MyVoice: Views of our readers 28th May 2020

Time to show a determined political will

It requires a great deal of political wisdom and economic prudence to pull Indian economy out of dire straits and to achieve self-sufficiency (Coining catchphrases can't make India self-reliant - THI , 27 June). The pandemic dealt a deadly blow to already flailing economy necessitating the mobilisation of all resources to initiate a host of measures such as boosting demand for goods by putting more money in the pockets of people and stepping up the production of Import substitutes.

There is growing sentiment among Indians against China demanding complete boycott of Chinese goods and services. But, the reality is that India is now heavily dependent on imports from China and an abrupt pull out may harm the economic interests of India. The Indian government needs to make calibrated moves to be able to attain the position where it doesn't require any more imports from China.

The right course of action at this crucial juncture is to plan for dilution of economic ties and trade relations with China in a phased manner and in a definite time frame. If India steps up its indigenous production to such a level where it no more wants Chinese goods and services, we can garner big economic gains by completely insulating our economy from trade with China. In that way, we can become a global power challenging the hegemony of China.

Ostensibly , the ball is in the court of Indian political leadership. India is facing multiple threats in the form of unprecedented health hazard, tensions at border and economic crisis. It is really the biggest challenge to India since Independence where the ruling establishment is expected to sharpen the policymaking pertaining to economic management, foreign affairs and healthcare . The domestic policies need to be reoriented so as to repair the fractured society and fragmented polity. A determined political will and an action plan focussed on the interests of the Nation will pave the way for strong India.

Thumati Anuradha, Hyderabad

Boycott of Chinese goods is possible

Where there is a will, there is a way. If we keep on thinking that we cannot boycott Chinese goods in view of our so-called overwhelming economic dependence on that virus of a country, then we can never get a chance to look at indigenous alternatives. Electronics, pharma, automobile parts are considered to be the top 3 categories of items we import from China. Now is the time for the BJP to make good it's Swadeshi talk - by cancelling all contracts it has signed with Chinese companies, especially in sensitive areas like telecommunications (Huawei etc.). To our utter shame, the ITI(Indian Telecom Industries), set up in 1948 as a captive equipment producer for BSNL/MTNL, far from producing any equipment of it's own, has been reduced to buying telecom equipment and technology from Chinese companies like Huawei & ZTE that are 35 years younger to it! This is where successive governments(particularly the 2G scam-wallahs) have taken our telecom ministry to!

Forget for a while those who cannot afford costlier non-Chinese alternatives, but can't those earning disposable incomes, consciously choose to buy non-Chinese goods even if they are relatively costlier? "Yadyad aacharati sreshtaha..." says the Bhagavad Gita, meaning that the rest of the society i.e common man, follows what the sreshta(good/great people, or in today's prevailing conditions, the rich) of the society does! Now, isn't it the duty of this sreshta class to set an example to others in going local? But no!! Freedom of choice, liberty etc. will take over, when it comes to the crunch! Alas!

In any case, just consider the nature of goods that come from China. The non-democratic and authoritarian government over there gets its goods manufactured at irresistibly cheaper prices based on forced labour. Otherwise, how can it become the "factory of the world", making devastating inroads into the economies of other nations? We have heard of "blood diamonds" of Africa(Angola, Nigeria etc), extracted by oppressively using the locals as slaves. So should the goods from China be seen as!

Is such a thing possible or permissible in India? The same people who say we can't compete with CHina to materialise a boycott, never mention this fact. The moment India attempts to emulate the strict labour productivity of China, the same gang will pounce on the government(Center/State) in the name of right to this and that etc. The solution, therefore, is to conscientiously search for swadeshi/non-China-originating alternatives and try as much as possible to patronize them.

Slow and steady wins the race. This is the only best course of action left to us now, if we are to teach China a lesson. Already, Amazon and Flipkart have been demanded to display the country of origin on the labels of their products! Above all, let's learn to use a product made with non-renewable and polluting resources, for the longest time possible, exercising utmost care and caution, instead of hedonistically changing it every time a new model/version appears. The companies, based on the capitalist model of growth with no regard for the finitude of resources and externalities, can keep churning out ever new products like there's tomorrow, but the choice is in our hands whether to buy them or not.

