Attrition in IT sector

This refers to ‘IT’s turning costly’ (May 1). IT sector employees took the biggest advantage of this ongoing pandemic as the majority of the companies offered work from home facility for a few years and few of the companies gave for life. Though attrition in the IT sector was always an issue, this pandemic has made it worse as employees started exploring new opportunities more aggressively. Many have even relocated to their native places and are switching jobs even after a few months, as the cost of living and travelling to work have reduced significantly.

So to counter this attrition, wage hikes and faster promotions are good options, but IT companies need to think beyond these traditional methods. Besides, the human resource department will have to play a bigger role in terms of clearly communicating future career growth opportunities in the organisation, assisting them with leadership and strategic management courses and imparting soft skills to make them better and efficient employees.

Bal Govind

Noida

Universal healthcare

This is with reference to ‘Ayushman Bharat cut health indebtedness’ (May 2). Healthcare is the right of every individual but lack of quality infrastructure, shortage of qualified medical personnel and non-access to basic medicines and medical facilities hinder its reach to 60 per cent of the population in India.

Ayushman Bharat is an attempt to ensure that universal healthcare reaches the weaker sections of society and it could raise the ratio of people availing primary and secondary healthcare. The government has made this a technology-driven initiative, which is a great step to ensure transparency and effective implementation, and at a grander scale, this initiative would encourage more work in development of overall health infrastructure in the country.

P Sundara Pandian

Virudhunagar, TN

Medical insurance

Data about the Ayushman Bharat scheme is heartening and the government must be congratulated for implementing it. However, it is not just the poor but also the middle class who are finding it difficult to pay for their medical expenses. Like in the West, medical Insurance is the only solution. However, the 18 per cent service tax has to be either brought down or eliminated.

The unholy nexus between hospitals, doctors and patients with the intention of defrauding insurance companies through inflated bills must be stopped. This can result in lower insurance premiums being charged.

Anthony Henriques

Mumbai

Make EVs safe

The instances of electric two-wheelers catching fire which were reported from a few parts of the country in recent times have raised legitimate apprehensions among the people about their safety. Some electric vehicle users have died owing to the explosion of batteries while several others have suffered grievous injuries when they were being charged. Electric vehicles occupy a prominent place in the country’s strategy to reduce its carbon footprint. Phasing out of fossil fuels-run vehicles by incentivising electric vehicles will take a beating if the safety concerning them remains unaddressed.

While the government has done the right thing by having constituted a expert committee to probe the recent series of battery explosions in electric two-wheelers, much needs to be done to ensure e-vehicles comply with prescribed safety norms without any compromise.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, TN

Capital buffer

This refers to a recent RBI report which states that capital buffer requirements can serve as a dampener to credit growth and one tends to agree with the observation. With the stipulation of minimum capital adequacy at 8 per cent as per Basel -III norms, building of capital buffer in addition to the same need not be pursued on an ongoing basis as it may prove to be an an ‘opportunity loss’ especially during economic downturn as is being witnessed now due to Covid pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war.

Capital buffer was stipulated as per Basel III norms due to the contagious effect banks were subjected to following 2007-08 credit crisis which was an extraordinary development in the history of banks. Post the crisis, banks across the world, especially in India, have become more risk averse looking for avenues for deployment of funds in safer areas like government securities and newly introduced products by RBI like Standard Deposit Facility, etc., when they are flush with liquidity. Also, since maintenance of capital buffer vary based on the components of assets in bank’s balance sheet, higher the risk-weighted assets, higher will be the need to go for capital buffer requirements. Overall, banks need to resort to a balancing act by accumulating enough capital buffer in good times when there is an upward trend in credit and restrict the same when it they pass through a challenging phase as is being witnessed now.

Srinivasan Velamur

Chennai

Revitalising MSMEs

This refers to ‘Integrating MSMEs into global value chains’ (May 2). Indeed, MSMEs are re-energising the manufacturing sector, thanks to the recent incentives through the PLI scheme. Inspite of the impetus given by the government, MSMEs still suffer paucity of working capital caused by shrinkage in bank finance and the blow from three consecutive pandemic waves.

Delayed payments and lack of digital coordination with bank finance are also affecting the growth of MSMEs. District clusters concentrating on single product to augment the export potential of MSMEs must be created. This will help them contribute more to the global supply chain as well.

NR Nagarajan

Sivakasi, TN

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