Pak can’t ignore Chinese factor

Apropos of ‘Trump courts Pak with oil pact and crypto push’; it appears Field Marshal Asim Munir has surrendered completely before the Americans. He is ready to oblige President Trump for everything so long as the Pakistan army remains in control of the country. To bear the cost of its maintenance, the army is ready to sell Pakistan’s natural resources, like oilfields and minerals, to the US. So far, Munir has played his moves very well. However, there is the Chinese factor also. China is Pakistan’s major defence ally and America’s major economic adversary. How the Dragon reacts to the changing scenario will be interesting. The conditions in South Asia are favourable for the resurgence of the troika (Russia, China and India).

Ashok Bahl, Kangra

Unholy alliance between US, Pak

Refer to ‘Trump courts Pak with oil pact and crypto push’; the recent US-Pak oil deal is part of a broader strategic move. A US firm collaborating with Pakistan’s crypto council aims to establish Islamabad as a regional hub with the US as a global crypto leader. This could open illicit money channels against India for terror funding. The US sees Pakistan’s untapped oil and rare earth mineral potential as alternatives to China’s dominance in commodities. Trump wants to achieve economic dominance by forging politically motivated business deals.

Harbinder S Dhillon, Una

Academic audit necessary

Apropos of ‘NEP is rich in language, poor in lived transformation’; though the National Education Policy has been very meticulously drafted, its implementation is a Herculean task. The new policy embraces elementary and higher educational institutions for execution of desired reforms and transformation at the village, state and national levels. Five years have elapsed, but the qualitative impact of the policy on the education system is not perceivable. An analytical academic audit must be undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of NEP-2020.

VK Anand, Chandigarh

Keeping politics out

Apropos of ‘A rare conviction’; ex-JDS MP Prajwal Revanna’s conviction in less than a year in one of the four cases of rape and sexual harassment is a rare glimpse of how justice should work. The first reaction of former PM Deve Gowda’s grandson was exactly how the powerful respond — he alleged a political conspiracy. The gamechanger was the intervention of Deve Gowda, who asked Prajwal to subject himself to the legal process. This ensured that there was no political interference. The investigation was by the book, no evidence was botched up and the prosecution was on point. In the absence of political patronage and with the police getting a free hand, victims can expect justice.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

Lot more needs to be done

Apropos of ‘Cheaper medicines’; a lot needs to be done to provide low-cost medicines to the common man. One major issue is the MRP of medicines. Prices of the same molecule sold under different brand names vary to the extent of 1,000 per cent profit margin. The rule book, pharmacopoeia, may allow a difference of 70-95 per cent in the purity of a molecule, which again is subject to poor quality control. Price and quality control is the sole responsibility of the government for which doctors are often erroneously blamed. Another issue is the availability of a molecule. Many life-saving molecules have disappeared from markets as manufacturers deemed them financially unsustainable.

Sandeep Chaudhri, Karnal

Govt must regulate drug pricing

Refer to ‘Cheaper medicines’; the government should strongly promote Jan Aushadhi Kendras that provide standardised medicines and implement revolutionary drug pricing reforms to regulate the costs. A multi-pronged approach can be adopted by incorporating a market-based price model, encouraging generic medicines, and a trade margin monitoring model to bring in transparency. Patients should have a choice to buy medicines according to affordability without compromising on the quality.

Vitull K Gupta, Bathinda