The 'rot' and the `plunder'

Sir, - Your Editorial `Stem the rot' (March 17) ends on an optimistic note - ``The nation expects nothing less than a comprehensive probe that does not leave the real players in the sordid network unmasked.'' C. Rammanohar Reddy's article `Plunder Raj' on the same page gives a pessimistic, rather grave picture that whichever way the current imbroglio unravels, high-level corruption and plunder raj are so ingrained in the polity and economy that they cannot be discharged merely with a change of Government.

The Tehelka tapes have merely exposed the vulnerability of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in defence deals, a universal phenomenon thanks to the exorbitant profit margins.

This institutionalised corruption, as was evident in the Bofors scandal, had existed even from the 1980s, during Congress regimes, continued even with two United Front Governments, and now haunts the NDA Government. The Congress and Left parties have realised that they cannot dislodge the Government by parliamentary process and hence have resorted to methods such as stalling of Parliament work. In the present circumstances, the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, has taken the correct course by ordering a probe by a Supreme Court judge and also by accepting the resignation of Mr. George Fernandes as the Defence Minister. In the prevailing bleak political scenario this seems to be the only way out.

S. Venugopalan,

Chennai

Sir, - C. Rammanohar Reddy's article gives the correct and the present definition of ``reforms''. It is a sad truth that ``post- reforms profits are driven by tailoring Government policy to fit individual business interests''. Nobody can deny this at the present context.

There is a definite awareness that the Government is showing a keen and undue interest in ``stock-market'' economy and the fluctuations in a few share values determine the policy decisions on finance, budget, taxes, etc. After all, how many common people show real interest in the share market? Even small and medium investors are shying away from this dangerously-tainted show. The so-called big bulls and bears have a hold over the stock market, and the Government dances to their tunes.

Our country entirely depends on agriculture and, sadly, the least interest is shown to this sector. It is time, the Government defined `reforms' clearly and distributed the benefit to all the sectors.

V. Sundaresan,

Hyderabad

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