The FM's fix

The FM’s Fix
Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget shows a lack of appreciation for the principles of both capitalism and socialism (BT cover, July 26). He forgets that one needs capitalism to finance socialism. Capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth. Socialism is the equal distribution of poverty. By opting to spend big on public schemes, the FM seems to have opted for the latter.
A. Mathur, from BT online Scrapbook

Budget Posers
Unlike the previous Budgets, this Budget raises more questions than it answers. While I have no beef with government financing of big social schemes, I wonder whether deficit spending is good for fiscal management. What also surprises me is why in spite of such a good mandate the FM has been so shy to declare definite measures to pump prime the economy?
Amitabh Varma, from BT online Scrapbook

An Aam Aadmi’s Budget
Spending on social schemes by running a fiscal deficit may not be such a bad thing if the government monitors its spending programme well. What I like particularly about this Budget tabled by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is the fact that it keeps the aam aadmi at the centre of all programmes and schemes.
Rustam, from BT online Scrapbook

The City Chromosome
Best Cities to Live, Work and Play (BT, June 28) was completely off the mark. How could you gloss over Gurgaon’s weaknesses so completely? The city has 4-5 hours of power outages daily and public transport is non-existent. As far as the fun element is concerned, your reporters should venture out in the night and ask women whether they find it safe to travel without an escort. A few fancy high rises does not a city make. A closer understanding of cities like Mumbai and Kolkata would’ve helped to draw your conclusions better.
Ajay Rao, through e-mail

Clarification
With reference to a story titled Why Are They Selling (BT, dated July 26), the focus of the story was on the sale of holdings by top executives of various companies. There is no implication that the eminent personalities, mentioned in the story, have offloaded their stakes as they are privy to inside information. Also, Renu Sud Karnad’s correct designation is Joint Managing Director, HDFC.

Make NREGS Transparent
In A Bolero Scheme (BT, July 26), you have rightly pointed to the NREGS’ shortcomings as well as its potential to turn around the lives of the rural unemployed. In order to reap the maximum gains from the scheme, it is important that NREGS is implemented transparently. Otherwise, cases like those of Barrai and Bhojpur villages will become one too many.
Bal Govind, through e-mail