Jobs crisis
THIS is with reference to the article “Invisible epidemic” (August 12). All categories of youth unemployment must be addressed on a war footing and can be done properly and quickly as follows: by permanently closing down corrupt and inefficient employment agencies and preventing them from being restarted under a new name, abolishing the experience factor needed for jobs by promoting pre-training from reputed pre-training institutions, and promoting popular and profitable self-employment jobs through counselling from well-qualified counsellors online and offline.
Peter Castellino
Mumbai
THE number of unemployed, unemployable, and disguised unemployees (those who are made to work below their potential) in the country makes for a frightening scenario. The MGNREGA, warts and all, continues to be a source of rejuvenation for the rural economy, but the present dispensation gives it a grin-and-bear-it kind of patronage. No wonder then that the Centre has shown no interest in the Decentralised Urban Employment and Training scheme mooted by the economist Jean Dreze. The economist Kaushik Basu hit the nail on the head when he observed that mounting majoritarianism in India was a sure-fire recipe for an economic crash.
Ayyasseri Raveendranath
Aranmula, Kerala
WHILE the world sees good things in India, some ideological theoreticians in the country see the situation in a more negative light.
Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
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Droupadi Murmu
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s nomination of Droupadi Murmu, a Santhal from Odisha, for the office of President was a master stroke (“A no-contest”, August 12). The Modi-led NDA dispensation played the tribal card with clinical precision. The cross-voting by some opposition parties clearly exhibited the disunity within their ranks. The Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha and the Biju Janata Dal voted for Murmu because of the large population of tribal people in Jharkhand and Odisha. Mamata Banerjee’s decision to abstain from voting because she was not informed of Margaret Alva’s choice as the opposition’s vice presidential candidate before the Congress made the announcement is further proof of disunity among the opposition parties.
S. Murali
Vellore, Tamil Nadu
Kallakurichi violence
THE death of the 17-year-old girl student in Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu was a sad incident (“Death and rioting in a school”, August 12). The violence and looting of the school that followed took the administration by surprise. It is reported that more than 3,000 people, many of whom came from neighbouring districts, took part in it. Anti-social elements infiltrated otherwise peaceful protests and created unrest for which the police are also partly responsible as they failed to take heed of the warning of the State’s intelligence agencies of a possible backlash.
The perpetrators of the violence used many hurriedly formed WhatsApp groups to mobilise support for their cause. This incident should not be viewed as an isolated one as troublemongers are at work everywhere to create schisms in society by fanning communal passions. State governments and law enforcement agencies should be aware of the possibility anti-social elements waiting for opportune moments to create trouble.
T.N. Venugopalan
Kochi, Kerala
Maharashtra
IT is true that for the last decade and more the BJP has become habituated to toppling coalition and full-fledged governments in many States through its Operation Lotus (“The toppling game”, July 29). What happened to Uddhav Thackeray’s government in Maharashtra is a perfect example. Because of the Operation Lotus menace, many States are offering their people lots of freebies to remain in power. Operation Lotus may be making the BJP strong in the country, but it is also pulling down the Indian economy. I think the Constitution needs to be amended suitably to prevent this “toppling game”. Otherwise, every party will soon indulge in this type of horse-trading to gain power.
Vijaykumar H.K.
Raichur, Karnataka
THE BJP’s Operation Lotus was successfully implemented in Maharashtra. It will extend to Jharkhand next. And, as has been said, in its desire to capture power at any cost, the BJP has come to stand for everything that Modi said the Congress stood for in its heyday.
Karam Husain Khan
Mumbai
A BIZARRE drama was enacted in Maharashtra when Eknath Shinde ditched Uddhav Thackeray and partnered with the BJP. The BJP undoubtedly has a shrewd strategy to come to power on its own in the next Assembly election and also grab more Lok Sabha seats and regain its lost legacy, of ruling on its own, in Maharashtra.
The BJP has at the same time got its eye on capturing power in States where it is not yet in power. It will be able to “conquer” States as long as there are spineless and shameless politicians ready to abandon their political parties and betray the people who voted for them. The anti-defection law must be made more stringent.
M.Y. Shariff
Chennai
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