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‘Arms and the man’ (editorial, March 15) is an interesting analysis. Dislodging Manohar Parrikar from the defence ministry is a thoughtless action. A well functioning minister is required to keep up the morale of the armed forces. It appears that defence concerns are set aside for promotion of the BJP’s political interests. Attaching defence to the finance ministry is a crushing burden.
There are many problems in the defence sector. Ethnic regimentation, cumbersome hierarchy, long-winded decision-making processes, porous borders, inadequate coordination between bureaucracy and defence top echelons, needless security sensitivity in the Siachen Glacier region, Indo-China border skirmishes, infiltration of refugees from Bangladesh, unending insurgency in the North-East, dilapidated machinery, newly emerging welfare shortcomings, alleged inept positioning of defence personnel at lower rungs and the menace of terrorism — need the dedicated services of top minds.
An independent and capable minister is required to carry forward positive and transparent policies and reinforce security measures. India’s emerging economy needs a peaceful co-existence with other nations. For this, it needs the armed forces to be contented. This will be possible only with the appointment of an independent and competent minister.
B Rajasekaran
Bengaluru
No one can deny that Parrikar has brought in a fresh approach to the defence ministry through his transparent and no-nonsense approach. Earlier, it was a ministry plagued by middlemen eager to collect hefty commissions in exchange for finalising a defence procurement deal. During Parrikar’s tenure this has become a thing of the past. He also adopted measures in tackling cross-border terrorism and played an active role in settling the long pending OROP issue. Not that Arun Jaitley can’t handle this portfolio; but as he is also FM, he may not be able to do justice to both ministries.
K Ashok Kumar
Kolkata
Hardly any options
Media reports about the recent election results are almost unanimous that people’s support for Narendra Modi and the BJP is growing, and they (people) have more faith in Modi than in the leaders of any other big parties. This is because there is unity in the party and the cadres follow the leader devotedly. Transparency in leadership is vital for the success of any party or institution. The Modi government at the Centre tries to ensure it. The same cannot be said of party leaders in other States where the BJP lost the election in Punjab, and failed to get even a simple majority in Goa and Manipur. What is saddening is that the people have to narrow down their choice to just one or two parties, be they good or bad. India needs many good political parties and leaders to challenge the BJP, which is authoritarian .
S Ramakrishnasayee
Ranipet, Tamil Nadu
Expect a big push forward
This refers to ‘Market applauds BJP victory’ (March 15). Obviously buoyed by the landslide victories in UP and the Uttarkhand, Dalal Street investors took the NSE nifty to new high and the Sensex to a two-year-old peak with the Nifty ending with 9,123 and the Sensex at 29,562. According to top brokers and fund managers, the win will give the BJP confidence to push ahead with its reforms agenda.
Also, the market rally boosted the rupee value to a 16-month high with the Indian Currency (IC) to strengthen by 79 paise at 65.82 to a dollar. Incidentally, the IC also strengthened by 99 paise against the British Pound Sterling to close at 79.88, a five-year high. However, some Opposition leaders do not want to give credit to the BJP for reasons best known to them.
HP Murali
Bengaluru
NLC clarifies
With reference to ‘NLC may scrap Odisha solar power project on poor response’ (March 10), it is informed that the news item is not supported by sources of NLC India Ltd. Further, the details quoted and views expressed are not that of NLC India Ltd nor of the CMD/NLCI so quoted.
S Sridhar, Executive Director/PR
NLC India Limited, Cuddalore
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.
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