Monsoon blessings

With reference to new report ‘Pvt forecaster Skymet sees a healthy normal monsoon this year’ (April 14), it is heartening to note that 2021 will be a normal monsoon year.

Nevertheless water has become a precious commodity and has to be used prudently. Interlinking of rivers is the best way to beat water scarcity.

Like minded people/NGO s should start visiting schools, colleges, housing societies to create awareness on conserving water.

Water bills/charges should be increased to deter people from wasting water. Government needs to spend extensively on advertisements, films, televisions, roping in popular actors to spread the message of saving water.

Veena Shenoy

Thane

Covid measures

With reference to Viewsroom column ‘Callous and irresponsible’, at a time when Indian government has done away with bridging trials for foreign made vaccines to facilitate the vaccination drive, it should seriously think about taking drastic steps. We can not afford to have religious gatherings at Kumbh Mela and thousands of people in election rallies while we expect other common people to follow strict Covid guidelines. This is nothing but double standards. All political parties seem to turn a blind eye towards norms during elections. The Centre should have requested Kumbh mela organisers to postpone it in view of the second surge. Nothing can be more critical than the safety of our citizens.

Bal Govind

Noida

Will the ‘split’ work?

This refers to ‘It’s countdown to splitting CMD posts’ by R Anand (April 14). In spite of the advantages of having a separate CEO and Chairperson for large companies (from corporate governance point of view) SEBI had to extend the compliance date for the 500 top listed companies by another two years to April 2022 from 2020 it had fixed earlier.

Only about half of the 500 companies had complied with the norms.

Among defaulters were family-owned companies, state-controlled entities and even big corporations like Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel and public sector behemoths like ONGC.

While family-owned organisations may have some difficulty in adopting the mandate because SEBI rules also debar relatives from occupying key positions in the set up, there is no reason why PSUs should have any problem in adhering to the norm.

Though the extension is well-intended, one is still not sure whether all eligible companies will have split two positions by the new deadline given their state of preparedness.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Fastracking foreign vaccines

This refers to new report ‘Centre set to fast-track approval for foreign-made Covid-19 vaccines’. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Centre has been reactive be it in the case of hapless migrant workers, abrupt lockdown or easing of restrictions.

Evidently after the waning of the first wave the authorities became complacent. Now with the second wave raging the government is now fast tracking approval of a string of vaccines from foreign countries.

Hopefully the government has checked with the approved companies about their readiness with sufficient stocks of vaccines to be exported immediately.

Moreover, the Centre is claiming to have supplied vaccines to over 80 countries.

Is this magnanimity required at this juncture when our own citizens are deprived of a jab?

Lastly the government is trying to bite more that it can chew.

It is high time to involve private players from sourcing to administering vaccines in a time bound manner. The misplaced strategy of ‘wait and watch’ ought to be shunned.

Deepak Singhal

Noida

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.