June 15, 2015 12:00:22 am


With reference to ‘More mollycoddling’ (IE, June 12), on the one hand, farmers are not paid for their sugarcane, and on the other, they have to pay high prices for pulses. The government needs to immediately implement the Shanta Kumar Committee reforms of the Food Corporation of India, and the Rangarajan Committee recommendations for sugar sector reform. Committees for policy formulation are not needed now, but a few for policy implementation will help immensely.
– Ajay Agrawal, New Delhi
Stars in a soup
This refers to ‘The Noodle Test’ (IE, June 12). A celebrity-endorser, like any other citizen, has her own mind and consciousness. She is not a robot who will do whatever owners of the brand want her to do. Of course, she has the right to freedom of commercial speech, but this right, like other rights, has some limitations. Celebrities can’t mislead people by passing on wrong information. If they do so, legal action must be initiated against them. This is the perfect time to pass an act in Parliament that would make celebrities specifically liable for their endorsements.
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– Anshul Mittal, Mansa
Manjhi’s mantra
The sole reason for the BJP not announcing its CM candidate for the Bihar assembly polls appears to be Jitan Ram Manjhi’s decision to ally with the NDA. The only condition that has probably been put by the Mahadalit leader to join the saffron alliance must be his sole claim to the chief minister’s office. In that event, the state will see Manjhi lead a coalition government with the BJP holding important cabinet berths, including the post of the deputy CM, as was the case when the erstwhile JD(U)-BJP government was in power in Bihar.
– Arun Malankar, Mumbai
Committee culture
The Bibek Debroy panel has made recommendations for the organisational restructuring of the railways (‘Get regulator in five years, then scrap Rail Budget’, IE, June 12). These proposals, which include the devolution of powers to station superintendents and the involvement of the private sector in running passenger trains, are likely to ruffle the feathers of vested interests. This report runs the risk of being dumped, like other game-changing reports. If so, this will be unfortunate, because the panel has made much-needed changes in the bureaucratic running of the railways, and that too with laudable speed.
– Y.G. Chouksey, Pune