The Prime Minister’s preference for hard work over Harvard is being widely discussed in the media. Modi made this statement in a 2014 election campaign, at that time targeting P Chidambaram who has a Harvard connection. Now, it is Amartya Sen — a Nobel laureate and winner of the Bharat Ratna. The PM was likely expressing his anguish following the strong criticism of demonetisation by analysts, economists and the media.

Professors and analysts have the freedom to indulge in monologues while expressing their views on controversial matters. The PM is in the media glare 24x7. If veterans maintain restraint, the likelihood of their being drawn into controversy would be less. People like Abdul Kalam, Pranab Mukherfee, C Rangarajan and Bimal Jalan were knowledgeable and outpoken but they were also elegant, and used language that did not hurt opponents.

MG Warrier

Mumbai

Whither Aadhaar

Despite the apex court's ruling that the use of Aadhaar card should not be extended beyond PDS and gas subsidies, linking the card to booking train tickets shows that the Centre continues to flout court orders. While enrolment for it is voluntary, the way the things are being done seems to suggest it is mandatory. Its high time the Supreme Court intervened and gave fresh directions to the executive.’

R Prabhu Raj

Bengaluru

Verbal warfare

The political slugfest over the CSO finding that GDP growth rate stood at 7 per cent, is unfortunate. The Opposition cannot be faulted for being suspicious, especially since it reflects the period when demonetisation took a heavy toll on MSMEs. In the ongoing verbal war we should not forget the CSO’s admission that most affected parts of the economy such as informal and cash bases are either not or insufficiently captured in the national income accounts; their measurement is based on formal sector indicators.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

Cautious optimism

With reference to ‘Trump’s no threat to the Indian economy’ by Ashish Gupta (March 3) it is advisable to judge politicians, irrespective of their earlier calling, by their actions rather than their words. While Trump may be expected to tone down his baiting of Indian immigrants to meet the demand and supply conditions in the the internal and external labour market, we should remember that he won the presidency by stoking racism.

The positive response of the electorate will make him make jobs in the US less remunerative and ultimately displace immigrants. Taken together we should expect high uncertainty in his strategy — support for imported talent when needed and elbowing out when possible. The best way for India to cope with this is to explore and develop markets in non-US economies.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Shocking attitude

It was shocking to read about the offensive behaviour of legislator Imdad Pitafi in the Sindh assembly (‘Deep-rooted misogyny in Pakistan’ by Suba Chandran, March 3). Psychologists say that men who feel insecure or are threatened by the presence of liberal, educated women behave in such a manner to hide their inadequacies. Such men should realise that what we give comes back to us. It is the law of nature. Tomorrow the women of his house may be subjected to such humiliating remarks. How will he respond then? If such behaviour is so easily condoned or even overlooked then there’s little hope of progress.

Jyotsna Prasad

Hyderabad

Finally, good sense

The dropping of the steel flyover project in Bengaluru is a relief. No government can go against a people’s popular movement. The ill-conceived project was first opposed by people lodging a complaint with the NGT, after which it was mired in a kickback controversy.

HP Murali

Bengaluru