This refers to the editorial ‘Course correction’ (August 8). In its over-enthusiasm to undo everything that was the legacy of the Congress, the NDA government scrapped the Planning Commission and constituted the NITI Aayog. It was devoid of powers to grant discretionary funds to States. Although there were great expectations when Arvind Panagaria was chosen to head the institution, when he remits office on August 31, it will be seen that the performance of NITI Aayog was lacklustre.
It was bypassed by the PMO on several key issues. Its recommendation to privatise the beleaguered Air India had not many takers. Again recommendation to amend the APMC Act enabling farmers to sell directly to consumers is not new. The recommendation to divest the majority stake of the Government in PSBs was not acted upon. NITI Aayog is another classic case of missed opportunity.
Philip Sabu
Thrissur, Kerala
The problem is that we create so many institutions and launch so many initiatives but we never think of tracking their progress, and dismantle them if they don’t succeed.
Bal Govind
Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Think tanks and formulators are expected to evolve effective and enduring policies out of an intricate grid of inter -dependent data and factors. Thus they work on a far larger canvas and through bigger time frames. Elected executives on the other hand, who must show results, are relatively pressed both for time and breadth of vision. This dichotomy between formulation of policy and execution is unavoidable in the struggle to balance agenda, aspirations and outcomes.
R Narayanan
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
Five-year plans would have at least served the needs of the nation to some extent. The NITI Aayog’s composition suffers from an ad hoc approach. For example, on national security concerns, there are no evident strategies to promote progress in J&K, bilateral cooperation with Pakistan, or avoid border skirmishes with China.
B Rajasekaran
Bengaluru
Unacceptable
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the I-T returns filed this fiscal year have risen nearly 25 per cent and has attributed this increase to demonetisation. This is unacceptable. In India, those who do not want to pay taxes despite doing lucrative businesses, will never pay. The exchequer is losing lots of money because we don’t have accurate data regarding affluent people who have been evading taxes for years; or the Government chooses to ignore this issue.
S Ramakrishnasayee
Ranipet, Tamil Nadu
Don’t trivialise stalking
In a society where patriarchal norms are strongly entrenched, crimes like stalking have either been ignored or treated as a trivial matter. The recent unseemly episode in Chandigarh has turned the focus once again on the safety of women in public spaces. While stalking has been made an offence, it hardly proven to be an effective deterrent. Questioning the morality of women who end up victims of sexual harassment and violence is disgusting.
M Jeyaram
Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu
Action and reaction
While the cow vigilante attacks are condemnable, the attacks by cattle smugglers on the public are alarmingly on the rise. Some tourists in Odisha were molested when they questioned cattle smugglers beating up and binding the legs of cattle with plastic ropes.
A recent article in the Huffington Post claims it was the Congress Party’s policies that were responsible for the problem. According to the article, the ‘Pink Revolution’ launched by the Congress with the aim of “increasing demand for and easing the cost of production of red meat” saw an increase in beef exports by a whopping 242 per cent between 2009 and 2014. This was facilitated by subsidies to the meat processing industry. That led to the mushrooming of illegal slaughterhouses and brazen cattle thefts.
CV Krishna Manoj
Hyderabad, Telangana
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