Opinion True freedom
The editorial Free at last rightly calls the partial decontrol of oil prices a sound economic decision.
The editorial Free at last (IE,June 26) rightly calls the partial decontrol of oil prices a sound economic decision. The costs of supplying oil should fall on the user,not on the general taxpayer. Itll definitely raise a political storm as most political parties believe that higher oil prices would hurt their electoral prospects. Raising oil prices creates opportunities for the opposition to mobilise support. The UPA must stand firm it has nothing to lose,because there are no elections in the near future except Bihar.
However the task is not complete. In rural India,access to LPG is more difficult than in urban areas. The poor still have to go to the jungle to collect wood to be used as cooking fuel. About 75 per cent use traditional biomass wood and dung as household fuel. Burning of wood and dung also emits greenhouse gases. So the still-extant price subsidy for LPG accrues disproportionately to the rich. And the kerosene subsidy appears to carry a large leakage,with a large amount diverted to the black market. The government should consider the removal of the LPG and kerosene subsidy.
Harjeev Kumar Khanna
Ferozepur
Middle class poor?
The article Pieces of the same pie (IE,July 2) by M.K. Venu was flawed. The premise that a major chunk of subsidies is devoured by the middle class needs correction. In India,the fine line between those above and those below the poverty line is amusing; the criteria applied for bracketing these classes has marginal difference. Much of the so-called middle class is actually poor,and people below poverty line are very,very poor.
Subsidies in essential items are a compulsion for any government and not a choice at this stage. The Congress government has failed to rein in the prices in any sector and middle class is bearing the brunt of price increase. Subsidies are not there because people want them,but because successive governments failed to direct benefits to the focussed groups due to large scale misuse of aid,manipulations and system failure.
By shifting subsidies from the middle class to just those below the poverty line will be a disservice to a big chunk of the population who find their day-to-day life as hard as people living under the poverty line.
Ashok Goswami
Pawar out
Sharad Pawar has at last achieved his goal of becoming ICC president. But India needs a full-time food minister,not a part-timer. Already Pawar has mismanaged the agriculture ministry,spending valuable time on the BCCI and other matters. The results are visible: food inflation is rising,procured food grains are rotting in open. In the national interest,the prime minister should appoint another agriculture minister.
Sudhir K. Bhave
Mumbai
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