Opinion Tracking corruption
Apropos Railway Minister Bansals nephew arrested by CBI for accepting Rs 90-lakh bribe
Tracking corruption
* Apropos Railway Minister Bansals nephew arrested by CBI for accepting Rs 90-lakh bribe (IE,May 4),taking bribes in return for plum postings in state services is,unfortunately,not a new phenomenon. Corruption has struck deep roots in the system. Crores of rupees are taken as bribes at the highest levels of government for transfers,postings and promotions. Huge amounts are taken by officials of enforcement departments to prune tax assessments. It is only once in a while that someone is caught doing so. In such a system,it is ridiculous that ordinary citizens should be exhorted to shun corruption by not paying extra for a ration card,a driving licence or a train berth.
M.C. Joshi
Not just the RBI
* THE RBIS easing of monetary policy,through a reduction in the repo rate,is a positive step that will boost growth. But,while announcing the change,RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said that the policy by itself could not boost growth. Unless the government steps up investment in infrastructure like roads and power generation,it may be hard to boost the growth rate. Key sectors of the economy have suffered due to bureaucratic blunders and bungling by private developers. The government has to remove bottlenecks in implementing projects. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had taken some tough measures,paring down the budgets of several ministries,tightening controls on non-plan expenditure,stepping up efforts to bring more people into the tax net. These steps had prevented the ratings downgrade. The government must maintain this upward trajectory.
C. Koshy John
Job half done
* THE editorial Kashmirs 11 (IE,May 6) is based on the assumption that government jobs empower regions and communities. Yet government jobs represent a tiny fraction of organised sector jobs,which in turn comprise a small part of Indias job market. Representation of people from Bihar in the civil services has not helped the state much. Neither has the presence of Dalits and people from tribal groups in state and Central services empowered the communities.
Vijay S. Jodha
Gurgaon
Heal thyself
* AT A time when we blame the Pakistani authorities for not ensuring the safety of Sarabjit Singh,Indian prison security proved to be inadequate in Jammu,where a Pakistani man convicted on terror charges was brutally attacked (Jammu attack: Pakistan prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay seriously injured,IE,May 3). From the incident at the LoC earlier this year to the attacks on each others prisoners,Indo-Pak ties have been severely bruised lately. This latest incident will not be viewed lightly. Pakistani prisoners in India must be adequately protected before we point fingers at security in Pakistans jails.
Anandambal Subbu
Navi Mumbai
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