Rather than address concerns about the sweeping powers accorded to the union government, the revised Draft Data Bill has actually sought to empower the government more by exempting and granting immunity to it from the application of law.
Other aspects that need attention are appointments of members and the chairperson of the proposed data protection board tasked with the ensuring compliance. This could imperil the board’s independent functioning.
We need a robust data protection law to secure and safeguard citizens’ privacy and not a law to strengthen the surveillance powers of the state.
M Jeyaram
Sholavandan (TN)
Priority to goods trains
Apropos ‘Missing links in India’s logistics’ (November 22), the Centre has taken measures to speed up the movement of goods across the country.
When it is Railways, everyone talks about increasing the train frequency, improving conveniences at stations and platforms and ensuring punctuality in departure and arrival.
It is very rare to see a goods trains being prioritised over other trains.
During lockdown, Railways had run thousands of parcel trains to criss-crossing the country and delivering goods in time.
Among revenue generation, the share of goods trains is more than the passenger segment.
Recent introduction of ‘Kisan Rails’ for faster movement of perishables is a welcome farmer-friendly step. The Centre’s recent launch of Gati Shakti, a digital platform aimed at greater coordination between departments of Roads and Railways, in improving infra projects and helping faster movement of goods needs to be implemented aggressively.
RV Baskaran
Chennai
Banks’ rate conundrum
With reference to ‘Banks and the liquidity dilemma’ (November 22), to manage the asset-liability mismatch, banks now offer higher rates on term deposits.
Despite banks being adequately capitalised and NPAs under check, it is essential to ensure adequate deployable funds of lesser costs to maintain adequate net interest income.
It is also necessary to enhance the portion of low-cost deposits to bring down the cost of deposits. Hiking savings deposits are key to spur savings.
Along with the rise in credit deliveries, the default risk is also building up, and therefore banks have to evaluate all kinds of risks prudently to mitigate them. Robust credit management systems are vital to retaining the credit portfolio sound and performing.
VSK Pillai
Changanacherry
Kejriwal’s Gujarat U-turn
Apropos ‘AAP fizzling out in Gujarat’ ( November 22), the initial excitement generated by the Aam Admi Party is dissipating as the BJP’s campaign gathers momentum. AAP repeating its successes in Delhi and Punjab is also unlikely to be repeated in Gujarat.
This puts a question mark on AAP’s ambition to expand across India. Now Kejriwal is back in Delhi for the civic polls announced by the Election Commission, leaving the affairs of poll bound Gujarat in the hands of the state leadership. Maybe he has seen the writing on the wall in Gujarat.
SK Gupta
New Delhi