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It has been reported that heart patients in India have to pay 700 per cent more than the import cost for stents — stents imported for ₹25,000 are sold at ₹1.55 lakh. This was revealed by the Food and Drug Administration. The survey has also shown that the MRP itself is exaggerated and depends on the whims and fancies of distributors. This shows how the doctors, hospitals and medical distributors are hand in hand, and cheat the citizens of India.
KA Solaman
Alappuzha, Kerala
Money for gold
The gold monetisation scheme is a good initiative as it will bring into circulation the idle gold held by households, temples and jewellers. This will reduce import of gold considerably and save on forex. But as the gold will be molten and converted into bars, individuals may be reluctant to part with family jewellery. The success of the scheme will depend on the rate of interest offered by banks and how these deposits will be treated for CRR requirements.
M Raghuraman
Mumbai
Satellite power
This refers to ‘Hot on Mars, but short everywhere else’ by M Matheswaran (May 20). It appears we don’t understand that powerful satellites will enable television and radio to proliferate. When we have a powerful satellite, the receiver can have a small component which receives signals so that they reach every home. We can collaborate with the Americans to solve our problems. Research and development means more collaboration with the global institutions of excellence.
CR Arun
Governments for the rich
The government thinks that people will not feel the burden of service tax (which is an indirect tax) which it has hiked to 14 per cent from June 1. But the fact is indirect taxes make a big hole in the small pockets of the salaried and the poor. Today, one cannot be proud of earning an income of, say, ₹2 lakh or ₹3 lakh a month, because the real income (goods and services the income commands) is less, thanks to indirect taxes. The rich will not have any problem paying indirect taxes, as they know how to evade direct taxes and save a lot of money. Clearly, the elected governments in this world are not for the middle-class and the poor.
S Ramakrishnasayee
Ranipet, Tamil Nadu
Egos gone haywire
With reference to the editorial, ‘Time to talk’ (May 20), the tussle between Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and LG Najeeb Jung is nothing but an ego clash which unfortunately has turned into a ugly battle. Kejriwal went overboard when he criticised a senior IAS in public. His ploy to appoint a candidate of his own choice as chief secretary went sour when the candidate himself withdrew from the race saying Shakutala Gamlin is senior to him. This sums up whole issue.
Governance and creating political drama are two completely different things, but Kejriwal doesn’t understand that. He thinks continuous drama will fetch him results. He forgets that people are restless and if they do not see concrete results he could be in trouble sooner than expected. Calling the LG names is shameful; AAP party members doing this should apologise, at least out of respect for the Constitution. Sadly, Kejriwal has become arrogance personified.
Bal Govind
Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Corruption’s holding fast
Arun Jaitley says “Corruption is a thing of the past”. If this is true, it should reflect in the tax burden of taxpayers.
Unfortunately it does not. With the elimination of corruption, government expenditure, which gets bloated to accommodate the bribe factor, should have come down drastically, bringing down the appetite for generating more revenue to fund these expenditures. This should result in passing on the benefit to the common man in terms of reduced tax burden. Unfortunately none of this has happened.
Therefore, the finance minister’s claim that corruption is a thing of the past is far from the truth. Eliminating corruption from public life in India is tougher than Project Namaami Gange. It cannot happen in one year!
TK Neelakantan
Chennai
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