MyVoice: Views of our readers 3rd January 2025

India will lead AI revolution

This refers to your editorial ‘’ Anand Mahindra’s ‘AI can turn blue collar into gold” is insightful. Any technological innovations before they are effectively introduced in the industry, there will be a sense of trepidation and apprehension from several angles. After robotics and Nanotechnology, it is time for AI to make its entry, although all these are rolled into one, in one way or the other. Interestingly the application and utilisation part of the AI is the vital aspect about which Anand Mahindra, the chairman of Mahindra Group was optimistic about. No wonder, the technological courses in the country are incorporating AI as one of the subjects in the academic curriculum. As the editorial states, India will take lead in AI, in the years to come to become a Vishwaguru.

K R Venkata Narasimhan, Madurai

II

Apropos, editorial “Anand Mahindra’s AI can turn blue collar into gold is insightful” THI, Jan 2. As debates intensify over the pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence, the most common worry is job loss and threats to livelihoods. This anxiety is reminiscent of the fears raised during computerisation four decades ago, when many believed machines would erase employment. That fear eventually proved largely unfounded, as new sectors, skills, and opportunities emerged. At the same time, concerns remain about displacement, skill gaps, and ethical risks. Whether AI ultimately becomes a source of pain or gain will depend on how societies adapt through re-skilling, regulation, and innovation. Its full impact will become clear only with time.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

III

Apropos “Anand Mahindra’s ‘AI can turn blue collar into gold’ is insightful” (THI, January 2, 2026). The optimism around AI as an enabler rather than a threat is refreshing, especially for a workforce anxious about automation. Yet this promise will ring true only if backed by deliberate action. Skilling cannot be left to market forces alone. Industry, government and training institutes must work together to offer affordable, hands-on programmes that blend digital tools with practical trades.

Small manufacturers and MSMEs also need incentives to adopt AI without displacing workers. Clear safeguards on data use and bias are equally important to build trust. If AI is to truly elevate blue-collar work, it must be deployed with inclusion, foresight and shared responsibility, not just persuasive vision.

A Myilsami, Coimbatore

Religions in India need to be self-critical

I have read the article published in editorial page (Jan 2) that ‘Redefining the role of religion in India: Random musings’. I appreciate the writer for his research on the religions present in India. Religion in India has never been a private affair alone; it has been a social language, a moral vocabulary, and often a political instrument. To redefine its role is not to erase it, but to rescue it—from reduction, misuse, and stagnation.

Perhaps religion in India needs to return to being a moral compass rather than a political weapon. When faith becomes a tool for power, it shrinks; when it nurtures conscience, it expands. India’s religious traditions—Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain—were once sources of ethical imagination, asking how humans should live with dignity, restraint, and compassion. That role feels urgent again in a time of noise, speed, and anger. Finally, perhaps religion in India needs to become more self-critical. Traditions that cannot question themselves risk becoming idols. The saints, reformers, and thinkers India reveres—Kabir, Basava, Guru Nanak, Ambedkar, Shah Waliullah—did not reject faith; they challenged its distortions. Redefining religion, then, is not about making it weaker—but making it wiser, humbler, and more humane.

Zainul Pasha, Khammam

Don’t delay on Krishna waters issue

Revanth Reddy blames KCR and Harish Rao for lesser allocation of Krishna waters to Telangana. BRS leaders attribute surrender of Telangana rights on Krishna water to the Congress leaders. However, both of the rivals are fortunately unanimous on the point that Telangana is a victim state in allocation of Krishna waters. Present blame game is an unproductive and meaningless exercise . The present government should immediately approach the Central Government and its agencies to intervene and correct injustice done to the newly formed state. Seeking stay on construction of irrigation projects in AP under present circumstances is a must.

M V Nagavender Rao, Hyderabad