This refers to ‘Deposit insurance: what you didn’t know’ by Aarati Krishnan (Real returns, February 22). The article will serve a larger purpose if policymakers take cognisance of the constraints within which the DICGC is functioning and initiate moves that will help the organisation recast its vision and mission. The DICGC has sufficient resources but they are inadequate for the kind of expansion required to restore confidence among depositors. DICGC may also have to revisit credit guarantee. The organisation also needs to be professionalised.

Further, the anomalous situation arising from commercial banks meeting the cost of the inefficiency of cooperative banks will have to be rectified, even as it decides whether the level of deposit insurance should be retained at a low of ₹1 lakh. Perhaps the threshold should be raised to provide cover for at least 50 per cent of bank deposits. The DICGC could consider expanding its ambit to all financial institutions regulated by the RBI that accept deposits from the public.

MG Warrier

Mumbai

Shameful situation

Even after 69 years of independence, it is pathetic that we are agitating for reservations based on caste. Once the government agrees to Jat reservation, similar agitations will crop up elsewhere. We must create more jobs and economic growth. More than the government, it is the private sector that creates jobs; hence the government should encourage business people. We also need to revamp our education system and boost the tourism industry as well as cottage industries.

Veena Shenoy

Thane, Maharashtra

Functional autonomy for PSBs

As the financials of the banks’ for the combined three quarters and the third quarter ended December 15 now emerge, it is concerning that their bad loans are rising phenomenally owing to various factors. It is important to find ways quickly so that the situation doesn’t get out of hand.

The creation of bad banks along the lines of Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund by transferring all stressed loans of banks to them is a possibility. China is believed to have 4 or 5 such banks operating exclusively to manage distressed assets. Banks should be allowed to focus on productive lending coupled with a reasonable degree of operational autonomy.

Banks should be allowed to take decisions based on commercial considerations and be given enough muscle to deal firmly with defaulting borrowers. The apex court asking the central bank to furnish the list of companies that are in default of bank loans of over ₹500 crore is a step in the right direction. Bad politics is also bad economics.

Srinivasan Umashankar

Nagpur

Held to ransom

This refers to ‘Taxpayers, not masters’ by Aesha Datta (From the Viewsroom, February 22). Juxtaposing the subsidised universities with big corporates is like comparing cheese with chalk. While corporates create employment opportunities help filling the coffers of government, the same cannot be said about the former. Freedom of speech and dissent are essential to democracies, but we should not cross the limits.

Universities and educational institutions cannot become a hotbed for politics; they should be temples of learning for conscientious students from different strata of society to pursue their studies. A few activists playing into the hands of the political class who use them to further their own agendas cannot hold these students to ransom.

HP Murali

Bengaluru

Totally unreasonable

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that conspiracies are being hatched against his government to destabilise it because he insists on accountability. His observation seems unreasonable. The government has not done anything in the last two years. To put it in simple terms, people have not felt his administration. We don’t see corruption at the Centre, nor any progressive measures for the nation’s growth. Announcements by the government are aplenty, but actions are few indeed.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

Apple vs FBI

This refers to ‘Why Apple refuses to oblige the FBI’ by RK Ragahvan (February 22). Apple should unlock the iPhone as was ordered by the court. Apple is right when it says it stands for privacy and it cannot be requested to break the code. But there can be no privacy argument if the accused person has had a fair trail; in this case the court has ordered the unlocking of the phone. It is a search warrant which can lead to more evidence and possibly stop future attacks and the FBI has the right and the duty to see what’s in the phone. The American constitution stands unequivocally for individual rights but the court order is not a violation of this right.

CR Arun

Email

Unacceptable behaviour

It is unfortunate that violent protests are the order of the day. Whatever the reason may be, the means of achieving ends and goals should be nonviolent and diplomatic. Uprooting rail tracks and burning public property are punishable acts and these aggressive methods are not acceptable.

P Senthil Saravana Durai

Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu

Better postal services

The postal services have matured and their delivery system is good. They should re-schedule delivery timings to 8 am to 11 am in the morning and 5 pm to 8 pm in the evening so that people are available to receive letters / parcels, and the postmen and women avoid the summer sun. In order to improve business and beat the competition from private courier services, staggering working hours would be a good idea. Main post offices could work on Sundays. Effective marketing improvements will be good for the postal department.

RS Raghavan

Bengaluru

Modi’s counter-attack

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s uncharacteristic remark that conspiracies are being hatched to destabilise his government dents his image as a strong and self-assured leader. Usually leaders come up with ‘conspiracy theories’ when their popular approval rating plummets. Criticisms on multiple fronts seem to have left Modi somewhat deflated. He looks a sadly reduced figure when he tries to win sympathy by lamenting that his critics keep themselves occupied with attacking his government day in, day out. Harnessing religion for political gain, disallowing dissent, disapproving agitations for social change and redefining nationalism attract criticism.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

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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