Letters to Editor

Give them their due

The article “Taking on the circus” (TSI, August 15-21)touches the heart. It is a matter of shame that atrocities on children have become the order of the day. In the case of child labour, children have to do work which is beyond their endurance in order to earn their bread. Does the Indian economy, pegged at $ 1 trillion not have any resources to rescue such children? These child labours have to work for 14-16 hours a day in unhygienic condition, making them vulnerable to TB and malnutrition. They get corporal punishment for negligible mistakes. They also become the soft targets of sexual assault, making them suffer from life-long depression often. It is high time we thought about our attitude towards these innocent children. Let us help bloom these small flowers and spread their fragrance rather than nipping them in the bud.
Gopal Jee singh
Ballia

Failed efforts

The article ‘Food Wastage: Guest Control Order - The monsoon wedding’ (TSI, August 15-21) has very well captured the knee jerk reactions of the government and its lack of imagination in tackling even the most basic issues. While thousands of tons of grains is either wasted in godowns or find its way in the black market, government is busy framing the Guest Control Order! Food Minister Sharad Pawar recently admitted in Lok Sabha about the ‘damage’ of 11,700 tons of food grains in government storage, although one suspects this figure could be higher. It is also reported that the government is maintaining buffer stock way above the required quantity, while food prices are soaring. Also, about 67% of the wheat meant to be delivered to the poor is not adequately distributed.
Kshitij
Patna

The chinese example

The editorial, The Chinese Answer To The West - “Made In China” to “Made By China” (TSI August 8-14) by Arindam Chaudhuri, is not only enlightening but also electrifying. Arindam rightly throws light on how China has emerged as the most viable substitute for America and Europe. It is just a matter of time before China topples the US and Japan in the Fortune 500 list . The elegance and perfection with which China conducted the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was unparalleled. It is also just a matter of time before China replaces the US as the only superpower. India must strive hard in not only forging warm relations with China but also becoming as powerful and self-reliant as China. Corruption, our biggest enemy, must be checked so that our national interest and not our vested interest gets promoted.
Sanjeev Sirohi
Meerut

Man with the midas touch

The article ‘Gunning for action: Rohit Shetty’ (TSI, August 1-7) by Nishita Mahajan was a pleasant read. Filmmaker Rohit Shetty indeed has an enviable track record of success. Starting as an assistant to director Kuku Kohli at the age of 15, he has come a long way with a bevy of hits under his belt. At a time when he was being typecast as ‘only good with comedies’ (Golmaal trilogy, All the Best: Fun Begins), he silenced his detractors with his recent action saga Singham. His association with Ajay Devgan has endured the test of time.
Sudip Das
Kolkata

Role models

I was really happy to read about the selfless sacrifice made by unsung individuals for the betterment of our society in the article “Real Heroes” (TSI August 15-21). It is heartening to know we have a group of people who, unlike the greedy corporates or power hungry politicians, use their might for social causes and do not crave for recognition for their work.
Gandhiji had rightly said, “If each one of us lived as per our needs and contributed the rest for the overall betterment of the society we could make 'utopia' a reality!”
I thank you and your team for highlighting the achievements of these shy but “great individuals.” I hope the article will motivate many others to emulate them.
Savitha L.
Bangalore

A lesson to learn

This refers to the editorial The Chinese Answer To The West - “Made In China” to “Made By China” (TSI August 8-14). China has shown the world that if people are serious about development then excessive population is not really a bar. In spite of being the most populous country in the world, China has emerged as a formidable nation in terms of power and finance. It has transformed its population into the most dreaded men force through discipline and appropriate policy. The Chinese economy flourished with the concept of self- consumption. In most of the developing countries, wealth is captured by only a handful of elite due to the wrong policies pursued by our government. If this wealth is distributed uniformly, the economy of a nation flourishes, as witnessed in China. By giving national priority to indigenous product, China provided an opportunity to indigenous companies to flourish. This helped in the generation of both wealth and employment.  Today those Chinese companies have transformed themselves into multinational giants and they can give tough competition to the biggest European and American giants.
Niloy Kumar Roy
Kolkata

Disturbing prediction

Sutanu Guru’s political analysis “Strange but... 5 reasons why UPA will win in 2014 (TSI, August 1-7) overlooks myriad ground realities. Although UPA has more achievements to take credit for than NDA, it is because the Congress has been in power the longest. The author says that the MNREGA has helped check migration from rural India. But what about the trains’ bogies crammed with passengers, virtually like animals, originating from the so-called BIMARU states of India to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana? And most surprisingly what about the escalating suicide rate that has become order of the day among farmers from across India? On the one hand, Right to Information was granted, but on the other hand right to speak is being strangulated. We talk about right to food, but what about millions of tonnes of food grains that was wasted in the FCI godowns due to government's callousness? If the UPA at all wins in 2014, its victory should rather be defined in John Kenneth Galbraith's words: “Politics consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.”
Shreeprakash Sharma,
Samastipur, Bihar

Patches of shame

This refers to the article Band Baaja Baraat by Prasoon S Majumdar (TSI, August 8-14). It is true that while at the one hand we are celebrating yet another anniversary of our independence, on the other, we are making our national life more complex. Mr. Majumdar has very rightly analysed the many grave problems facing the country today. We are still ill-treating our women, not giving them the respect that they deserve, and the number of divorce cases is also on the rise both in urban as well as rural areas. Interestingly, ours is a country where women occupy substantive administrative powers and have come out as successful administrators too. Women are indispensable part of our society and are directly responsible for the uplift of every society. The more we neglect their security, our own security will be at stake.
Aparesh Gantait
Purba Medinipur,W.B.

Chinese fascination

The editorial “The Chinese answer to the west..." by Arindam Chaudhuri (TSI, Aug 8-14) was a brilliant review of China's dedication and determination. India is way behind of China in many terms, whether economical or infrastructural, despite the fact that India's independence coincided with the success of Maoist revolution in China. Most of the companies and brands of China rule the roost in their own country. This testifies China's exquisite nationalism. We have to rise up from our frivolous issues like regional nostalgia and ‘laid back attitude’ in order to make India prosperous.
Ravish Sharma
Jaipur, Rajasthan

Not the desired panacea

With reference to the article 'There is no reservation in the film industry' (TSI August 15-21), reservation was introduced to uplift the downtrodden and enable them to march ahead with the society, thereby being a party in the progress and prosperity of the country. Though, it was a time-gap arrangement, opportunist leaders ensured its continuance for political gain. Reservation should have been so designed that its benefit flowed only to the economically poor, accessed only once by him – either for education or for a job or for promotion- as per his discretion. It certainly should not have been extended to a single individual for umpteen number of times. This has not only created heartburn among the ‘general’ category, but has also deprived the really needy ones from the reserved category from availing themselves of the benefit of reservation just because the well-off and educated ‘reserved’ availed the benefits all the time. I think it is time we worked for equal opportunity to all. Let merit get its due and the needy get an opportunity.
Jaya Kaushik
Sabarmati