Letters to the editor dated January 31, 2020

This refers to the editorial ‘Inclusion and exclusion’ (January 31). The outcomes of the welfare schemes have been mixed. One of the major reasons for poor effectiveness is the lack of proper implementation and right targeting. Moreover, there has been a lot of overlapping of schemes. Hence, despite good intentions, the benefits don’t always reach the deserving poor.

Technology needs to be leveraged to ameliorate implementation and prevent misuse. Launching and re-christening the schemes should not be the objective; the focus should be on filtering down the benefits to each and every person who needs them.

Chennai

Apropos ‘Unions are now mobilising contract workers: India Cements MD’ (January 31). N Srinivasan rightly advised managements to build cordial relations with trade unions. One reason for this is that the demographic characteristics of the workers have changed from being little educated, submissive and ignorant of their rights to being educated, young and assertive. They cannot be coerced or cajoled for long to follow whatever the management dictates.

Second, it is obvious that any decision which is likely to be seen by workers as detrimental to their interest will face resistance, and may lead to strikes or even violence. Decisions taken with the consent of the union will add to their legitimacy.

Pune

This refers to ‘Protests in Delhi after man fires at student’s rally’ (January 31). Thanks to irresponsible comments from BJP leaders and Sharjeel Imam, and now the attack on the protesters by a gunman, the Delhi election is no more just any other local poll. The Election Commission has taken action against the top brass of the BJP and hopefully follows through with it in the coming days. The gunman, who is supposedly a minor, should not be allowed to go scot-free just because of his age. And what is really baffling is the mute response from the policemen who were present at the scene. All elections see bickering and accusations from the ruling and opposition parties, but this time, the Delhi election has really been polarised.

Noida

A movement that shaped into a rebellion with a cause spawned the AAP as a political entity. With time, Arvind Kejriwal, leveraging the compact geography of a cosmopolitan electorate, could find direction and revert to simple basics of successful local governance by understanding the perspective of the common man.

The BJP, on the other hand, had found surprising sustenance in its mantra of ‘us versus them’. Much as it subsequently tried to realign itself with the layman, it was done in by the size, spread and variety of the electorate that forced it to stay the course.

More than AAP, it is the BJP that is desperate to find some vindication in Delhi.

Mumbai

The Supreme Court, in order to comply with the constitutional rights of convicts, has been unnecessarily extending the time of execution of the Nirbhaya convicts. Death sentence is the correct punishment for the culprits. The so-called lovers of the Constitution who are coming to the defence of the convicts’ rights never bothered to know the other side, whether the announced compensation was handed over or not to the family of the victim.

In this regard, we must note the statement of CJI Sharad A Bobde, who said that a condemned person cannot fight the death penalty endlessly and it is important for the capital punishment to reach its finality. If needed, let the legal commission and the Apex Court change the laws. One should not test the patience of the public and especially the family of the victims.

If a death sentence seems cruel, let them be awarded life imprisonment till death.

Bhimavaram, AP

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