L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

MarketSpace

The marketplace has truly become the marketspace ( On the record, December 11). Sachin Bansal has done a signal service by launching flipkart.com. An increasing number of people, specially students, are now sourcing books online and receiving them at home and that too at rates much lower than in book shops. I have checked the website and found it very impressive.

— Rajesh Shankar Sharma
Global Institute of Management

Mayawati is right

Ido not find much weight in the shaky and oft-repeated argument ((The Case Against Division, Persspective, December 11) that “the division of UP has never been an emotional issue of cultural or linguistic identity, having a vast number of supporters at the grassroots level".

Millions of marginal farmers , workers and dalits, who are shabbily treated, looked down upon and abused, have no voice in the media and are unable to put across their viewpoint. They continue to migrate for survival and do nurse a desire for a better life. I doubt if they share the worldview of the upper caste elite and academics.

Uttar Pradesh has been treated for long as a pocket borough by medieval nobles based in Delhi to win elections. The UP Chief Minister Mayawati has been consistent in raising the demand for a division of the state, which is needed and is supported by the experience of both Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. Nobody can question her genuine concern for the dalits and the downtrodden and it is just a matter of time before she storms the South Block.

— Dr Raj Bahadur Yadav, Fatehabad

Fewer states, please

More states or small states (The Case Against Division, December 11) are not the answer to poverty and under development. The country would actually be better off with fewer states. Ideally, we should have just four or five distinct administrative zones, which would put a check to rising administrative costs, reduce the number of politicians and help curb corruption.

— D.P. Jindal, Mandi Govindgarh

All for small

I’m in favour of smaller states and I support the proposal of Mayawati to divide the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) into four smaller ones, because smaller states are easy to govern. Due to the vast area of UP, which is even greater than most of the western countries, the administration has failed to solve even the basic problems of the people. It is, therefore, necessary to split the state into smallers ones. A few years ago, a new state, the Uttrakhand was carved out of UP for precisely this reason and now further division of UP into four states of Paschim Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh, Puranchal and Bundekhand would certainly be a wise step because the smaller states will be much easier to govern effectively and efficiently.

— R.K. Kapoor, Chandigarh

Split? No way

Discerning people can read between the lines and see through the strategy and moves of Mayawati. but sadly, not the majority of the people. It is not a question of Uttar Pradesh alone but involves the entire country. Will a division of UP benefit the nation is the question that needs to be answered. But we sadly lack nationalist fervour and few of us think in terms of national interest. A proposal to split the largest state cannot be passed in seconds, without a debate and just to suit the convenience of a political party.

— B.M. Singh, Amritsar

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