There should be a system to correlate the grants received by sports federations to the performance of its athletes ("Track Record of Shame", June 21). Privatisation could be a way to develop India into a sporting superpower. With such a huge population, finding a few world beaters cannot be so difficult.

Piyush Sinha, Bhagalpur

The gold medal tally of one-fifth of the human race at the Olympics has been zero for decades. Can we expect those in power now to clean up the stables?

K.M. Sundaram, Chennai

As long as sports remains hostage to bureaucracy medals will elude us. It must be given higher priority and the ministry should be allotted to a young and energetic person.

Siddhartha Raj Guha, Jabalpur

We should seriously consider not sending our sportspersons to any international events until we are certain of their chances of winning medals. Can you imagine any self-respecting nation celebrating because it has won a bronze medal?

Deepak Kumar, Begusarai

The only way to stop politicians from turning sports federations into personal fiefdoms is to have fixed terms of office. Officials should be judged on the basis of their performance and should be given a second term only if they have done well enough to deserve it.

Abdul Javad Pasha, Bangalore

Poverty of ideas and lack of proper planning by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) are the main reasons behind the poor performance of our sportspersons in international meets. The worst example was the inclusion of filmstars and the deliberate omission of Olympians like P.T. Usha in the Olympic torch relay. What were people like Bipasha Basu, who said that the Olympics was started by Adolf Hitler, doing at an event meant for sportspersons?

Nisha Philip, Chennai

Considering the shabby manner in which sportspeople are treated in our country it is hardly surprising that no Indian has won an Olympic gold medal in the past 20 years. The sidelining of the people who had brought glory to our country at the Olympic torch relay is an indication of the direction in which the IOA's priorities lie.

Ranjana Manchanda, on e-mail

The central question is whether a nation that does not care for or respect its athletes deserves any medals at all. When sports just means cricket for a majority of the people in the country, an Olympic gold is bound to remain a distant dream.

Kumar Gangadharan, on e-mail

If an Indian ever wins a gold medal at the Olympics, it will be despite the sports administrators, not because of them.

Amitabh Nigam, Lucknow

India's dismal run at the Olympics proves that it is a nation of spectators, not winners.

Rohit Bhandiye, Panaji

What could be more ironical than the fact that Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the man who has presided over the decline of Indian football, has been appointed chef de mission for the Athens Olympics. It has been rightly said that experience only teaches us to repeat mistakes with confidence.

F.S.K. Barar, on e-mail

If the Government takes serious steps to improve the situation we can spare ourselves the post-mortem of yet another shameful performance at the Olympics. Also, the plan to spend Rs 1,988 crore on the 2010 Commonwealth Games is just another excuse for the corrupt sports federation chiefs to fill their coffers.

Gitesh Gadia, Howrah

Extreme Loyalty

Manmohan Singh should realise that the country's sense of self-respect will be outraged if its prime minister appears to be occupying the post only because of the "generosity" of another person ("Car Seva", June 21). He is entitled to be loyal to his party but it would be extending it to absurd lengths if he plays the game of "onedownship" with Sonia Gandhi.

R.B.R. Sarma, Bangalore

Difficult Choices

Bal diksha takes us back to the 19th century at a time when India is trying to emerge as a superpower ("Little Faith", June 14). What right do we have to deny children their right to education and to choose a profession of their choice? In any case, why should children atone for the sins of other people?

Madhu R.D. Singh, Ambala Cantonment

The article is a sad reflection on the need for awareness about our responsibilities towards children. Should we not show children the way to discover love in their hearts and experience the divine manifestations within instead of pushing them into a life of negation, austerity and violence on their bodies on false promises of spiritual advancement?

R. Narasimhan, Chennai

Given a choice no child would adopt such a harsh and rigid lifestyle. Neither is it right for parents to claim that they have taken the decision to induct their children as monks in their best interests.

Sugandhi, on e-mail

Cross Connection

In the story on Bandhavgarh, you have stated that the Ranas funded the construction of two classrooms at Tala village at the Bandhavgarh National Park ("All for the Tiger", March 22). I believe that the classrooms referred to are those built in 1997-99 and funded completely by British citizens. The first was funded by me and my partner, the second by the Rotary Club of Otley, West Yorks, UK. We take exception to the Ranas claiming to have funded these classrooms as these were our way of helping the village.

Michael Galletly, Leeds

Latika and Nanda Rana acknowledge that two classrooms were funded by Galletly and the Rotary Club of Otley, UK. Both classrooms have plaques citing the dates and the names of the donors. No credit has been given to the Ranas or any NGO. The Ranas, however, clarify that when funds ran short, they contributed the required money, without mentioning the fact to the British donors.

-Editor