Tackle corruption

‘New India is consumed by guilt’ by Rajkamal Rao (November 20) is timely. Having pledged to expose the dishonest and elevate the income level of the masses, the Centre’s move to demonitise succeeded in increasing direct tax collections significantly. However, the Centre has failed to rein in corruption which is pandemic across multiple levels in the country. Unless this is tackled on a war-footing, citizens will be discouraged by the Centre’s move to instil values of honesty in them. Why not pass the long-delayed Lokpal Bill to kickstart the process?

Swarup Chandrashekar

Bengaluru

Leave Padmavati alone

The BJP’s chief media coordinator from Haryana seems to have gone bonkers by threatening the makers of Padmavati — he’s offering ₹10 crore for the heads of one actor and director threatening to break the legs of another actor. The Karni Sena has shown itself in bad light by its threats. The whole matter has been blown out of proportion. The Government should rein in these trouble mongers and let the film run.

NJ Ravi Chander

Bengaluru

With reference to PT Jyothi Datta’s views on Padmavati (From the Viewsroom, November 20), I consider it suppression of creativity and freedom of thought. In the name of religion and caste , many were forced to confine themselves in their search for food and security of life rather than attempting creative works, such as that of Tamil writer Perumal Murugan. Such attacks on individual freedom and collective effort need to be addressed by the Government.

G Veerakumaran

Thrissur, Kerala

It’s been rightly said that there are many more relevant issues to protest against and fight for. When Supreme Court and High Court judges can give differing opinions and even judgments on matters pertaining to the Constitution and other laws of the nation, why fight on the depiction of some aspect of history? Maybe the solution is to change the name of the film to Leelavati or Malavati or Seethavati so that it does not depict a specific personality and practices.

RS Raghavan

Bengaluru

Films are creative art pieces. It is for the Central Board of Film Certification to decide whether the film is fit for public viewing. The film must be screened all over India with police protection and those indulging in violence must be taken into custody. People might have objections to a movie, but resorting to violence cannot be the solution.

M Kumar

New Delhi

Good advice

‘Small banks, big rates’ by Radhika Merwin (November 20) offers sound investment return advice to small savers. The present financial inclusion initiatives focus on opening more savings bank accounts to inculcate the saving habit. These low cost resources augment the strengths of banks in higher deployment of credit to the needy. However, in the absence of a liberal tax regime, it would discourage people from retaining their savings in these accounts.

Under the present tax laws , the deduction of interest income earned from savings accounts along with other deposits is exempted only up to ₹10,000. The tax cap on interest on savings deposits needs to be increased to a substantial amount whereby even high networth individuals also deposit large amounts in savings accounts which would relieve not only the pressure on banks to procure lowcost deposits for credit deployment but also the burden on government to provide funds to banks by way of recapitalisation without denting the exchequer.

Sitaram Popuri

Bengaluru

Shocking betrayal

The admission by UIDAI that over 200 Central and State government websites have put up details of Aadhaar beneficiaries in the public domain is shocking. This clearly points to the vulnerability of the existing security architecture to hacking and manipulation. The Supreme Court has asserted the right to privacy to be an inviolable and fundamental.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

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