In the present clutch of State elections, Punjab stands out on two counts. Elsewhere the " Us vs Them" script has completely eclipsed discourse on a plethora of vital issues that, however, found energetic relevance only in Punjab. Though this could be attributed to the year-long farmer agitation, it must be said that the State has largely been free from stoking social divisiveness.

An abrupt foray into the State politics by the farmers, post their year long crusade, has caught other parties off guard. Each one is fighting against time to woo them into their fold. No wonder all were united in seeking a deferment of elections from the EC. The farmers could be credited for helping restore some gravity, long absent in our elections.

R Narayanan

Navi Mumbai.

Empowering women

Apropos 'Can the FM relieve women of this burden' ? (January 18), it is good to note that rural women of Maharashtra and Gujarat have been provided with water wheels developed by Wello, an American social enterprise . While women have been relieved of the physical hardships of fetching drinking water walking miles away, it is not the final remedy or the panacea but just one among the other alternatives available in addressing the issues of rural women folk.

The point of providing clean drinking water to every household used to be the 'mantra' of every other political party while coming to power.

Water, being the essential source of livelihood, the government identify the hamlets and villages which are water deficit and provide them water by digging deep borewells and overhead tanks powered through solar.

With the available technologies, providing water should not be difficult for village heads . Similar to the ambitious plans of electrifying all villages and making smoke-free villages, the agenda of providing clean drinking water should get on the top of bureaucrats' list. Thrust and liberal funds can make this happen enabling the rural womenfolk in finding enough time in sharpening their skills and get empowered in real sense.

R V Baskaran

r

Chennai

Banking frauds

This is with reference to the article ‘Banking frauds will increase over next 2 years’ (January 18), it is really shocking to note as per a survey that banking frauds will increase in spite of the huge innovative banking methods that are being adopted by various banks in capturing maximum share of business through them. Cyber crimes are increasing by the day through technology.

Most importantly the frauds may crop up from different corners of the world either through fake accounts or through fake bills which the banks may not be aware of until a certain point of time. It is therefore more essential now that banks’ audit systems have to undertake multiple checks on all high value transactions from different angles at different stages of the transaction be it a lending transaction or a business transaction.

Banking frauds should be severely dealt with by the vigilance departments.

Katuru Durga Prasad Rao

Hyderabad

Corporate compulsions

This refers to the article “Enhancing the lifespan of organisations” (January 18). Since measuresfor the long survival of an organisation require human resources to implement them, their sustained quality to adopt the new changes and keep innovating to face new challenges becomes a crucial factor.

If we look at the history of organisations like Ford company and Tata group, we can a see a thoughtful succession planning at the top to maintain a pool of talent. A dynamic organisation culture makes the application of technology and innovative practices possible. Also, proactive customer-service, competitive pricing with product/service quality and continuous innovation (kaizen) contribute a lot.

YG Chouksey

Pune

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