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TIME and again our leaders have been exhorting us to maintain standards of fairness and probity in our dealings. Are these exhortations meant only for the common man?

A few days back an Assistant Commissioner of Police was arrested for forgery and for accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh. Justice C. Shivappa of the Madras High Court was compulsorily retired by the President for furnishing a wrong date of his birth.

More recently a Bangalore-based advocate has been charged with tampering with her birth certificate.

If such is the conduct of persons at the helm of affairs, what can be expected of ordinary citizens? Does this not call for national regeneration?

During the past three months I had to do a lot of travelling in Himachal Pradesh, especially Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Kangra and Mandi districts. Very few of the operators of privately owned buses show normal courtesy to passengers. None of them issues any ticket to the travelling public — whether undertaking a long journey or on a short travel. Many of them indulge in over-speeding, roof-loading, playing all kinds of filthy audio cassettes. And at full (injurious) volume.

They tend to get violent if a passenger insists on the issuance of a ticket or stopping of or reducing the volume of the noise nuisance. Are the authorities aware of all this? They must act before it is too late.

Flood of cars

During the past 20-25 years Maruti Udyog dominated the Indian car market and had its complete monopoly, but in the recent past, many other cars, small and large, cheap and costly, hit the market. Now many cars of Indian and foreign make are on the road.

Due to the flood of cars many finance companies and banks have started attractive schemes to lure customers to buy these cars on low rates of interest. The cost of cars, on other hand, is also decreasing owing to the competition among the companies. Not only this, many schemes are being launched on the purchase of certain items which carry cars as prizes against lucky coupons.

Now the question arises: whether we have roads in India to bear the extra burden of these cars. Where will we be able to move the cars and where will we get space to park our vehicles? The ever increasing rush of vehicles will lead to more accidents and traffic jams. Then committees will have to be formed to know the cause of the accidents.

It is high time the government initiated some action and prevented this mad race of cars to save the environment.

PUNEET MEHTA
Patiala

The budget for 1999-2000 was presented on February 27, 1999, at 11 a.m. Mr Yashwant Sinha was bold enough to break the old British legacy. It was presented every year on February 28 at 5 p.m. He set a new precedent. He has been bolder in other fields also. Various sections of the population expected reduction in various taxes — direct and indirect — but the Finance Minister has risen to the great expectations of the Indian nation which wants its economy to be strengthened.

During the last 50 years populist policies generated the back-breaking subsidies which stood at no less than Rs 1,37,000 crore annually. Every year a deficit budget was presented. Even this year the Finance Minister has not been able to present a balanced budget but he has tried his level best to reduce the deficit to a large extent. He hopes that with the grace of God and people’s cooperation he may be presenting a balanced budget after 2-3 years. Let us hope and pray that the present government headed by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee completes five years of its term Mr Sinha’s dream comes true.

The present young generation and coming ones have to bear the burden of public borrowings which are resorted to cover the deficit. Mr Vajpayee and Mr Sinha know very well that they are besieged by hostile elements who see no reasoning and are always there to throw away the larger national interests to the winds. Yet they have the guts to muster courage to present a budget which will lift the Indian economy and ultimately bring about a revolution if God helps them to remain in power for full term. The present generation feels grateful to them for mitigating their burden.

	M A I L B A G	Wednesday, March 24, 1999
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