CVKrishna Manoj, Hyderabad.

Sad state of affairs

The incident of shifting a deceased body of a Corona infected old man on an earth mover to crematorium in Palasa town of Srikakulam district is disturbing. The family members as well as the civic body are to be blamed for the most inhuman act of denying dignity of fellow human in death and last rites. It shows the growing panicky over the virus spread in our society. Apart from ensuring implementation of protocols for decent last rites for deceased, the government must work on alleviating fear psychosis that surrounds the society about corona pandemic.

Dr. D V G Sankararao, Nellimarla.

Modi govt's diversionary tactics

It was revelatory of the extent of the descent of politics that the ruling party was expending a lot of its time and energy on digging up trivia about political opponents - mainly the Gandhis - when the country was fighting the coronavirus pandemic and Chinese troops were digging in on the Indian territory. It was curious that BJP was escalating its political fight with the principal Opposition party when the international media were showing satellite pictures of newly-built structures on the Indian side of the LAC.

It is most unfortunate it does not occur to the government that the topmost priority for it at this juncture should be protecting India's territorial integrity. The contradictory statements (including the denial of Chinese incursion by none other than the Prime Minister himself) and inconsistencies and the latest admission that the "Chinese build-up started in May against all mutually agreed norms" revealed the Modi government's response to the Chinese provocations was haphazard.

The story - Congress Fundgate Scandal - was a diversionary ploy played with the aid of pliable media outlets. TV channels with their ill-disguised pro-BJP bias are leading the campaign to malign Congress with telling the explosive story - the so-called expose - repetitiously. They have gone on an overdrive and pounced on the Gandhis; for them now the central story is the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation accepting 15 years ago a paltry sum of Rs. 10 lakhs from China, one among thousands of donors, for some study programme.

Apparently the vilification campaign was staged; it was nothing but a propaganda blitz against the Gandhis unleashed to deflect attention from the inconvenient questions about the India-China stand-off asked by them. The relevance of peanuts as donation to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to the present context of mounting tension with China is not clear. The channels thriving on blindly taking a pro-BJP line have no questions to ask about political donations to the tune of crores and crores of rupees to BJP by secretive electoral bonds and other means and PM CARES funds. They consciously refrain from showing the visuals exuding bromance between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping including the one on a swing. TV anchors - all TV watchers know who they are - feel no sense of shame that they excel BJP's party spokesperson in representing the party and desecrate public discourse.

G.David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

A warm salute to PV

Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao was initially lawyer and later went on to become politician. He was the second holder of coveted Prime Minister's office from non-Hindi speaking region and first from South India. He held numerous posts before becoming Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996. P V Narasimha Rao often referred to as 'Father of Indian Economic Reforms' and 'Chanakya' of modern India for his ability to steer through economic & political legislation, pulled the country out of woods, even though he headed minority government.

How many people of Telugu speaking region knows the greatness of P V Narasimha Rao? To recall & remember the great services rendered by multi-faceted personality of our former PM, it was decided by to organise PV's birth centenary celebrations across the globe by government of Telangana. P V truly deserves the coveted 'Bharat Ratna' for liberalisation, globalisation & saving Indian economy from doldrums.

Nagendra Kumar Vempalli, Hyderabad

II

Telangana government has decided to celebrate the centenary celebrations of PV Narsimha Rao across the state. He is a deserving personality for such honour. His statues will be installed various parts of the Telangana and Telangana Bhavan in Delhi. He was upholding several important positions in state as well as Centre. He established first residential school in Sarvekal in United Andhra Pradesh as an Education minister. Later P V who was a role model for execution of land reforms act, who donated his hundred acres of land to the poor people. He was being HRD minister who carved Navodaya Vidyalayas under the guidance of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

As prime minister of India Rao implemented economic reforms like liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation with the help of then Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. He was freedom fighter, writer, poet, politician, able administrator, polyglot, and polymath and versatile personality, who brought the nation at apex position in all spheres.

M Raghu, Mugada, Vizianagaram Dist