Letters to the Editor

This refers to your cover story, The Many Worries of Mr. Jaitley (February 28). One cannot expect any miracle to happen in the Budget given the not-so-encouraging economic scenario on both global and domestic front. It is, however, a point to note that among the emerging market economies, India is relatively better placed. But that should not be anything to draw solace. Growth rate has not been picking up for a long time now. Banks are the lifeline of the economy and their performance is directly reflected in the health of the economy. There is a huge amount of stress in the system and banks are confronted with a high degree of non-performing assets and are in dire need of capital infusion. It is indeed welcome that both the government and the Reserve Bank of India are jointly planning to come out with a host of measures for reviving banks and cleaning up their balance sheets. Major corrections are required to be carried out so as to bring about balanced regional development. Definitely, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will have a tough job in managing and balancing the situation and yet getting the best out of them to make the wheels of economy move on the growth path. - Srinivasan Umashankar, Nagpur

Ensuring Accountability

This refers to your panel debate on how start-ups should deal with HR issues (The Art of Hiring for Start-ups, Feb 28). While Prime Minister Modi may be focusing on factors that could aide innovators and entrepreneurs through the start-up movement, the programme will succeed only if the PM monitors government officers for accountability. It is essential that government employees, especially those who are part of the tax and public sector departments, nationalised banks, etc., are able to discharge their duties efficiently and without succumbing to corruption. The PM and his team must take suitable and strict action against those who fail to discharge their duties within a reasonable time. - Mahesh Kapasi, New Delhi

A Rough Ride for PSBs

This refers to your cover story on banking performance (India's Best Banks, Feb 14). It is a timely story. Your annual survey has identified some financially sound banks that are building a strong foundation to prepare for the future despite a slowing domestic economy. It is good to hear that the public sector banks have been quite motivated to compete with private sector banks, that too, in the emerging new digital world. Kudos to the RBI and the government for taking steps to reduce the humongous NPAs, especially in PSBs. But it is a rough ride for both the private sector and public sector banks, as the new-generation payments banks, like paytm, MobiKwik, Freecharge, and many other start-ups, are rapidly winning over the youth to their side. - Biswaranjan Mishra, Gurgaon

Shedding Crocodile Tears

The refers to your article on registration of 2,000-cc (and above) diesel vehicles (Luxury Banned in Delhi, Jan 31). It is nothing but shedding crocodile tears. As an environmentalist, I just can't understand why, for over the past 200 years, all big foreign car manufacturers still depend on the killer fuel - diesel. There are many alternatives, but all these greedy giants are still in deep slumber. All the big talk of electric vehicles are only intended to fool the authorities. The so-called research and development is just an eyewash. How Volkswagen cheated consumers is a glaring example. It is good that the Supreme Court has taken a decision on this matter, and barring the small percentage of multibillionaires, nobody is upset with the court order. Let us stop pampering the old automobile giants. - M.V. Vaidya, Pune

Correction

In our Ex-Libris section (Trials and Errors, Feb 28), we inadvertently misstated the price of the book "Legal Confidential: Adventures of an Indian Lawyer". The correct price is Rs 499. The error is regretted.

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