Bitter problems

This refers to the report that the Centre has okayed a ₹6000-crore loan package to help sugar mills clear farmer dues. The Director-General of ISMA says the basic problem is surplus sugar and depressed sugar prices. The situation is worrisome since the affected sugar mills can cause problems to farmers through non-settlement of dues, leading to further problems. The excess sugar could be released to the market to stabilise availability and prices. The Centre and States must work together to resolve this issue.

TR Anandan

Coimbatore

Can the government provide interest-free loans to other agro-based industries where farmers are in financial distress? When the Union government gives loans like this, money supply will increase in the economy leading to inflationary pressure. If the government makes it possible for farmers to sell their products at reasonable prices in the market and get loans from nationalised banks at lower rates of interest, then the latter can lead a decent life. The performance of government-owned banks in this regard is not satisfactory. Their long procedures of sanctioning loans have resulted in the proliferation of moneylenders who charge usurious rates of interest.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

Seamless transport

The approval of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) motor vehicle agreement for ease of transport and the proposal to facilitate seamless road transport between the four countries are welcome if the situation paves the way for cooperation. The agreement which is to be signed in Bhutan later this month will bear fruit only if each country meets its own cost of implementation.

Bangladesh and India stand to gain from agreements to open up inland water transportation and coastal shipping routes. India’s waterways access to the NE could be improved, while providing Bangladesh a similar right of way to Nepal and Bhutan. Easier mobility and access to goods could result in the NE experiencing unprecedented change in the economic and political environment.

TV Jayaprakash

Palakkad, Kerala

Positive strokes

This refers to the interview with Aditya Puri (‘RBI debt restructuring scheme is a good move’, June 11) by Ram Kumar and Beena Parmar. It is comforting to see some who are in the know of things giving credit to the country’s efforts to move forward and appreciate the contribution by the political leadership. If the HDFC Bank MD’s words are to be believed, one wonders why the share of private sector banks in the banking business is not growing fast and why the finance minister is speaking exclusively to PSBs when it comes to the social sector or financial inclusion issues. It is necessary for all the stakeholders to reconcile to the reality that whether in the public or private sector, the resources belong to the country and its people, and the government and organisations have to manage them with care.

MG Warrier

Mumbai

‘The BJP’s borrowed feathers’ by Dr Manmohan Singh (June 11) is an insipid and half-hearted defence of the UPA’s track record vis-à-vis the NDA government’s one-year performance. What was fundamentally wrong with the UPA dispensation was that its prime minister sorely lacked authority. Singh would have been a better and far more effective PM had he not been hamstrung by backseat driving. A PM lacking in authority is the UPA’s tragedy and India’s too. Modi is not only an excellent communicator but also a hands-on PM.

CG Kuriakose

Kothamangalam, Kerala

Green light

Economic compulsion forces many poor parents to send their children to work at traffic signals. When the signal turns red, poor children knock car windows to sell books about birds and flowers, little realising that they are themselves like caged birds. If those smart children can target a prospect and sell in 30 vital seconds, they are intelligent enough to be imparted an education and integrated into the mainstream.

TS Karthik

Chennai

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