Ravindra Gaikwad is an elected representative of the people. Do elected representatives think they are supermen and superwomen? Does Gaikwad think the people who voted for him are fools? What authority does he have to summon the chairman and directors and molest (Air India) officials and prevent them from executing their functions? Isn’t it time to impose discipline onMPs, MLAs, and councillors?

Ramachandran

Kochi

Such misbehaviour deserves severe punishment and even arrest, but we know he will not be punished by the party.. All airlinesshould take a bold decision never to allow him to fly in their aircraft and insist he is arrested, punished and made to apologise.

Yvonne Fernando

Chennai

Organised goondacracy

There seems to be no end to the one-upmanship by the political class. After the AI episode, it’s the JD(S) rally in Bengaluru that stopped traffic inconveniencing the public. Again and again, the political class behaves as if it is above everybody, and cares nothing for the rule of law, public decency and ethics. What is puzzling is that people are unable to tackle it and continue to suffer silently. This seems to prove that our democracy is nothing but organised goodacracy.

VS Ganeshan

Bengaluru

Right idea

In ‘Time to revisit deposit rates’ (March 24), BK Bhoi rightly advocates that banks should pay to customers composite interest on the minimum balance in SB accounts . Here, the composite implies a combo of market-oriented and inflation rate-reckoned interest rate. As the minimum balance is the permanently available core money, it deserves a higher interest rate. Banks are squeezing customers with many charges.

RS Raghavan

Bengaluru

Banks as trustees

While the Government is the majority owner of banks, the operating funds of the bank are given by depositors who expect that the banks will act as a trustees of their hard earned-money. Incidentally, one of the prime conditions for the establishment of private sector banks is that the owners should be kept at arm’s distance from the management to safeguard the interest of depositors. By the same logic, the Government should not have a say in matters such as loan waivers.

P Esakki Muthu

Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu

While it is true that the agrarian sector definitely needs handholding, the Government should also keep in mind the impact such loan waivers have on the health of PSBs. Loan waiver schemes are bad in principle as they disrupt the credit culture and create expectations of such schemes every time there is a change in government and lead to wilful defaults. Besides, they create a moral hazard in that honest borrowers who repay loans on time feel demoralised.

The Government should, instead, focus on long-term solutions like stepping up investment in irrigation, rural roads, etc. Higher prices commensurate with costs should be ensured for farm produce and facilities created for storage of agricultural produce at affordable cost to prevent distress sale.

Technology should be harnessed for real-time dissemination of information on good agricultural practices, prices of inputs and finished produce, weather conditions and guidance on cropping patterns etc. Farmers should also be allowed to sell their produce outside mandis without restriction on movement across borders. Most importantly, all the farmers should be covered under crop insurance.

T Sivarama Prasad

Hyderabad

The abbatoir issue

With reference to the editorial, ‘Meat politics’ (March 24), the demand to do away with “unproductive” cattle is myopic. They yield precious dung and urine, which are crucial to organic farming. Instead of subsidising costly and toxic synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, governments must make use of so-called ‘useless’ cattle.

CV Krishna Manoj

Hyderabad