'Giving something to the have-nots by inconveniencing the haves cannot be the right approach'

Kejriwal’s report card

As a Delhi-ite and former supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party, the government has not done anything for the people of Delhi apart from giving freebies such as concessions on power and water bills, which are confined to a limited number of people and mostly their own vote bank (“A brief tribute to Arvind Kejriwal and AAP government’s first year in power”).

AAP leaders are indulging in all sorts of antics. Power has gone to the head of some of their leaders, so much so that they think they can do as they please.

On the other hand, the Modi government at the Centre has raised India’s stock on the international stage. There has been no scam or scandal in the year gone by. The government also earned the gratitude of those foreign governments whose nationals were rescued from Nepal along with Indians.

Arvind Kejriwal is a street-fighting activist and can actively analyse, investigate and prosecute corrupt officials and practices. His business accent and mentality has socialist leanings and I feel that he misses the bigger picture while going after the nitty-gritties. – Sunil

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A nice article. I am expecting big changes from the Aam Aadmi Party. So far, it looks like they are on track. – Sachin Pawale

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Saba Naqvi’s article on the Aam Aadmi Party is a masterpiece among the generally critical write-ups of the emerging party. It is a fashion in the journalistic circle, especially on the visual media, to bash the Aam Aadmi Party and specifically Arvind Kejriwal.

Sometimes, BJP and Congress followers in the garb of journalists try to depict AAP negatively.

Journalists like Saba Naqvi should speak their mind without bias on the TV debates, which are mostly stage-managed and sponsored by one political party or the other. The anchors remain under the illusion that they are swaying the public opinion but in the current open media revolution, especially social media, they become laughing stock in the eyes of wise analytical viewers.

I look forward to such balanced views in other fora as well. – DR Sharma

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I agree with quite a few points in the article. However, the one aspect that needs to be understood is that giving something to the have nots by inconveniencing the haves cannot be the right approach, especially in the long term.

So while the Delhi government plans to give health benefits, the Rs 300 crore has to come from somewhere. The question is what is Kejriwal’s plan for generating additional resources.

While the odd-even plan was great on paper, it does not really address the pollution problem. So is it desirable that the chief minister and his colleagues spending valuable government time and money to make it happen?

Like any other government, Delhi’s ruling dispensation too has to back up plans with sound resources, keeping in mind the overall long-term good. At this point, the former is in place but the latter is questionable. – Pinaki Banerjee

Change of guard

The EPW editor's resignation plan and its effects will result in much heart-searching after it takes effect ("A resignation at India's most prestigious journal has thrown the academic community into turmoil"). The board will have to deeply introspect why the conflict or disagreement could not be resolved, and more so why the chairman of the board and the editor could not reconcile their differences.

The EPW is like a nuclear-powered submarine in which the editor is the captain and the chairman of the board is like first executive officer. Both are autonomous for their actions, but have to concur on principles of decision-making. – Gautam Sen

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So, EPW's editor had been "organising" finances from business houses. This confession from the most prestigious journal of the country leaves me bewildered. – NK Singh

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I am aware that I do not have the clout that C Rammanohar Reddy commands both intellectually and maybe, through his fund-raising, for EPW. But is it not strange that he squirms at being questioned and does not like the idea of being less than authoritarian? And that too when he fights for equal rights for all. It does bring to mind George Orwell's book on the reign of pigs. Thanks for the great article though. – Subhashis Chattopadhyay

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Thanks for this interview. Finally the readers of EPW get a clearer sense of this very sad development. C Rammanohar Reddy is absolutely in the right. Given the operation, the editor of EPW has to be its CEO. And his plans for the anniversary should have pleased the Board. This is a sad day for the thousands of readers of the magazine. – CM Naim

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This is sad news indeed. Ram Reddy has been a good friend over the years and a thorough gentleman. For most of us, EPW and Ram were indivisible. It will be a very sad goodbye to him as an editor and it remains to be seen what EPW shall look like in the future. I can merely echo Ramachandra Guha's words helplessly.

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end and while it is unfortunate, I do believe it will probably permit Ram Reddy to follow his other passions and ideals a little more closely now, and afford him the time that never seemed to be sufficient enough in the past. – Kishore Tejaswi

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It is simply sad that Ram Reddy is leaving EPW. He is a fantastic editor. He truly made the journal more accessible and the process of accepting publication more transparent. I hope that he will continue to serve as a consulting editor of the journal. – Prof Subho Basu

Home truths

This is the real problem with the ruling dispensation (“’It makes you look like a fool’: Even BJP MPs are ditching Modi’s village development project”). All its projects are flimsy and unworkable on the ground. Most of the initiatives are of an exclusionary nature like the village development project and the smart cities project.

How can a government and MPs chosen by all the voters of this country exclude the majority of the population and only include some villages and cities for development?

This is a sure shot recipe for negative publicity for this government. But the BJP, in its vision for showing model villages and cities, does not understand that it will lead to disaster in the next elections.

A MP is a representative of all voters of its constituency and not a village. If he/she develops only one or two villages, naturally the rest of the constituency will feel slighted and cheated by that MP. But just like all of this government’s schemes which generated euphoria initially, the reality strikes later on and this project is also dying a natural death. – Vishal Jindal

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Mere mouthing of slogans won’t help. Adopting a village is a concept. MPs should spend time in the village and get things done. Mere posturing won’t help either.

