Rajan’s problem Indication of insecurity
I fully agree with Deba Pratim Ghatak’s letter, “Riding on glamour” (September 20). I will examine some of the statements made by former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan and what he writes in his book, I Do What I Do.
Rajan said there were better ways than demonetisation to achieve the objective of removing black money. But he does not state any, except tackling over-invoicing by companies in a general way without mentioning import or export.
Consider invoicing of import: Nearly 50 per cent of import is of oil and by government undertakings. For the rest, there is little scope, as value comparisons are made with comparable prices by the Directorate General of Valuation, set up for this purpose. A few cases by some shell companies can be called fraud, but the number is not substantial. The money is saved abroad; it is not black money in India.
Over-invoicing of export is not practicable, as Indian goods are not competitive in foreign markets. Rajan has not discussed the main source — direct tax and real estate. His statement is not quite economics, merely surmise and amateurish.
In the book, Rajan’s attempt to justify his running down of the concept of Make in India in favour of “Make for India” is less than convincing. He made a mistake in elementary economics. His propensity to lecture more than concentrating on his work has led to this problem.
Sukumar Mukhopadhyay New Delhi not being contested seriously.
The legal validity of their disqualification for expressing lack of confidence in the incumbent chief minister or otherwise would be known in due course. It is a foregone conclusion, if the Supreme Court’s ruling in a similar case of disqualification from Karnataka is any indication.
The court’s direction to the Election Commission to not initiate any action to hold by-elections in the 18 Assembly constituencies was in a way tantamount to staying the disqualification. The only consolation to the EPS-OPS camp was that the court did not reverse the Speaker’s action on the first day of the hearing itself.
It is unlikely that Assembly members from the Opposition will cross over to the ruling side, which is unpopular with the electorate. At the same time, despite the lure of power, Assembly members from the EPS-OPS camp may feel the “pulse of the people” and move over to Dinakaran’s side.
The huge crowds that Dinakaran draws are perhaps testimony to his popularity. The perception that he is the true inheritor of J Jayalalithaa’s legacy, who is being victimised for standing up to the Bharatiya Janata Party and for his Dravidian ideals, will help him contest the polls. While it would be a cakewalk for rival DMK, Dinakaran will do better than the EPSOPS camp aligned with the BJP and render it irrelevant like the Janaki faction.
G David Milton Maruthancode The Chinese Whispers item, “Dissent from the kitchen” (September 20), was an interesting read. Whether the cook quit on his own or was sacked by a minister of state after his social media post, which was critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it anyway indicates the insecurity prevailing among ministers. This could mean that all is not well in the BJP.
Did the cook commit a crime by admitting that it was a mistake to have voted for the BJP in the last general elections? I feel sorry that the cook had to face the music possibly for calling a spade a spade. S Kumar New Delhi