Letters to the Editor dated November 26, 2019

This refers to ‘Telecom quick-fix’ (November 25). Telecom is turning out to be the next aviation business because of the kind of returns it gives, not only here in India but worldwide. Deferral of spectrum payments could only bring partial reprieve. Until and unless the return on capital employed is increased, this business is not going to be viable. If Vodafone leaves the Indian market, as it has been threatening, the consumers will be the one to lose.

The duopoly of Reliance Jio and Airtel may take end users for granted, knowing well that there is no other competition. Even the merger of BSNL and MTNL will not benefit consumers, as these two PSUs were not offering any value to the users.

So, the government must incentivise telecom companies to push for 5G at the earliest and invest more in R&D for future technologies to make customer experience better and richer.

Noida

Apropos ‘Role of ethics in business of innovation’ (November 25). India is lagging in innovations and inventions, although it has a vast potential in terms of intelligence and youth power. There are many reasons for this failure — one of the most important ones is that our education system does not encourage innovation and research. Research and innovative ideas should be encouraged at school level. The lack of government support for research and innovations also puts constrains on talent.

The problem with India is that even if some of good Samaritans pool their fortunes for innovations and research, they cannot be sure where the money will go. The moment governmental/statutory terms are introduced, corruption and lethargy of politicians drags the process.

Let the Modi government call a special meeting of experts from various fields and start a new body to encourage innovations/research in all fields. The Prime Minister should prove to the world that that India is not far behind in inventions and innovations. If we want development, economic growth and employment opportunities for millions of youth of the nation, we cannot continue with age-old methods. There is no dearth of talent in India, but a giant push is required to tap this talent.

Thane

This refers to the article ‘Tech workers’ body tells IT firms to stop giving bad appraisal to staff’ (November 25). That IT companies sack employees by giving them after warning them to improve their services in the short span of two months is unfair, but inevitable in these days of falling revenues and recession. That this has reportedly caused the suicide of one such employee is unfortunate.

Asking the IT firms to pay six months’ salary as compensation to the sacked employees will no doubt provide them a breather to recoup and find alternate employment; although, how far the companies would accept this demand is debatable. Expecting the government to absorb the sacked employees is also impractical. A better and long-term solution would maybe be to provide counselling to the laid-off employees. There are a number of alternative jobs available in the market. The mistake that most youngsters commit is in looking for jobs that are similar to the ones that they have just lost, in terms of remuneration and profile. It is here that they need to be practical, flexible and positive.

Chennai

Apropos ‘No misuse of clients’ securities, says Karvy’ (November 25). Through this reply, Karvy is trying to cover the massive diversion of clients’ money since 2016, as reported by the NSE. No argument of Karvy will stand, as all payouts through which the clients are to get the money in exchange for selling their stock were not met for months. This fraud by Karvy has put many investors in lurch.

Unfortunately, in India such perpetrators always escape as the government fails to act on time. In this case, too, SEBI has given Karvy 21 days to reply to the allegations — enough time for Karvy to manipulate facts.

Email

COMMENT NOW