Sir, The unemployment situation in India is somewhat related to the policies of the Congress government, which is more interested in pleasing the Left parties rather than taking bold decisions in matters related to foreign investment and liberal industrial policies, etc. Such matters would have accelerated the employment growth rate in the country. The policies are inherited since the Congress party had an open agenda in supporting Russia and a hidden one in opposing pro-business atmosphere with the US. This has thereby reduced and retarded the prospects of employment generation over the years.

After the BJP came out with a bold privatisation policy and started acting on it, the Congress party woke up for a while. But now it is buckling under pressure from the Left parties.

So if the Congress and Left parties think they can rule the country as long as they want to, there is no way the employment situation can be improved. It will continue to suffer from bad policies of these parties who know how to take the public for a ride.

If the BJP can support the Congress and vice versa and isolate the Left parties, most of our unemployment problems can be solved. This is a novel method that both parties can work on and try for the sake of the poor and unemployed.

Hans Mash

Secunderabad



Good move by SC

Sir, We welcome the judgement of the Supreme Court stating that the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly is unconstitutional and thus illlegal. Justice has been done at last and truth has triumphed. But justice delayed is justice denied. Had the judgement come earlier, elections in Bihar could have been avoided and elections costs running into crores of rupees could have been saved. We feel that our judges also have some duties towards the nation. Important and vital issues of national importance should be given top prioirty. Now, Dr Manmohan Singh, a man of conscience, dignity, honesty and integrity as he claims to be, should resign and thus set a good example and precedent. But shameless and undignified as most of the leaders of the UPA government are, they will not resign even though they have brought shame and disgrace to themselves and the nation.

S P Sharma

Mumbai

Misuse of gas

Sir, The misuse of domestic gas and its shortage will be there as long as there is price parity. The price of gas should be the same whether it is for domestic or commercial use. All subsidies should be withdrawn for domestic gas so that the question of misuse, diversion etc does not arise at all. To compensate the domestic consumer, a twenty five percent discount on his domestic power consumption should be given by the concerned electricy boards, who in turn should be reimbursed by the oil companies. Such a measure will ensure proper supply of gas to all at a common rate. The cost involved in monitoring the domestic gas is also saved.

D R Prasad Gupta

Bangalore

Outdated textbooks

Sir, I happened to glance through the Psychology text book authored by Proffesor Nataraj prescribed for I PUC Arts students of Bangalore university. The book is a glaring example of the deplorable standards of textbooks prescribed by Bangalore University. In addition to cheap print, the book has outdated concepts. For example, the chapter on 'Biological basis of behaviour’ on page 72, describing the physical changes in boys and girls during adolescence, has the following sentence: “Following these changes, the adolescent boys show girl crazy love and finally romantic love, which culminates in marriage”. It is high time we threw out these obsolete and cheap text books. Let us bring in some younger academicians with impeccable qualifications to write textbooks on psychology for young minds. V R Sashidhar

Bangalore