For the Finance Ministry
While the article, “India’s looming financial crisis”, by Ashoka Mody (Editorial page, June 12), has highlighted the rising burden of debt on households, it is worrying that the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), V. Anantha Nageswaran, recently downplayed the concerns over rising household debt and falling net financial savings, by declaring that households borrow solely to finance higher physical savings. His statement is not corroborated by facts. Of particular concern is his, and, by extension, the present dispensation’s lack of seriousness in the matter. Falling real income levels, rising inflation, and joblessness have been primarily responsible for the rise in household debt including unsecured credit card loans. The folly is being compounded by the exceptional boom in the stock markets, wherein, lured by the promise of easy money, unsuspecting traders are indulging in Futures and Options by taking leverage. The under-regulated fintechs and fly-by-night NBFCs, after lending money at exorbitant rates, resort to illegal means, including threats of physical harm, to get their money back. It is imperative that the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry work in tandem to regulate financial intermediaries and ensure credit expansion, rather than meeting consumption needs, leading to an increase in the productive capacities of the economy.
Argha Mallick,
Kolkata
The political exams
The exams of May turned out to be substantially off syllabus for the BJP. Promoted, though sans honours, it enters the next semester, with a few lessons well learnt, hopefully. First, it discovered that it cannot bank only on high scoring subjects and to depend on solved exam papers of the past. Second, chemistry practicals can no longer be taken lightly as both the location of the lab, the salts given for analysis and the invigilators can be unpredictable. The BJP government, version 3.0, has, however, access to a few tested handbooks. ‘Essence of Development’ by N. Chandrababu Naidu, ‘Navigation through Narrow Straits’ by Nitish Kumar, and, importantly, ‘Value Internalisation’ by Mohan Bhagwat. With cut off marks set to go up substantially in exams down the line, these guidebooks should prove to be useful.
R. Narayanan,
Navi Mumbai
Hold NEET again
The way the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG) was conducted this year leaves much to be desired. It has courted controversy. There has to be substance in the protests by aspirants across the country. It would be most appropriate to have a retest which is the only way to quell the dissatisfaction among a large number of aspirants, and their parents or guardians.
Ravi Bhushan,
Kurukshetra, Haryana
Unsafe roads
Incidents of bad driving appear to be increasing in the country.
The reliance on cameras has left serious offences such as road rage, drunk driving, and over-speeding largely unchecked. These issues require immediate and proactive action.
Adesh A. Jain,
Bengaluru