Southern States’ revenues

This has reference to ‘How Central govt grants are buttressing the revenue receipts of southern States’ (August 23). Apart from the fall in revenue due to the pandemic, the reason for the shortage in income of States is the cost of populist measures and freebies.

Even in developed countries the freebies are distributed and there is nothing wrong in distribution of ration, medical aid, school books, etc., free of cost or at discounted rates for the poor.

But the resources of States get drained out mainly on unproductive items like cash support, loss making transport services, power distribution, etc.

This has made the States increasingly dependent on Grants in Aid of the Central Government. The State governments should take some aggressive measures and should partially exit bus transport and power distribution. For all services offered by governments, pricing should be cost based. New avenues of revenue generation should be explored and low excise duty items, stamp duty, etc., may be reviewed besides revisiting non-tax income.

M Raghuraman

Mumbai

State of Afghan economy

It refers to ‘Afghan economy could take a beating’ (August 23). The Afghan economy was anyway dependent on donations/grants, and now with the Taliban at the helm, the economy is set to worsen. India has played a significant role in its economy, by developing many crucial projects and in the process generating employment for both skilled and unskilled workers. India in the last 20 years has had a good relationship with Afghanistan, but the chances of it continuing under the Taliban regime seems remote. Both China and Pakistan have supported the Taliban, and without doubt China’s ambitions will be well served through Afghanistan.

Bal Govind

Noida

Humanitarian crisis

Ever since the Taliban swept Afghanistan following the exit of the US and NATO forces, the international airport at its capital Kabul has become the focal point for fear stricken Afghan people who want to flee their homeland at any cost. Countries including India have embarked upon a mission to evacuate their citizens from Afghanistan. But the hapless people of Afghanistan have nowhere to go.

The abandonment of the Afghan people by US President Joe Biden will remain a blot on his presidency. The international community can remain a mute spectator to the evolving humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan at its own peril. While the Taliban rulers have been attempting to put up a soft face, their brutal actions targetting opponents have been far from reassuring.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, TN

IT portal glitches

Apropos ‘Finance Ministry summons Infosys CEO again’ (August 23), it is indeed surprising that glitches in the IT portal still remain.

Surely all concerned have put in their best efforts, yet full success has proved elusive. One wonders whether taxpayers and accountants were consulted before designing the system.

For example, the system aims to reduce ITR processing time to one day. Is this really required? Taxpayers and accountants would be happy if ITRs are processed in, say, 15 days and refunds issued in 30. Alongside expeditious processing, equal focus could have been given on simplification and ease of filing/compliance.

V Vijaykumar

Pune

Climate change

This refers to ‘Getting businesses to act on climate change’ (August 23). Being committed to the Paris Accord, India must shift to renewable energy from fossil fuels, and make holistic and inclusive moves towards achieving green industrialisation with low carbon emission. In the current situation, the industrial sector seems to be paying only lip service when it comes to reducing emissions. Vital industries like automobiles, aviation, oil and gas and steel must adopt best practices to mitigate carbon emissions. Both government and industry must coordinate with each other to achieve a low carbon economy.

NR Nagarajan

Sivakasi