Revival of handicrafts

Sir,

The role of the country's security forces in maintaining peace in the State along with the support extended by the local police and other paramilitary forces is quite appreciative. No major incident has occurred in the State for quite some time which might have disturbed the peace of the State and of the central military establishment.

It is rightly said that it is during peace time, which every country longs for it, that progress is made through the implementation of development projects. And it should go to the credit of those who take initiatives in this direction.

It is the farsightedness and intense desire on the part of CM Omar Abdullah that he has announced a very useful scheme of promoting handicrafts industry in Srinagar, to begin with.

It is hoped that the scheme initiated by the CM is implemented successfully and expeditiously. Funds should not stand on the way. The Central Government should come to his help. A special responsibility devolves on Central Government. It must meet the state government's needs to its satisfaction. The State government must ensure that the funds thus generated are utilized for the effective implementation of the scheme and that no money goes to the hands of those who indulge in corrupt practices. This can be fairly expected from Omar Abdullah whose track record of honesty speaks amply in his favour.

The State Government can also think of improving the quality of expertise of artisans either deputing them outside the State to various design institutes for crash, short- and long-term courses. Even workshops can be held with the help of experts invited from outside the State. All this will help the state artisans to involve themselves actively in enhancing their capability and proficiency. A more acute sense of designing their products will awaken in them. Visits of artisans outside the State for improving their skills should be fully financed by it.

Yours etc...
R.P.Puri
A-1 JNU Aravali Apartments, Sector 65,
Gurgaon Haryana.

CPM must work for masses

Sir,

Apropos Mr. Sondip Bhattacharya's article "CPM must change its character" ( 5 July), the drubbing of the left in Lok Sabha polls and municipal elections in its strongest bastion, West Bengal, was very much on the cards. Communist parties would follow certain priciples earlier, but the taste of continuous power has made them extremely arrogant and duplicitious. In its election manifesto, the CPM accused other parties of pursuing pro-rich policies, practising communal politics and succumbing to imperialism. But in reality, the self-declared guardians of the proletariat have themselves become handmaidens of industrialists in West Bengal and have no qualms in evicting poor people from their land in order to build apartments and factories. Instead of bringing to book the rioters who demanded the ouster of Taslima Nasreen and created mayhem in Kolkata, the so-called secular Left Front Government, led by CPM, gave in to their demands and promptly expelled her from the city. The "crusaders" of anti-imperialism do not utter a single word about Chinese imperialism in Tibet and the torture of peace-loving people there. If the CPM wants to retain power in West Bengal and Kerala, and also wants to become relevant in mainstream politics, then it should shed its double-standard and return to its original mission of working for the downtrodden and fighting against all brands of communalism as well as imperialism, irrespective of religion or nationality. Moreover, it should try to appreciate and solve the grievances of the masses who are much more concerned about daily ordeals than about " US imperialism".

Yours etc....
Kajal Chatterjee, D-2/403
Peerless Nagar, Kolkata-114

Budget shocks salaried class

Sir,

The salary class feels disheartened and ignored on not being given any relief in form of change in the rates of incometax and slabs. With the nominal increase in salary in the form of Sixth Pay Commission, the increase in income tax is huge. Just Compare: Increase in salary is 1.4 times on average but Increase in tax hs become 6 times on average. The benefits to the 6th Pay Commission and the pay revision of PSU employees are negated. I fail to understand how the Prime Minister found words of praise for the budget.

This budget is totally insipid and devoid of any fresh ideas to galvanise the economy, boost spending and benefit the people. Really, this was not expected from the Mr FM. This is a cruel jokes on the voters particularly salaried class who have voted them in power.

What they have done for any sector ? Salaried class, farming community all are feeling ditched. And above all irony is that donations to political party have been 100 percent exempted from the tax. The surcharge levied on income of above Rs 10 lakh has been withdrawn, fringe benefit tax has been scrapped. What all this move show is that he is highly biased towards high income groups. Isn't it unfair ?

A common man is paying tax through hard earned money. After that he has to pay for the tax in the form of VAT on daily use items, cess on petrol, tolls on highway, sales tax in on any purchase. Where this all tax payers money is diverted ?

Yours etc....

Dr Parmil Kumar,
Sr. Assistant Professor,
Department of Statistics,
University of Jammu.