Loan waiver to benefit ailing farm sector

Sir,
The budget announcement to write off agricultural loans to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore deserves appreciation. Nearly 4 crore farmers are expected to benefit from this announcement. This will prove a great relief for the ailing agriculture sector. On an average, loans waived works out to Rs 4000-Rs 15000 per family of these farmers.

Banks should not slow down or withdraw extending loans to marginal farmers in the future. They should be reimbursed by the government as they work in a competitive environment against foreign banks. The interest bearing long-term bonds can compensate such losses. The Reserve Bank of India should now stop banks from entering into one time settlement (OTS) on defaulted loans above Rs One lakh to offset this and write off these loans to a certain extent. The market has helped trade and industrial sectors to expand and earn more. Along with this, prices of land, which they pledge as collateral have risen and collateral values have also increased. The government should ban the OTS for another one year immediately.

V KRISHNAMURTHY
Bangalore

Insensitive politicos

Sir, It is astonishing to see how insensitive and thick skinned our politicians have become. Let us forget their election manifestos and performances. It is disgusting to look at their pronouncements, cut-outs at road junctions during their birthday celebrations and other occasions, how they appear with gods and godmen and present themselves as avatars to the poor. They say they are not seeking power. But in reality their thirst is only for power and nothing else.

S D Dinni
Bangalore 

Bogus voters

Sir,

The State Election Commission  has estimated around  57 lakh bogus voters in Karnataka. This speaks of  the callous way in which the list is prepared.  Hope the Commission at least has a solid grip  over such malpractices, which have a detrimental effect on the election results. It is an open secret that some parties have specialised in such a gamble to endeavour that their party gets a majority.

E D Mallur
US

Just a tip

Sir,

I refer to the report (State briefs, DH, Feb 28) that Rs 5.5 crore of electrical power theft was detected at Bagalkot in Karnataka. It is said that the culprit is an MLA who owns a cement factory. This may be only the tip of an iceberg. Such politicians should be blacklisted by the Election Commission and public.

B S GANESH
Bangalore

Empower Lokayukta

Sir,

Kudos to the Lokayukta for trapping an officer in the education department while accepting a bribe. But the Lokayukta trapping the corrupt, who then go scot free only proves that eradicating corruption in our country is only a dream. Hence, the Lokayukta should be given powers to proceed with cases and make appropriate judgements, which would control corruption to some  extent.

Margaret Rajan
Bangalore

Row over Sethu

Sir,

The UPA government is now cautious about the Ram Sethu project and is learnt to have decided to leave it to the Supreme Court for a final view on the project. Is it not abdication of its responsibilities as the execution of the project definitely is not in the domain of the courts? And to blame the NDA government for the mess is not going to wash, as in a number of cases the decisions of the NDA government have been reversed.

V Padmanabhan
Bangalore