Accumulating debts
It hurts a lot to know that there aren’t any harsh punishments for borrowers. (“Bad loans of state banks equal spending on defence, education, roads and health”).
My opinion is very straightforward. The punishment must be very harsh for the people who do not pay back the loan within a prescribed time period. If defaulters are not punished, this culture will go on. Rich or poor, there must be a system to punish them. They are affecting the country’s economy as well as the common man’s taxes. – Sohil Vadiya
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When all public sector bank boards have a nominee director from Reserve Bank of India and the Union finance ministry and they are important individuals on the management committees of these banks, then how can they be spared?
No credit proposal is cleared without their consent. If this is the case, then how have they allowed crores of bad debts to accumulate at the banks? Why are they not made accountable? It is all collusion. – bidaye.lalit on email
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The declining net worth of these banks with rising non-performing assets and bad loans is alarming and a big stress for banks. It is high time that a white paper gets published on the functioning of these banks. The finance ministry, CEOs of public sector banks and the Reserve Bank of India are all responsible for the state of affairs.
All said and done, further loans to corporates and industries who have already accumulated NPAs could be another reason for the problem. A high-powered investigation is needed and the results need to be brought before the public, who should retain confidence in the public sector banks. – Kewal Khanna
Contemplating Saraswati
I was very excited to know about aspects of goddess Saraswati’s life that many of us were not aware of (“Saraswati’s life was one of a million mutinies – but she always had the last word”). Saraswati truly epitomes the modern day woman, who undergoe so many hardships but remains rooted in her values. – Yatharth Mishra
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I just had to write to convey my appreciation for an extraordinary write-up on Saraswati.
In Bengal, the Saraswati puja is carried out in every household around this time of the year and we tend to grow up idolising the goddess. It might also be interesting to note that children’s ritualistic first attempt at writing is also celebrated on a Saraswati puja day.
I wasn’t aware of the mythology and philosophical concepts behind the entity of the goddess. The article succinctly describes the blueprint that I see and have been seeing among a lot of women in my life. I really thank the author and Scroll.in for disseminating this piece for our enlightenment. – Anashua Banerji
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With this interesting piece, we found out about the deity Saraswati and her unique qualities and the interesting stories surrounding her. More importantly, Mrinal Pande makes an argument through her scholarly presentation about Saraswati’s feminist qualities. – Bhaskar Hegde
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The article by Mrinal Pande on Saraswati is enlightening about the female energy. Geographically, her waters were “captured” by Yamuna. She continues unseen and sensed only by those who wish to do so. Rivers are indeed holy and have very deep meanings in our lives apart from the water that they give. Through this water, they circulate to make our bodies, minds and souls active. We need more like her in the world to convey that women cannot be taken for granted. Thanks for the research and for sharing it. – Shobana Ramkumar
Caste and clashes
This is a well-written article (“What do we owe Rohith Vemula after his death?”). I am a senior citizen from a privileged middle class rural family. Having seen the lives of Dalits and other Other Backward Classes in a rural setup, I can empathise with the activism of these communities.
But can a young person from urban India having not seen the plight of these communities in rural setup have similar feelings. I don’t know. This clash will continue. Like the activists feel caste is a reality, the clashes are also a reality. What is the solution? Are we going to see nationalism attached to every incident of this sort? Civilised exchange of opinions and political solutions in a give and take atmosphere should be encouraged. Will this happen? – ranadheer on email
Odd comparison
With due respect, I would like to get a clearer picture of some of the points mentioned in the article (“If Sweden could stand up to Israel for Palestine, why can’t it stand up to Modi for India?”). How can you draw a similarity between the atrocities happening in the Middle East and the so-called intolerance in India? Don’t you think that even if we agree upon the point that the level of intolerance has been rising, the very nature and interests involved in such acts are totally different from the ones happening in the Middle East?
In India, even if we are doing something wrong, we have a very democratic system to rectify ourselves. Why do we need a foreign delegate to interfere in our internal matters? – Rajat
Bribe theory
I read this article and found it very interesting (“An economist’s radical idea for lowering petty corruption”). Why can’t this idea be floated with the Modi government? Maybe then there will a better response from the present government and something fruitful will emerge.
There are a few risky points involved with the kind of law suggested. One of them is that there is always a fear that someone will go and say that he has given a bribe to so and so, and then the media will pick this up and create a big issue out of it.
If the charge is not proved, it will damage the reputation of the accused. And therefore, the law should also say that the bribe giver should have reasonable evidence in his possession to prove the charge. Let the courts decide what constitutes reasonable evidence. Even if this is not sufficient to put the bribe taker behind bars, it should exonerate the bribe giver. – Chandrashekhar Gokhale
Reconsidering reservations
It is high time to reconsider reservations as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are no more socially and economically weak (“The Kapu question: Should a socially powerful but economically weak group get reservations?”).They can be reclassified as forward communities as they have attained the maximum social and economic power.
In forward communities, there are millions who are really struggling to survive. Reservation is a “divide and rule” policy of the rulers. If the reservation policy is to be continued, it should be for economically weaker sections only, irrespective of their caste and creed. – Gam Ram
Brave retelling
Bravo for bringing a first person account of a soldier who serves our country in the face of such unbelievable hardships and chooses to remain anonymous (“First person: We can tackle enemies on Siachen, but there’s not much we can do about nature”). The write-up gave me the sense of intense loneliness and yet the feeling of being alive.
The writer deserves a pat on the back for bringing the actual story from the border to us, who are sitting in the comforts of our city lives, enjoying security and freedom, oblivious to possible dangers from the other side of the mountains. Such journalism is refreshing and relevant. – Parul Vibhakar
Seeing is believing
Ruchika Sharma’s article is one-sided and anti-Hindu (“’Madhya Pradesh’s Ayodhya’: How the British manufactured the myth of Bhojshala”). I don’t know why you entertain such writers who hide facts for the sake of cheap publicity. First of all, Bhojshala is not manufactured by the British. They found proof of that structure. You can make out by looking at it that it’s a Hindu structure. As a Hindu and a proud Indian, I condemn Sharma’s views. – Sid