Mumbai

Farm fresh

THE increase in agricultural wages (Back to the farm,IE,September 12) is seen as bad for the economy because in India,industry has acquired a narrow definition. It evokes images of IT parks and automobile factories. If a professional and scientific approach is applied to agriculture,and effective government policies are adopted,then booming agro-based industries could come up. This could also alter the pattern of rural labour migration.

N. Pattebahadur

Pune

The long race

APROPOS Off-stage action (IE,September14),it is true that Mulayam Singh Yadav is chalking out a long-term political strategy to ensure an advantageous position for himself in the 2014 elections. Meanwhile,the Congress seems to be endlessly waiting for Rahul Gandhi to take the reins and lead it out of the wilderness. It is also true that Mulayam has been bailing out the Congress at critical junctures from time to time,but this may not necessarily be in keeping with his long-term interests. The Congress can no longer ignore the fact that he is trying to upstage it and put it in a spot. The leaders of the UPA may believe that regional parties like the SP are counting their chickens before they hatch. But the Congress also insists on burying its head in the sand and refuses to face political realities.

Satwant Kaur

Mahilpur

Weak alibi

THIS refers to CBI may roast then A.B. Vajpayee-led NDA govt over coal fire (IE,September 13). V. Narayanasamy,minister of state in the PMO,recently said that the NDA government had allotted 39 coal blocks illegally. It has become a habit with Congress leaders to respond to every corruption charge against the UPA with a counter-allegation against the NDA. They forget that it is precisely for such errors of omission and commission that the BJP and its allies were ousted in the 2004 elections and the Congress-led UPA was ushere-d in. If the NDA had allotted coal blocks illegally,why did the Congress not protest? It was,after all,the main opposition party at the time. The PM must advise his colleagues to not use such weak alibis for the UPAs failures and address the issues raised.

V.V.S. Mani

Bangalore