'Big business family sons have shown rapid progress'

Mrs GandhiYour cover story on Mrs Gandhi's reawakening (April 1-15) was succinct, illuminating and made very interesting reading. With the promulgation of ordinances or without (the difference is academic to the bulk of our people who have no food, shelter and, in actuality, few fundamental rights of any kind) if Mrs Gandhi would take bold steps towards the formulation of policies that would actually ensure that the benefits of growth and productivity reach the lowest of the low, she will vindicate her position as the only national leader this country has.New Delhi Amit JayaramReeling off instance after instance, the cover story succeeds in driving home the welcome fact that finally, Mrs Gandhi has begun to act in her characteristically decisive manner. This change in her is sure to restore discipline in her party, but it is difficult to visualise any substantial improvement in the performance of her government. If she really wants to provide a government that works, it is imperative that she drops all those ministers who are occupying their coveted positions not because they are competent but because they do well in the loyalty test.New Delhi Sushil MehtaniMrs Gandhi at last seems to have realised the density of the situation and pulse of the people who have voted her to power. She has got to work, by removing those elements who paralysed her government. Though it is not understood as to what made her wait so long, it is a warning in disguise to those who dub her administration as an inefficient one.New Delhi Usha SharmaBig BusinessYour cover story on big family business (March 16-31) comes at a time when the Indian industry is at the cross-roads. Its growth rate is languishing between 1 per cent and 3 percent per annum for the past five years and its contribution to the GNP a measly 23 per cent or so. It has come to a point where it is searching for direction. So the time was ripe for the 'little rich boys' to take over the reins of the business of their fathers and uncles with all the determination and ruthless confidence of a Sanjay Gandhi.Bombay Hemendra B. VartakThe big business family sons have shown rapid progress. The rate of growth of their assets is praiseworthy. In sharp contrast to the public enterprises which are ill-managed and are faltering, the private enterprises are making a good headway despite governmental blockades and red-tapism.Solapur Anand R. DeshpandeSangeet Natak AkademiWith reference to your Sangeet Natak Akademi story (March 16-31), I wish your correspondent had probed a little more and spoken more forcefully. He mentions the first executive board consisting of government officials and bureaucrats without a single person from the field of performing arts, but he does not say that the same executive board had formulated the Akademi's constitution giving full control to the Department of Culture; which has now resulted in the virtual take over of the Akademi by the department. He also very casually mentions that the joint secretary of the Department of Culture also functions as the vice-chairman of the Akademi in her "personal" capacity, a fact which makes the autonomy of the national body a mockery. Also there was no question of my emphasising the folk arts during my regime from 1965 to 1975. What I had attempted was only to remove the imbalance and set right a mistake.One of the very first objectives of the Akademi is to promote and preserve the folk and traditional performing arts, but nothing was done in the first 10 years in this regard and the Akademi was concerned with the promotion of only classical arts and urban institutions.Delhi Dr Suresh AwasthiAsian GamesThe recent criticism of the Asian Games project (March 16-31) on both ecological and economic grounds, seems rather harsh and unjustified. The flyovers, hotels, stadia which are the cause of this furore, are not as short-sighted as is being made out. Quite apart from being the need of the hour as far as the Games are concerned, they are very much the need of the day for a city like Delhi, and is very much part of the infrastructure which should exist in a capital.As for the ecological aspect, instead of stopping progress on grounds of felling trees, a more constructive approach would be to plant trees in areas which need to be green.New Delhi Inderjit LalPUCLBy so completely inventing remarks that I did not make (March 16-31), and by suppressing those that I did, your correspondent has taught me a lesson: never meet his ilk without a steno to transcribe an interview. How does a decision of a unit in one city to retain its identity become a "split in the civil liberties movement"? The continuance in Delhi of the PUDR will keep the local units of the PUCL on its toes and thus be a spur to greater