Lip service
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s warning that he would not tolerate arrogance and misbehaviour is just lip service and, in reality, he wouldn’t take any action against erring members, as can be seen from his past record (Page 1, “Won’t tolerate bad behaviour, PM Modi warns BJP members,” July 3). He maintained studied silence against legislators following the Kathua and Unnao rape incidents and numerous attacks by cow vigilantes. He never condemned remarks by leaders from his party like Yogi Adityanath, Jayant Sinha and Pragya Thakur. It is futile to expect such action from him now.
Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,
Hyderabad
Trump’s Korea gambit
U.S. President Donald Trump’s off-the-cuff personal diplomacy is an excellent way to bring some thaw to a frozen relationship (Editorial, “Trump in North Korea,” July 3). One only hopes that this leads to meaningful dialogue and the two countries move away from their rigid positions on denuclearisation and sanctions relief to strike a middle path.
Kosaraju Chandramouli,
Hyderabad
Unrealistic goal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of a $5 trillion economy by 2024 seems to be unrealistic (Editorial page, “Not by wishful thinking,” July 3). India has to grow at an annual rate of 13%, which is impossible without an increase in agricultural productivity and transfer of semi-skilled labour from agriculture to other sectors. Escalating trade tensions, stagnant exports and low consumer demand are among the challenges in our path.
Alan Seemon,
Kottayam, Kerala
Health-care woes
Pathogens cause disease in general but it is poverty that causes disease in India (Op-Ed page, “Health care’s primary problem,” July 3). Many patients visiting the tertiary health-care institutions are from rural areas who cannot afford private medical care. Policymakers can bring down their numbers by equipping better the Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres — an astonishing number of them are poorly manned and resourced. As long as apathy plagues the decision-makers, it would be futile to expect any positive change.
A.G. Rajmohan,
Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh
Sunny’s representative
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sunny Deol’s act of appointing a ‘representative’ to attend meetings and follow up on important matters on his behalf is not only strange but also unheard of (News page, “Sunny Deol appoints representative, draws ire,” July 3). Mr. Deol, an actor who has played macho roles, is trying to assume a larger-than-life image as a politician. Fortunately, he has not so far authorised the ‘representative’ to attend the Parliament and take part in the deliberations on his behalf.
C G Kuriakose,
Kothamangalam, Kerala
Policeman suicides
The article, “Why policemen kill themselves,” (July 3) has sensitised readers to the high emotional costs borne by our country’s police officers. Though the police force is idolised, the perils of working there do not motivate many to join it. This only skews the already low policeman-citizen ratio further. The state needs to care for the well-being of our policemen, in addition to ensuring a more humane work environment and better welfare provisions.
Varsha V. Shenoy,
Mangaluru
