End this scourge

It is horrendous that the scourge of manual scavenging still exists despite it being banned. The number of workers who have lost their lives while cleaning septic tanks in Bengaluru this year alone has risen to five and it is unfortunate that no lessons have been learnt. It is high time the authorities cracked the whip on the errant.

Bengaluru

Bitcoin prices have more than halved in less than two months. While cryptocurrency analysts are yet to provide a rational explanation for the hyper-volatility, a six-fold growth from current levels by year-end has been projected. Amid a globally diminishing sentiment and lack of transparency the penal initiatives against unregulated exchanges in the economy are expected to discourage trading in virtual currencies and restrict the growth of a false market in the asset class.

Stakeholder interests demand that the regulators continue to hold the firm stand and prevent any speculative/arbitrage attempts in the rupee via digital currencies. SEBI may consider the futuristic proposal to have a legal and regulated token-based virtual currency in crypto-format, to cater for varied business needs. Meanwhile, the initiative to utilise the blockchain technology is welcome.

Delhi

It appears that the Government is working towards implementation of the FRDI Bill in spite of serious objections to it. One is not sure if the sops announced in the budget to make bank deposits more attractive than stock market investments has anything to do with ensuring its smooth passage in Parliament. According to government statistics, 91 per cent of bank customers are covered under ₹1 lakh. How will risk averse customers derive benefit from the increase in interest income unless each deposit amount goes up substantially?

In Cyprus, depositors lost almost 50 per cent of their savings when bail-in was implemented. In India, the FRDI Bill will prove to be a bane not a boon.

Chennai

For two decades plus, we pursued the Nehruvian doctrine of welfare and the primacy of a public sector-led economy. We ought to have tapered it down to move over to the private sector-led economy . We might well have done so but for the 1962 war with China that put us on the defensive, politically and economically, for three decades. By the time we picked up the strands of growth in the 1990s through a liberalised economy, we had an unwieldy public sector and an unimaginative bureaucracy that mishandled inclusive welfare schemes.

Nehru perhaps pursued a socio-political-economic line best suited to those times. Strange that we pick on the Mughal and Nehruvian eras and not the intervening British rule. There is a lesson for any progressive nation: history is not for selective reading and it matters less where we started but more how we intend to move forward.

Navi Mumbai

‘In letter and spirit’ by Jinoy Jose (From the Viewsroom, February 14) is well-timed. The library has been described as “the wardrobe of literature” and “the consulting chamber for the wise”; but the popularity of public libraries in India is on the wane. This is because there is a decline in the reading habit and also a shift from what should be read to what is being read (thanks to internet, more brisk lifestyle, addiction to TV, etc.) Well chosen, well-stocked and conveniently located public libraries can help revive a good reading culture.

This need is more in rural and semi-urban areas where access to internet and print material is limited. To increase the use of libraries the authorities should conduct a survey among users to ascertain their tastes, working time suitability, variety of books, etc. The feedback should enable them to revise budgets more realistically and take corrective action.

Pune

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