Letters to the editor dated January 12, 2021

The Supreme Court has temporarily kept enforcement of the recently passed farm laws in abeyance and constituted a committee to guide it for a final disposal of the issue.

The government may well be smarting from this fiat as it perceives it as an intrusion of the judiciary in a matter that is purely under the purview of Parliament and the executive. But, then, it must be feeling relieved as well in being eased out of an impasse largely of its own making.

If it had felt that the enacted laws are in order and farmer-friendly it could have marketed the proposals to the stakeholders of the farm sector with greater persuasion before tabling the Bills or dealt more firmly with the agitation as the proposals had become law. In plain terms, the government wanted the cake and eat it too — it needs the farmer vote bank as much as it needs to show its executive supremacy. Let us hope the government learns its lessons and assists the apex court in a modus vivendi for a win-win outcome.

Navi Mumbai

The Supreme Court had shown a lot of patience to see that the issues between the protesting farmers and the Central government would get resolved by mutual discussions and debates involving all the stakeholders.

The apex court has now rightly intervened by putting all the three farm laws in abeyance. It has expressed its displeasure on the attitude of the government and, at the same time, advised farmers to follow a path of give and take and not put at risk the health of senior-citizen farmers, women and children who are protesting amidst the severe cold in Delhi and other places. It is a clear-cut fact that the farm issues were not discussed in totality before enacting them into law.

Hyderabad

This is with reference to ‘The vaccine can be India’s soft power’ (January 12). It is heartening to note that many countries are looking to India for the Covid vaccine. This is the right time to prove the world that India believed in vasudaiva kutumbakam — that is, the world is one family.

Exporting the vaccine to our immediate neighbours can also help improve our bilateral relations with them. This is also the right time to showcase to the world our ayurveda, yoga and rich Indian cuisine.

When the pandemic broke out initially, there were apprehensions that the Indian economy will collapse, the case fatality rate (CFR) will be high due to poor health infrastructure, etc. Fortunately, the CFR of India is one of the lowest in the world and the economy is slowly getting back to normalcy. Although the people were put to immense hardships due to the lockdowns, they helped prevent the spread of the virus. India has managed the Covid crisis much better than many other countries. It is rightly said that every crisis comes with an opportunity.

Thane

Apropos the editorial ‘WhatsApp woe’ (January 12), though the government has been expressing data security concerns in relation to tech platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Google, it is yet to come up with any concrete steps to protect the data of users.

A few commercial banks have started extending banking services through WhatsApp. It is not clear whether such services fall within the RBI’s ambit of secured transactional banking.

Chennai

The people are anxiously looking forward to the Union Budget, which is to be presented by the Finance Minister on February 1. The post-pandemic period has been rather long and difficult, especially for the common man.

Though there are signs of improvement on the the health and economy fronts, the Covid crisis has affected the day-to-day activities of the people. The Finance Minister should, therefore, offer some relief to the people through the Budget.

Coimbatore

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