State of economy

Apropos of the editorial ‘Lockdown contraction’ (Sept 2), India’s GDP contracted by 23.9% for the first quarter of the current fiscal, but the government is trying to distract the public by calling for the boycott of Chinese goods etc. An important point to be noted is as to how China’s GDP contracted only by 6.8%. Why is the government not discussing how China has absorbed the blow, despite the ban on major business companies by the other nations?

Ritish Pandit, Dehra Gopipur

LIC credo inspires

Refer to ‘Ramp up infrastructure to revive economy’ (Sept 2); the boost in demand needs review of certain decisions like freezing of the dearness allowance for employees which have to be withdrawn. DA is compensation for inflation and cannot be denied, and must be paid, the earlier the best, for reviving demand. To revive the economy, there is a strong case for adopting consumer-friendly ‘NAW’ (need, affordability and worth) approach of marketing of the goods and services. We should adopt the principle of ‘needonomics’, based on the credo of LIC of India — ‘Yogakshemam vahamyaham’ (your welfare is our responsibility). For bringing socio-economic transformation, we need to propagate righteous income after paying taxes.

MM Goel, Kurukshetra

Vacant PG seats

The report ‘12% PG seats vacant in med colleges’ (Sept 1) was worrying. Recently, BFUHS announced that 86 PG seats couldn’t be filled in seven medical colleges of Punjab. A country like India that has an acute shortage of specialist doctors, letting PG seats (may be of non-clinical subjects) go vacant is indeed criminal. This is a national loss and that too in these challenging times. It is the duty of the MCI and the Ministry of Health to make doctors aware of the importance of non-clinical or basic subjects, and in any case, if there are no aspirants for these specialities, the cut-off condition should be waived for these subjects. Some prestigious private colleges charge heavily even for non-clinical courses.

Sunil Chopra, Ludhiana

Juristic consideration

The sentence awarded to Prashant Bhushan by the SC is unfortunate. Imposing a fine of Re 1 on him is not only ridiculous in itself, but also smacks of stubbornness and vindictiveness, as it has been stated that in case of non-payment of this fine, he will undergo three months’ imprisonment along with a ban on practising law for three years. Keeping in view the hard facts of the case, people were expecting juristic consideration and magnanimity from the Bench. Not to speak of the cogent reply by the accused and the forceful arguments of the defence lawyer, who taking cognisance of the meritorious contribution of Bhushan to the delivery of justice so far, had pleaded not to penalise him. It has eroded the esteem of the highest court.

Yadwinder Dirba, Sangrur

Probe would be in order

The contempt case against Prashant Bhushan has been disposed of by the Supreme Court by awarding him Re 1 as fine. Failing to comply with the verdict will evoke three-month imprisonment. Bhushan very respectfully agreed to pay the fine but would avail the option of filing a review petition against the punishment. Now, the whole episode has shifted to the main issue of prevailing corruption among judicial officials. It needs to be proceeded with by appointing a commission armed with comprehensive terms of reference to probe the cases of those allegedly involved in corrupt practices while wielding immense judicial powers, and suggest ways and means to eliminate corruption in the higher echelon of judiciary. This will restore the unstinted public faith in our unbiased and incorruptible judicial system.

COL KULDIP S GREWAL (RETD), PATIALA

Forced retirement

Reference to the notification issued by the Centre on the periodic review of government employees for strengthening administration. It has been mentioned that the government may, at any time after an employee has attained the age of 50/55 years or completed 30 years of service, retire him prematurely in public interest, based on broad criteria to be followed by the review committee. One of the conditions is doubtful integrity. Also, those found to be ineffective shall be retired. This infers that those below 50 years are not corrupt, or have the licence to indulge in corruption. It will be the easiest tool to get rid of any government servant from service if one is not working according to the wish of his or her bosses. The government should reconsider the notification.

Brij Bhushan, Chandigarh

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