The alleged irregularities during the reign of Chitra Ramakrishna as the CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE) manifested itself in her blatant disregard for rules and regulations governing its function. The appointment of persons to the top posts had come as a rude shock to many for it had shed light not only on corporate misgovernance but also the absence of checks and balances at the country’s largest stock exchange.

While SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India), the stock market regulator, had levied fines on parties, including Ramakrishna, for the acts of impropriety and also barred the NSE from introducing any new products for a six-month period, much needs to be done to bring the guilty to justice.

Time-bound measures to usher in effective checks and balances to prevent the recurrence of sordid tales of corporate misgovernance at stock exchanges is the need of hour.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, TN

Singapore PM’s remarks

India has reacted angrily to Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong’s observation that ‘about half of its MPs face criminal cases’, by summoning that nation’s high commissioner to lodge a strong protest. This is akin to shooting the messenger who brings bad news. Actual statistics reveal that out of the 539 MPs in the 2019 Lok Sabha, 233, belonging to all parties, have declared criminal cases against them. Every Indian is aware of the criminal antecedents of a majority of their lawmakers. Facts can neither be ignored, nor suppressed.

In December 2020, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court, demanding that just as convicted bureaucrats are banned for life, the elected people’s representatives too should be banned. In response thereto, the Ministry of Law and Justice argued that legislators cannot be bound by the same “service conditions” as bureaucrats are, and that they are “bound by propriety, good conscience and interest of the nation”, whatever that means!

It would be a national tragedy if despite the BJP’s scam-free rule and PM Modi’s own standing among the public, the party were to do nothing in checking the entry of criminals into legislatures.

V Jayaraman

Chennai

Attrition in IT sector

It refers to ‘With attrition on rise, IT sector to hire more freshers’ (February 18). IT sector employees took the biggest advantage of this ongoing pandemic as majority of the companies offered work from home facility for a few years. Though attrition in the IT sector was always an issue, this pandemic has made it worse as employees started exploring new opportunities more aggressively, as many have even relocated to their native places and are switching jobs even after a few months, as the cost of living and travelling to work has reduced significantly.

So to counter this attrition, wage hikes, faster promotions are good options, but IT companies need to think beyond that. Besides, the human resources department will have to play a bigger role in terms of clearly communicating future career growth opportunities in the organisation, assisting them with leadership and strategic management courses and imparting soft skills to make them better and efficient employees.

Bal Govind

Noida

Inequality in pay

In ‘Time to end exorbitant executive pay’ (February 18), the writer gives some examples of the staggering salaries drawn by executives. What makes the matter still more troubling is that the company itself may be making losses with no consequence on the salaries of the top honchos. Instead of a cap on remuneration, it would be better if the difference between the highest paid and the lowest placed worker is capped. The objections of capping salaries will vanish and the lower rung workers may actually benefit.

Since the promoters hold a majority stake, it would be impossible for the companies to adopt a resolution capping executive pay and it would need the government’s intervention to do it. Can the government muster enough courage to make such a move?

Anthony Henriques

Mumbai

Decision on GM crops

This refers to ‘Maharashtra farmers sow illegal Bt Brinjal, defy Centre’s fiat’ (February 18). This is the fallout of undue lethargy in decision-making by the authorities, and it may escalate into a national issue if not addressed on a priority basis. When the moratorium imposed by the apex court on GM crops ended nearly three years ago, the continued inaction by the authorities, namely GEAC, is prompting farmers to adopt illegal GM food crop cultivation. Even the scientific community is divided in taking a clear-cut decision in the matter. How long do the authorities expect farmers to show restraint?

Rajiv Magal

Halekere Village, Karnataka