The editorial “Prune government flab” (November 3) is right that substantial cost reduction can be achieved by right-sizing the bureaucracy. According to a study done in 1993 (by Business Today ), the Government carried 18 per cent excess manpower amounting to 1.8 million headcount. (The picture may not have changed much now.)

This results in under-employment, idle talk and inefficiency at high costs. The Government, or the Seventh Pay Commission, should examine how much saving in manpower will take place by multi-tasking and job combination in the government departments.

Besides, the hierarchy-based structure in government has led to multi-level supervision, slow communication systems and delayed decision-making.

Given the Prime Minister’s stress on speed and efficiency, it is worthwhile to flatten the organisation structure and, after reduction of surplus staff, provide autonomy to the survivors in their area of work (by retraining them as required). This will curtail supervision costs considerably.

Lastly, the austerity measures introduced for the bureaucracy should apply to ministers also.

YG Chouksey

Pune

It has become a fashion to create new administrative units like districts and departments though there may not be any justification for them.

With the mandate of the Fifth Pay Commission to give time-bound promotion to all-India and Central service officers, States are obliged to create many top-level posts every year to accommodate them.

To cite an example, though forest cover has come down, the number of conservators has gone up many times. Similar is the case with the postal department.

The Government may consider restricting promotions strictly to fill essential vacancies. If the misuse of government vehicles and other facilities are discouraged, there can be a visible fall in expenditure. If indiscipline in public spending continues unabated, the collapse of our economy will be a certainty.

PS Pandyan

Chennai

ATM charges

The latest news regarding charges for withdrawal from ATMs beyond five transactions has created discontent. Rightly so.

While banking in India is getting global and progressing at a rapid pace, this move by the RBI is in the opposite direction. Banks need to do an analysis regarding the said charges vis-à-vis the cost incurred in serving the customers in person. Needless to say, footfalls will increase given the Indian mentality of avoiding paying any charges. Moreover with the tremendous shortage of staff in the branches it would increase work pressure.

Another point worth noting is that the upper limit for withdrawing money from many ATMs is ₹25,000. This needs to increase so that people can withdraw more cash at a given point of time.

Milind S Kulkarni

Email

Ignore him

This is with reference to “Call the Shahi Imam’s bluff” by Poornima Joshi (November 1). Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari is neither the leader of Indian Muslims nor head imam of Indian mosques.

He is one among the million imams in the world. Also, the anointment of his 19-year old son is neither a religious function nor an occasion for Indian Muslims to celebrate. It is his personal ambition to anoint his son as vice-imam which is a self-created post and has no locus standi in Islam.

Since the occasion does not represent the Indian Muslim as such, his invitation to Nawaz Sharif ignoring Narendra Modi will in no way be an insult to the Prime Minister. Indian Muslims will not take seriously the political gimmick of the imam.

MA Khan

Chennai

Errata

b In the report, “For Japanese camera majors, no ‘Make in India’ yet” (October 31), Executive Vice-President Alok Bharadwaj was wrongly referred to as CEO of Canon India. Also, Anushka Sharma is no longer brand ambassador for Canon. The errors are regretted.

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