effort.Having fabricated a "split", your correspondent has invented labels - but, alas, only the well worn ones - 'Left' and Right'. Our aim in the PUCL is to build an organisation through which persons of different ideological views work together for a simple objective, that of upholding civil liberties. This effort is reflected in every committee of the PUCL. Its national executive has members of the CPML as well as those who would proudly describe their economic philosophy as conservative. It has the leading fighter for social reform among muslims as well as one of our most distinguished Islamic theologians, just as it has liberal, Sarvodaya workers and others.Most Indian organisations pursue the widest possible objectives with the narrowest possible base. This is one of the reasons for their ineffectiveness. Our aim is to pursue a narrow, specialised objective, with the widest possible base.Your correspondent had the facts with him but chose to disregard them. And in retrospect I can almost see why - the facts would have come in the way of his inventions.New Delhi Arun Shourie general secretary, PUCLSwami's New ToyReference to "The Swami's New Toy" (March 16-31). Will any kisan-loving baron present Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari with a pesticide-sprayer for his new aircraft? Structurally it should supplement the paraphernalia for his airborne meditation.Kerala JayaprakasanAlthough I was not surprised to read of the Government's partial behaviour to an influential man like the Swami, I wonder why people like us (with no influence in the Government circles) are harassed. Sometime back a friend of mine sent a Sony two-in-one as a gift for my birthday from the Gulf. The appraiser priced it to be over Rs 500 and I was rudely told that it would be confiscated. I was also told that the custom authorities are very strict with the import of electronic items. I presume the Swami's new 'toy' is made of plastic, wherefore he was allowed to import his 'childish toy' with 'childish duty' - 16 per cent. The ownership of the aircraft is nothing but a vulgar display of luxury at the expense of other peoples' money.Thane Syed Munower RosftanAfter having written a five-page cover story on Dhirendra Brahmachari, followed by a four-page interview, why bring out another two-page write-up on a Rs 2.8 million gift given to this high flying yogi? Aren't you giving too much importance to this white-robed bearded sadhu. The addition of a 'Cessna-sky master' to his one-plane fleet, is no greater a news than Indian Airlines adding a Boeing-747 to its'. At least it makes no difference to the people's concern about sky-rocketing prices, the law and order situation, or corruption in the nation.Mangalore P. M. CharriappaBSFIt is surprising how the facts in your article on paramilitary forces (March 16-31) have been distorted. The ex-ECO's, serving in the BSF are neither inclined towards the army, nor do they enjoy patronage of any godfather sitting in the South Block. In fact they are very sore about the repeated attempts of the Army generals to intrude into this prestigious force. K.F. Rustomji is truly regarded the godfather of all the ex-ECOs serving in the BSF. The presence of every single officer in this force is a cause of resentment to all the BSF officers including the ex-ECOs. These are the officers who enjoy the patronage of their godfathers in the South Block and consequently they thrive at the cost of BSF officers.New Delhi BSF officers (ex ECO's)All over the world the army is sent to the borders only in times of aggression. But during peace and normal times every inch of the land, right up to the borders, is administered by civilian government. Policing of borders by the Home Ministry through the agency of BSF is in keeping with the international norms. The armed forces which are given a different kind of orientation and training, need not be burdened with the responsibility of policing international borders when there is no war.New Delhi Lalit MohanSwamySubramaniam Swamy (March 16-31) has the gross misconception that 'he is not a hypocrite'. When asked about Chandra Shekhar he laments: "I do not want to comment". It seems that he is not aware that by not commenting on things he believes to be true is another form of hypocrisy.New Delhi Amit SawhneyDr Swamy may be frank in declaring that he wants to be the prime minister one day, but he is a hypocrite when he says "I am not an RSS slave. I didn't quit the Janata Party to join BJP." He did not join the BJP because Atal Behari Vajpayee would have been automatically chosen for the prime ministership by the "same old Jana Sangh." But now he has been punished for his ambitions, by being dropped from the general secretaryship of the party, because Chandra Shekhar himself is in the