Vet loans carefully
With reference to the editorial, “Caught in a cleft” (September 13), I can appreciate the difficult situation faced by the government and the central bank and their inability to tackle it because of its sheer magnitude.
The suggestion of the editorial to “consider selling off/divesting stakes in subsidiaries and non-core businesses” is perhaps the only rational possibility. A word of caution: Transferring government stake to the LIC is not a solution. Such temptations should be curbed and the government should go only for genuine divestments.
However, it is crucial to ensure that new loans are vetted carefully so that five to 10 years from now, we don’t face a similar situation. Loans must not be given over extraneous considerations, favouritism or political patronage. Our banking system is robust enough to evaluate loan applications dispassionately, objectively and based on a holistic study of the sustainability of the project proposal.
Several large loans are sanctioned on the whims and fancies of bank chairpersons or due to political pressures. Instances of bank officials getting gifts on the weddings of their children and amassing wealth are quite common. That’s the root cause of the problem; that’s where the collective focus should be.
Krishan Kalra Gurgaon Rohingyas have settled in different parts of the country. Those Rohingyas, who have crossed over to India, should be treated as temporary refugees and not deported. The government must treat this as a humanitarian issue and take it up with Myanmar. At the same time, Myanmar must distinguish between terrorist suspects and civilians.
The root of the crisis lies in Myanmar; the ultimate solution has to be found there.
S K Khosla Chandigarh
Poverty is a political industry. Forty six years ago a prime minister said “garibi hatao (eliminate poverty)”; even today, her grandson proclaims that his party is for the poor. In India, most poor people vote for their livelihood; about 6,000 people require these votes for their livelihood. The richest pay nothing to run the country; agricultural farmers and corporate farmers are there to do this job. All poverty-alleviating schemes are perpetual.
One tough way to reduce poverty is by reducing the number of poor people — ensuring that the poor do not bring any more poor into the world. But with some political leaders urging people to have more children, which they think guarantees more votes from a caste or religion, and industrialists, who need a large number of unemployed people to pay little, subsidies have fed not only the hunger in the stomachs but also something else.
Link subsidies and the definition of poverty to the ballot box and see the change. Srinivasa-Raghavan says all citizens have been “continuously and mercilessly” cheated since 1957. We have also allowed this country to be thrust demographically into perpetual poverty.
T R Ramaswami Mumbai