Letters to the editor

Apropos the editorial ‘Financing farmers’(September 19). Any agricultural initiative must be relevant to small and marginal farmers, who contribute 85 per cent of produce. Emphasis had been on research to develop superior strains, soil enrichment and pesticides followed with attention at the macro level, and perhaps rightly so. However, financing and marketing assistance to the farmer, that required policies and monitoring at the micro level, stayed at the macro level.

The lack of system transparency and oversight, while helping the few large-scale farmers, exploited the marginal ones.

Much like the cooperative movement that helped the small milk producer, marginal farmers would need formal collectives so that they have better bargaining power in the spot markets and can mobilise bigger lot sizes for deliveries in the derivatives market. Such empowerment will give far greater impetus to institutional lending to this section.

Mumbai

Apropos the column ‘Low-cost solutions for the current slowdown’ (September 19). The author has aptly suggested that triggering measures for boosting agro income will resultantly cause a surge in demand from farmers and may increase their propensity to consume.

Intensive agriculture by irrigation method and using the groundwater resources will boost their income.

Yet, the vital question is how to boost urban demand and save industries glutted with stock, causing much disturbance in the working capital cycle and bringing to question the survival of industries. Further, the slowdown fire will be fuelled by the rising oil prices.

Sivakasi

This refers to ‘India, too has an all weather friend’ (September 19). China has become Pakistan’s blind supporter in last 15 years or so, but the way Russia has been rock-solid behind us for over five decades is worth praising. The author has brought up many crucial incidents where Russia has proven beyond any doubt that they remain on right side of India on every forum.

Russia, being one of the strongest nations, has the right to explore various trade ties with China, but each country knows that to counter growing Chinese clout, they need India’s support. Since India has huge ambitions, it will be interesting to see which relationship India will nurture and leverage more in the future.

Noida

This is with reference to ‘Two-day bank strike will have an adverse effect on trade : FKCCI’ ( September 19). The Karnataka Chamber of Commerce & Industry has gone overboard in dubbing the proposed strike by bank officers as “unpatriotic” . The issues of long-pending wage revision and mega merger of PSBs raised by the Unions are important. Before putting bank employees in the dock, one should be tempered by the fact that the wage revision in the industry has been dragging on since November 2017 due to the insensitive attitude of the IBA, which initially offered a ludicrous wage rise of 2 per cent after a gap of 5 years and has raised it now to 12 per cent after the strike was announced. Couldn’t it have offered a decent rise earlier? The mega merger of PSBs was flung on employees without giving them a chance to respond to a proposal. FKCCI is obviously barking up the wrong tree.

Kannur

With reference to the story captioned ‘Centre took ₹10.5 lakh cr from LIC’s reserves to save IDBI Bank: Congress’ (September 19), it is clarified that the headline is incorrect. The correct headline should read: ‘Centre took ₹10.5-lakh crore from LIC’s deposits, alleges Congress’. LIC has so far infused ₹21,624 crore into IDBI Bank. A further infusion of ₹9,300 crore has been approved, of which LIC would be infusing ₹4,743 crore. The error is regretted.