Take housing, for example. The MP should make the effort to find out who all are homeless. He should then take steps to get the support from the concerned ministry under the existing scheme. He should use his clout to move the bureaucracy.

Both central and state government schemes remain mostly on paper because the beneficiaries lack awareness. They also lack the capacity to get things done. MPs should implement all schemes like these in the village adopted. Nothing is easy. There are enough funds allocated and there’s no need for extra allocation. It’s simply about an MP having to get down to work. – Neelakanta Iyer

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Dhirendra K Jha’s story on the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is remarkable for the insight it offers us into the mind of a typical BJP MP, evidently a disheartened lot by now. – Anand Sahay

Shuffling the pack

The article is interesting, but why should Narendra Modi’s choices be limited to politicians (“A few suggestions on how Narendra Modi should reshuffle his cabinet”)? He should look at professionals. There are so many great managers who can take charge of the commerce ministry, educationists for the human resource development ministry, and so on. – Pandrang Row

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The problem is not with Narendra Modi’s ministers but with the prime minister himself. What is his claim to the position he holds today? Without the 2002 riots, the launch pad for his current role, he would have remained as known or unknown as Shivraj Singh Chouhan. As for talent deficiency, how can there be talent when there is an excess of hatred in the Bharatiya Janata Party? - Joji Cherian

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If the well-explained recommendations are followed, it will be optimum utilisation of the scarce resources at Narendra Modi’s disposal. – Vikas Singh

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Journalists always forget agriculture. The farmer is one professional that we should thank three times a day. It is high time that we had the best man heading the agriculture ministry. – Dr M Krishnan

Short on substance

What is the point of this article (“Two charts show why your petrol bills aren’t plummeting despite oil being cheaper than water”)? The contents are already well known. It’s very poorly researched. The article talks about rupee valuation but has not elaborated on the extent of the devaluation? Mere financial consolidation is not the answer. What about the refining and oil marketing companies’ margins? This article is poorly researched and devoid of facts. – Mukul Gogoi

Identity stamp

Everyone suffers from the limitations of ideas, not just countries (“Why Indian identity would collapse without the existence of Pakistan”). We see people and countries through a lens that suits us. I am a South Indian so I am less emotional, sentimental or aggressive about the India-Pakistan relationship.

I think that while differentiating ourselves from Pakistan may not be a defining element of Indian identity, it would certainly be one way of coping with the unresolved differences between communities within India. We are after all still figuring out the best way to live in harmony. Every time this comes up for discussion, someone says, “Well, we’re better than Pakistan,” irrespective of whether that’s actually true or not. So yes, I think we find a strange satisfaction in saying, “Yes, I do have problems, but, you know what, my problems are not as bad as theirs.” – Sandhya Sundar

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There is no denying that India has its fair share of problems, but even developed countries have troubles of their own.

Indian scholars’ critique is solely based upon the fact that the problems of minorities and terrorism in Pakistan are overarching, have transcended boundaries and even threaten to disrupt the peaceful co-existence of various communities.

This article seems to be written more in the spirit of nationalism and insecurity felt by the writer, in addition to being hurt by reality. Because the truth is always harsh. – Ankita Goswami

Collaborative approach

Private schools discharge an essential function which ideally should be discharged by the state (“Who should decide the fees charged by private schools?”). They fill a gap which should not have existed in the first place. Many studies have concluded that private institutes offer education at a much lower cost per student than the government, and that too of a superior quality. They should not be treated as adversaries but partners by governments. Their service in terms of producing the best minds of the country cannot be disregarded.

It is best that the government promote private as well as public schools so that the market forces can operate and the demand-supply gap can reduce. Such has already happened for higher education where due to high supply and low demand, fees have either dropped or have led to colleges being shut down. In fact, for courses like MBA, BBA, BCA & MCA - and even engineering to some extent - which were hot cakes at one time, there is serious over supply which has made these courses available to the common man and also led to the closure of many private colleges, restoring the demand-supply balance.

Discouraging private schools from performing their function will be detrimental to society. – Ajay Chopra

Due credit

Konkan Railway would have remained a pipe dream even for the likes of E Sreedharan - “a good manager but not an innovator” - but for B Rajaram, who built it against all odds as the chief project engineer (“How E Sreedharan built the Konkan Railway in a flat eight years”).

No wonder both BBC’s Chris Tarrant and National Geographic highlighted Rajaram’s achievements, something you just cannot wish away. Your book seems to be one-sided and loaded in favour of a person who overshadowed others because of excellent press. – Shudip

Quiz questions

As an ex-quizzer, I read your article with great interest (“A question for Indian quizzers: Where are the women?”). And while I wholeheartedly agree with your arguments, your article tars everyone in the quizzing community - people who quiz only for the joy it brings - with the same generalised brush, which I think is a tad unfair.

Because had you dug a little deeper, you could, for example, have spoken about how the Karnataka Quiz Association has been encouraging participation from women by organising special events and prizes. Any quizzer from Bangalore would be familiar with these activities.

I am not sweeping the issues you raised under the carpet. I’m just saying that when one raises an issue, one must also provide solutions (which you have) and show how people/organizations have been approached the issue, to be followed as examples (which you haven’t). It isn’t all dark clouds only. – Gautam Shenoy