MyVoice: Views of our readers - 30 Dec

Modi lives in fools' paradise

The contradiction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ideas about the political developments and the reality on ground zero, against the backdrop of the recent protests over CAA and NRC, was more than apparent from his 'Mann Ki Baat' address to the nation on Sunday, with which he rounded off the year.

The speech was sprinkled with homilies about the dynamism and energy of the youth and clichés about their role in nation building, but Modi miserably failed to acknowledge that the aspiring youth also nurtures a deep-seated distrust of the political class.

The CAA and the NRC protests have been spearheaded by young volunteers who have refused to allow their movement to be hijacked by any political party.

An admission by the Prime Minister on the role of the youth in acting as a catalyst of social change would have gone a long way in soothing the frayed tempers and possibly cleared the decks for dialogue on the contentious issues.

K S Padmanabhan, Medavakkam, Chennai

Centre should understand why people say no to NRC

When millions of people across India from different walks of life are protesting against the NRC, CAA and NPR based on the religion, the existing BJP government should understand why people are saying 'NO to the NRC.

The impact and repercussions of the NRC are so dangerous that it not only affects the people of India but will also spread like wildfire to our neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and other parts of the world which may lead towards a third world war.

Syed Amjad Ali, Secunderabad

India's economic challenges

This is with reference to the report 'India's economic challenges for 2020' (Dec 29). People across India are eager to welcome the New Year hopeful to achieve better progress in various fields related to the nation's interest.

The nation has been passing through a mayhem that troubled mainly its economy during the decade 2010-20. The coming year will be intricate, pushing the economy into a bleak situation yet again, thus deteriorating the present state of affairs.

Because of the 'first-rate' loans given by the PSBs have become non-performing, the major task before the Union government is to tackle the crisis immediately.

Putting heavy financial burden on the country's population will prove detrimental to the progress of the nation.

Raju Kolluru, Kakinada, AP

BJP losing people's trust

Apropos to the letter published in these columns titled "BJP's overconfidence costs it dear" (Dec 29), it vividly points out the overconfidence of the BJP leadership that is currently facing defeats in the elections at some States.

The general public seem to have realised the authoritarian regime of the BJP at the Centre.

The series of protests by different States and organisations could have been staved off, had the States been consulted before passing contentious Bills concerning them.

H Narayanan, Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore

Adopt cost-effective measures to stop water pollution

Should we clean rivers like the Ganga of accumulation of industrial and other pollution for decades, wasting thousands of crores of rupees (with a loan from Germany)? First, stop industrial pollution into any river.

Make it compulsory for every industry - big or small - to have treatment plants. Start cleaning smaller rivers. Every year, groundwater is going down by 100 ft in all cities of India, and now have reached a dry point.

AS urban population is multiplying, it is imperative to start water harvesting on a massive scale. In one acre of land, we can save up to 4 to 8 million litres of water, depending on rainfall.

Solar energy operated thermal desalination process is also cost-effective and does not pollute the atmosphere. The world has three water solutions: 1) Save rivers, lakes and tanks from pollution 2) Groundwater harvesting can store millions of litres underground per acre 3) Limited desalination plants as high salt-concentrated brine disposal affects marine ecosystems.

Abdul Zaheer Shah, Secunderabad