MyVoice: Views of our readers 10th Feb 2024

Why not Bharat Ratna for NTR, T N Seshan?

India’s highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna was instituted on January 2, 1954 in recognition of exceptional performance of persons in various fields. The first recipients were Dr CV Raman, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and C Rajagopalachary who excelled in their areas. Later, this award is being conferred on many persons to derive political benefits. The Union government announced this prestigious award to former PM PV Narasimha Rao and agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan, LK Advani and Choudhury Charan Singh. Why not the award for former Chief Election Commissioner TN Seshan whose name is forever remembered during election time? Similarly former CM of Andhra Pradesh and versatile actor on Indian silver screen NT Rama Rao who brought recognition to Telugu language worldwide continues to be ignored by the governments.

NSK Prasad, Hyderabad

It’s petty politics to blame previous govts

With the general elections fast approaching, the ruling and the opposition parties have started the blame game rather unabashedly. Both are forgetting the fact that people’s memory is improving and they are able to see through the games played to woo them. The period 2004-14 under the UPA was marked by corruption, nepotism and scams and that is why the people voted NDA to power in 2014. Now NDA took the cost of living in India to an all-time high due to which the common man is suffering. The NDA is blaming the UPA even after ruling the nation for ten years (2014-2024) by now. This is simply not acceptable. It should stop petty politics and start delivering so that the common man is able to make both ends meet. Hindutva alone can’t provide Roti, Kapda aur Makan. Releasing white and black papers is not enough.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

***

A white paper outlining the mismanagement of the economy for a decade (2004-14) in 2024 to win back the trust of the electorate for a 3rd term and a counter attack by the Congress through a black paper prove that Indian politicians wish to perpetually wage wars against one another. The details of both the papers aren’t put up in public domain with only accusations & counter accusations being cast on each other. The common man who hardly can understand the nuances and nitty gritties of the economy gets lost & is forced to look askance. This is both a gloomy & chaotic picture which gets projected when the nation gets ready to elect a new govt in a couple of months from now.

N R Raghuram, Hyderabad

***

This refers to the editorial “Stop blaming the past, start focusing on the future” (9 Feb). I agree that the Congress government which has got a golden opportunity to rule the state should not waste time focusing on the past and rather concentrate on the future. I think this also applies to the BJP government led by PM Modi. It has been almost ten years, we get bored every time the PM comes on air or speaks about the past government and their failures. In a farewell speech on the hand PM showers all round praise on former PM Dr Manmohan Singh and at the same time a “white (lies) paper” is presented to blame the government led by him. The leaders should forget the past, work for the present and plan for the future.

N Nagarajan, Hyderabad

Inflation, unemployment big worries

The Reserve Bank of India is trying to control inflation rate. According to an RBI report, the inflation rate between April and December was 5.5 per cent. The inflation rate is estimated to be 5.4 per cent during the entire current financial year. The inflation rate is likely to come down in the next financial year, but the bitter reality is that the food plate of the common man of the country is still expensive. On the other side, the growth rate of our economy has been more than 7.5 per cent. But for the common man, economic development means that he gets relief from inflation and adequate employment opportunities. If inflation is not under control and youth are not getting employment, then the figures of economic progress have no relevance to the life of the common man.

Jahangir Shaikh, Mumbai

Food wastage must be prevented

This has reference to the article by Dr Mukesh Khwatra on ‘ Environment -Friendly Farming’. Processing, storing, packing, distributing, selling and consuming are the sequences. But it is a shocking fact that about 1/3rd of the food products are thrown as wastages, of which 61% of food wastage is from households, 26% from food services and 13% from the retail sellers. It is very essential that coordinated efforts are made by professionals, officials and consumers to arrive at innovate steps to create zero food wastage .

G Murali Mohan Rao, Secunderabad