This has reference to “A 10-point agenda for Pranab” ( Business Line, July 25). Of the points mentioned by the writer, diligent scrutiny of Cabinet papers and proposals merits attention. Going by the past track record, no President has vetoed any Cabinet paper or proposal. In fact, under UPA-I regime, the Bill for farm loan write-off of Rs 67,000 crore by public sector commercial banks came up before the President. On the face of it, the proposal appeared as a farmer-friendly measure, but it had inimical effects on the financials of public sector banks. The Bill got the assent of the President and was implemented. The public sector banks being public institutions, the President should have protected them, but failed to do so. The Constitution has been well-drafted to describe the responsibilities of the President. One only has to follow it in letter and spirit.

K. V. Rao, Bangalore

Violence at Maruti

The editorial on the recent violence at Maruti Suzuki premises (Strife Lessons, Business Line , July 24) presented a new angle to the problem.Unless adequately understood and handled, ‘demographic dividend’ cannot be taken for granted; there can be disasters as well, as highlighted in the editorial.

K.Gopalan, Bangalore

IT tax refunds

The Income-Tax Department has come up with a novel way of inducing people to file returns, by making available its tax return preparers (TRPs) at not more than Rs 250 fee per return. The scheme is aimed not at helping the assessees, but rather the IT Department in widening its tax net. If the Department were really interested in the assessees, would it allow the tens of thousands of cases of tax refund to get accumulated for years together? A friend of mine has been relentlessly pursing refund for assessment years 2007-08 to 2011-12 . Whenever new officials take charge, he provides a set of papers to facilitate access to the details. Despite all this, he has not been able to get the refund.

V.S. Jayaraman, Chennai

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