Opinion How to react
Mehta has raised some fundamental issues at the right moment.
This refers to Pratap Bhanu Mehtas An open argument (IE,September 28). Mehta has raised some fundamental issues at the right moment. The long history of inconclusive negotiations led to the current situation. Maintaining status quo may provide short-term relief but will not be a lasting solution. State governments are not keen on allowing any violence which will upset their political calculations. This can be the turning point in Indias political culture. The younger generation is not interested in the issue. Peaceful coexistence is the need of the hour. Indians must have learned a lesson from the history. If Indian democracy has matured enough,itll react to the verdict responsibly.
Shishir Sindekar
Nasik
Take another look
The editorial No interest (IE,September 28) indicates a contradiction in the RBIs role in public debt management. It first states that the RBI and other expert committees advocated a separate Debt Management Office in 1999. But then,it points out that the RBI bureaucracy is obstructing the DMOs creation and questions the central banks credentials in managing public debt. The editorial expresses concern about the governments large public borrowings,forcing banks to invest their money in government bonds,which affects their cost of borrowing that translates into an additional burden on the public in the form of high lending rates.
Would it really make any difference if the suggestion to take away this function from the central bank is accepted and implemented? Will the DMO be able to deal with the gamut of public debt independently? That another expert committee is looking into the desirability of making this vital function independent of the RBI speaks volumes about the need to not rush into a hasty decision.
S.K. Gupta
Promise kept
Hats off to Nandan Nilekani for keeping his promise and date with the UID,as the first 12-digit Unique Identification Number would be given to a resident of Tembhli,a tribal village (UID launch today in tribal district with Cong links,IE,September 29). Nilekani has done a unique job amidst bureaucratic constraints. However,politics has overshadowed his project as a small tribal village has been chosen for this national launch.
S.N. Kabra
Family first
More often than not,a government-sponsored extravaganza becomes a mom-and-pop enterprise for the near and dear ones of politicians and bureaucrats (Me and mine,IE,September 29). How come the powers-that-be find competence only in the sons,daughters and relatives of the high and mighty? Whats called a coincidence with regard to the selective appointments for the CWG Organising Committee is contrived and conforms to the political and bureaucratic quid pro quo in India.
Tarsem Singh
New Delhi
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