One rank, one pension

The Government has taken the right decision to adopt the principle of “one rank one pension” for Defence personnel. However, it will be implemented from the next financial year. Since it is a question of principle, there is a strong case for making it applicable with retrospective effect. Retired staff should get the benefit of arrears in lieu of past payments (not made) with interest at bank rate. This will undo the injustice done to them by the denial of payments in the past. The Opposition may consider the inclusion of the proposal in their election propaganda.

A Seshan

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Bankable option

This is with reference to Mohan R Lavi’s “United Bank of India deserves a lifeline” (February 24). The writer’s inference that new entrants into the banking field may be weighing the option of taking over United Bank of India (UBI) is credible and logical. But the most pertinent question is: At what price?.

Shutting down UBI might have never crossed the RBI’s or the government’s mind, as it would lead to the failure/forced merger of other weak banks too. It is appalling that the bank’s bad loans are a whopping ₹8,545 crore.

Extraneous pressure and influence on the bank’s functionaries might have also contributed to the deplorable state of affairs. No amount of audit can bring to light such bad practices.

CG Kuriakose

Kothamangalam, Kerala

A different thrust

Thomas Freidman’s “Those who make the cut at Google” (February 24) is instructive for educationists. Google emphasises the willingness to learn continuously as one of the five most important attributes of a prospective employee compared to possession of narrow expertise. It again draws attention to the need for revamping the education system and move from “what to learn” to “how to learn” and “how to learn how to learn”. It will be wrong to brush this aside as a particular organisation’s business need. The creation of a learning environment and learning culture is the foundation of any education.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Public-private divide

This refers to the report by Bhavana Acharya on the growing public-private divide in the quarter ended December 2013 (February 23). The performance of PSUs in the industrial and banking sectors is not quite up to the mark. This is bound to cause dismay. One of the reasons could be staff remuneration. A certain level of parity, if not equality, has to be maintained between the remunerations of the government departments and government-run companies.

It will be of interest to note that in most private companies, with attrition taking a toll, staff remuneration is based on performance. The PSUs must pay attention to these factors to bolster their profitability, and the government should also examine the possible causes for the declining trend.

TR Anandan

Coimbatore

Media and government

This refers to “Show us your jobs plan, Mr Abbott” (Other Voices, February 19). I thought the print media in the developed world was more mature guarded and would meticulously weigh and measure the pros and cons of any proposed government policy, instead of making hasty, unsubstantiated and premature comment. High government officials and ministers are not magicians to bring out things out of their hats to entertain us, by optical illusion.

VN Ramaswamy

Hyderabad

Beware of bad loans

This refers to the editorial “System alert” (February 21). The rise in banks’ bad loans has been a threat to financial stability and cannot be taken lightly at this juncture when the economy itself is not performing. Except perhaps the RBI Deputy Governor who feels that rise in NPAs is no systemic risk as of now, the professional bankers, financial experts, the Government and the Reserve Bank of India have been expressing their apprehensions over the risks the NPAs can pose on the financial system.

Until both the banks and borrowers are disciplined, NPAs cannot be minimised.

TV Gopalakrishnan

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