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PM shouldn’t tolerate corruption

The editorial, “A lacklusture beginning — UPA -2 still has time to redeem itself”, just hit the nail on the head. Everyone in the world, especially here in the US, knows the qualities of head and heart of our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh. Most people sincerely believe that he is very honest and able. But the man on the street grumbles that he is not assertive. For the sake of “Coalition Dharma”, he has tolerated the worst of corruption in terms of dollars and cents. Well, the DMK was a big and powerful ally, but it could not be given a loose rope to plunder the national wealth at will. Now the electorate of Tamil Nadu has come to the rescue of our Prime Minister. The electorate has given such a jolt to the DMK that they have been deflated.

His other problem was the road-roller attitude of Mamata Banerjee. She as the Union Railway Minister made it the Ministry of West Bengal Railways. That was detrimental to the rest of India. The most productive and profit-making railway divisions were not given their due. The electorate has now bestowed the chief ministership of her state to Mamata.

HARJAP SINGH AUJLA, New Jersey, USA

II

I must compliment you for a very balanced editorial, “ A Lacklustre Beginning, UPA-2 still has time to redeem itself “ (May 24), for aptly alerting the UPA government to see the writing on the wall and connect with the aspirations and expectations of the “aam aadmi”. Fortunately, the UPA - 2 still has more than half of its tenure of the second innings ahead and ample scope for all the mid-course correction it needs to effect in all its priorities.

The billionaires do not vote for or against the governments, for, their agendas are unbridled personal materialism, not the economic growth. They would never have time to address any serious issues confronting either the government or society, except for token advances of philanthropic activities aimed more at garnering publicity and tax-concessions than any generic public good. There are of course, a few well- meaning wealth creators still doing their bit for society but their head count does not extend beyond a palm.

Although the eruption of scams one after another, and the manner in which these have been handled have somehow generated an impression that the Prime Minister has been rather slow or indifferent in reacting to each of these at the magical speed at which data is transmitted electronically these days. Even a lay man cannot doubt his or his party’s continuing sincerity to book the culprits or isolate the highest level of officials up to the rank of ministers from his government even at the cost of losing support of the DMK, its coalition partner. Perhaps, down the line, history might start relating it to a benchmark of sorts in tackling cases of corruption against a government’s own members since our independence. 

I am sure the coming three years of Dr Singh’ tenure as Prime Minister will set the long awaited foundation for booking the corrupt, hoarders of black money and those contributing to artificial inflation in society through well laid out exhaustive systems, rules, regulations and procedures of law.

India is surely poised to emerge as a strong and clean nation, where democratic principles and social isolation will punish its traitors and squanderers of public money. While punishing the corrupt for unaccounted wealth, the Prime Minister and his team also have to ensure that the honest professionals and intellectuals are not deprived of a respectable living and of opportunities to add value to the rotting system of governance.

TEJINDER SINGH BEDI, Faridabad

Decline of communism

Kuldeep Nayar’s article, “Decline of Communism”, is a comprehensive analysis of the recent polls. The unprecedented rout of communists in West Bengal is shocking for the whole CPM politburo. But, on the contrary, it is good news for the health of Indian democracy. People of Bengal voiced their resentment through ballots and regrettably  Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself lost to a little known candidate. Their lackadaisical approach towards development, industrialisation, stiff opposition to civil nuclear deal, hooliganism of Nandigram, where innocents were gruesomely murdered, jeopardised their chances of coming back to power. The schemes initiated by the Central government have not reached effectively to the target recipients. The last man still remains the least man.

A similar story was scripted in Tamil Nadu, where Jayalalithaa trounced the DMK’s kith and kin.

AKSHAY DADHWAL SUNHET, Kangra

Spare the rod The article “Spare the rod” by Rameshinder Sandhu (May 22) has criticised teachers for their attitude towards students. But the other side of the coin is totally missed.Parents are so much aware of the rights of students that they go to the extent of harassing teachers. They give them warnings over trivial matters. Writing against teachers is not a solution to the problem. Teachers in private sectors get lower salaries than those in government schools. They are overloaded with work like checking notebooks, completing the syllabus before time and fulfilling all needs of the authorities. The value of education has been lost because of this. Teaching is no longer considered a noble profession; rather teachers are frequently humiliated in private schools. MANPREET KAUR, Batala