A spade’s a spade

R Krishna Kumar has called a spade a spade in ‘An elephant called manufacturing’ (March 9). He has very correctly asked industry to introspect and set right its inherent inefficiencies and poor utilisation of resources. The comparisons of various parameters and industry’s performance is dismal.

The massive tax benefits given by the UPA government in December 2008 to manufacturing have gone into the drain; factory owners have got cash benefits without any showing any improvement in efficiency. For instance, the way the auto industry fought to get the excise cut benefit extended to March, 2015 is an example of how industry runs to the government instead of looking inward.

SP Singh

New Delhi

The focus on manufacturing was hardly felt till the government felt there was overpopulation and started calling it demographic dividend, but actually it is demographic explosion. As the government hardly cared about the population growth and there continued to be disguised unemployment in the agriculture sector, it was quite easy to start small scale manufacturing units by acquiring cheap land and hiring easily available labour. Now the land acquisition law is making it tough to acquire land.

All the electricity boards were in the red, indicating that these were working in connivance and charging the minimum possible. The entire system was based on corruption and without realising that the input cost had to be judiciously paid.

Now when ‘make in India’ has been accepted as the unavoidable goal for creating employment, neither land not electricity is available. An inefficient and corrupted education system has led to a dearth of quality workforce in India. Trade unions tackle the government and industry when there is talk of retrenchment or shut down. On the whole, making in India is not easy.

It won’t be possible even with the application of science, engineering and technology. The government has not worked out a comprehensive strategy encompassing land, labour, capital and technology while announcing this ambitious programme..

RK Arya

Faridabad, Haryana

In his illuminating article R Krishna Kumar enumerates the internal factors the manufacturing industry should look into for enhancing its growth. A cause-wise analysis of these factors would lead to the needed solutions.

Thus, poor power consumption could be traced to the usage of old machinery; excessive land holding may be due to ill-defined expansion plans or inadequate appreciation of present requirements; ineffective training of workers could be sourced to its limited scope for skill development (ignoring other skills); or tight budget and uninspiring response to suggestion schemes (a measure of creativity in the organisation) may emanate from lack of faith in the fairness of evaluation of suggestions.

As for savings not being invested in manufacturing companies, the reason may also be the traditional lure for gold or possibility of better returns from service organisations.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Bad idea

This refers to the article, ‘A taxing thought’ by Mohan Lavi (March 9). Abolishing income tax will be disastrous. There is no such thing as a free market. The government provides a currency, courts for dispute settlement , the police for law and order, the army for national security and all the other infrastructure needed for any business to operate. For all these and to provide an educated work force the government needs money.

If anything, we should have a competitive tax policy so that our businesses can compete in a global marketplace.

Banking transaction tax is a bad idea; it will encourage cash transactions and take us back in time. Every system will have a large population who need the helping hand of the government. We need to tax the super rich at much higher rates and use that money for uplifting the needy. Abolishing income is bad economics. Let’s not go down that path.

CR Arun

Email

Think well

This is with reference to the editorial, ‘A meaty problem’ (March 9). Human civilisation has evolved with the primary activity of hunting animals for food. The Neanderthals used weapons made of wood and stone to hunt. With evolution, they started domesticating cattle for milk and meat. Hindus supposedly revered cows and cattle as messengers of God, probably thinking that only then would they be looked after. The economic value as rightly pointed out will have more impact on the already ailing domestic economy. If India is bans cow slaughter, it creates opportunities for other countries to benefit. Apart from the economic impact, there will be a disturbance in the ecosystem which will adversely impact humans. Hence centralised legislation should be carefully put in place to take care of the economic issues as well as the religious ones.

S Veeraraghavan

Madurai

Appalling threat

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe’s blunt statement that Indian fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters will be shot is stunning. It is perhaps the most appalling remark made publicly by the holder of an exalted office. The threat is totally unacceptable. It has not occurred to Wickramasinghe that if Indian fishermen occasionally stray into the not-so-well-demarcated Sri Lankan waters, they do so in order not to return home empty-handed, and not to violate Colombo’s sovereign rights. Both Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen share the same plight and have to be treated with a lot of consideration.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

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