race.Darjeeling Ashok Mohan ChattopadhyayCaste WarYour article "The Caste War" (March 16-31) read like an impartial review of the situation. In fact it was not so. S. Nihal Singh seemed to be blind to certain facts. For example in medical colleges, admissions are only made on the caste basis. There is no provision for declaring a backward class student successful on the basis of caste. Once admissions are made, he is supposed to work hard and reach up to the minimum standard necessary for any student. Where is the question of having half-baked doctors? Secondly, the so-called reserved seats in medical colleges are never filled in totally. Hardly a few students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are seen taking the advantage of the facilities. Why then is there so much fuss being made about nothing? The reservation policy cannot be a national issue at present.Amravati B. RangraoPeople coming under the 'reservation' class have become so 'habituated' that there is no effort on their part to elevate themselves to the level of the so-called 'higher castes' whereas a regular student of HSSC aims at scoring at least 80-85 per cent marks, a Scheduled Caste student never aims for more than 65-70 per cent, as he is guaranteed admission to medical colleges at that percentage. If a student is brilliant enough to score 80-85 per cent marks, only then he should be admitted in medical colleges, irrespective of his caste, creed or colour, and not otherwise.Nagpur Nikhilesh TrivediDoctors' StrikeThe article on "Karnataka's Junior Doctors' strike(March 16-31) was excellent. People don't seem to be bothering about Gundu Rao's great money-spinning idea. Last year there was a similar strike by all medical students, against the opening of any more medical colleges. Doctors were arrested, their leaders threatened, cases against 280 students were registered and it took several months. The health minister assured that there would be no more new medical colleges. But after the strike was called off, there was no action. People have lost all courage to protest against such problems.Mangalore Dr Sketty B.T.Ayurvedic InstitutionThis refers to your article 'Arya Vaidya Sala' (March 16-31). The Ayurvedic Institution was in fact not experiencing any labour unrest, as the termination of the services of an unwanted security officer, after the expiry of his contract could hardly constitute any labour dispute. In Kerala, however, gullible workers are led away by the rhetoric of a few professional trade unionists.Such incidents are all too common in this state. Presently, well established nursing homes and private hospitals are the targets of union leaders. An unfortunate compounder was brutally murdered recently when he refused to participate in a strike. The local police refuse to intervene in these labour strikes.Kerala Chandroo RunnethUnion BudgetJay Dubashi's 'Stimulus to Growth" (March 16-31) was an apt appraisal of the Union budget for 1981-82. However there will be no respite for the layman as far as inflation is concerned. The uncovered deficit of Rs 1,539 crore will surely bring about cost push and demand pull inflation in the long run. This is borne out by the finding that if deficit financing is kept at zero for three years (which is grossly impracticable all things considered) the inflation will only lessen by 5 per cent. Unless the Government resorts to stringent methods in order to curb tax evasion, inflation will continue to scale dizzy heights and the economy will continue to languish.Calcutta Soutik BiswasMedia PersecutionIt is evident from the article 'Media Persecution' (March 16-31) that the Indian police never hesitate to take any hasty action, which may be lawful or unlawful, if a journalist writes anything against them. The chief minister only expressed sympathy but did not initiate any firm action against the police who behaved so brutally with Rana. Why he is so lenient with these people is surprising. Our leaders proudly say that the press has maximum freedom here. Bombay Manjanath G. HegdeSnake menWhere did your correspondents catch the cobra on page 113 - 'Snakemen of the South'(March 16-31)? Nambi is holding the Indian python. The snake slithering over Velayudhan is a cobra.Bombay Dr H. L. GhulaniPublished By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 21, 2013 11:35 IST--- ENDS ---

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'Big business family sons have shown rapid progress'

"The big business family sons have shown rapid progress. The rate of growth of their assets is praiseworthy. In sharp contrast to the public enterprises which are ill-managed and are faltering, the private enterprises are making a good headway despite governmental blockades and red-tapism."

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