PICTURE SPEAK

“Exclusive Survey: Job Bonanza”, May 7, 2007

“Your cover story gives a comprehensive insight into the Indian growth story. The analysis of jobs in various sectors will be useful to young professionals.”

Lubna Salim, Kolkata

Wanted: All-round Growth

Your cover story on jobs is thought-provoking (“The Job Bonanza”, May 7). With the economy booming and corporates lining up investments for expansion, it’s heartening to read that there is not just opportunity, but also choice for the talented.

Viswanathan S., Chennai

Although the IT and ITEs sectors are booming, they are mostly creating low-end jobs. The boom will be complete only if India generates high-end jobs.

Hirak Sengupta, Delhi

Though there is no dearth of jobs in the market, unemployment is rife. While job-hopping has become a trend for some, others prefer waiting for the right opportunity. India cannot hope to shine unless it achieves uniform and all-round growth.

Amitabh Thakur, Lucknow

It is encouraging to see that a good education guarantees a lucrative job in our country. But India will truly surge ahead if opportunities are made available to skilled semi-literates.

K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore

Moolah Mania

It was nice to read about graduates from reputed B-schools who are refusing well-paying jobs abroad (“Opting for India”, May 7). At a time when MBA aspirants are lured by attractive pay packages, the role of the IIMs is not just to provide jaw-dropping monetary escalations, but also to impart quality education for life.

Jayendra Katti, Mumbai

It’s unfair to compare the salaries of professionals in India with those in the US. There is nothing unusual about the fact that senior marketing and finance professionals in India earn a fifth of the salary their counterparts in the US get.

Rama Subramaniam, on e-mail

Inhuman Cargo

Given that the number of criminal-minded and corrupt politicians is on the rise, it is hardly surprising to hear of the involvement of MPs in a human trafficking racket (“The VIP Smugglers”, May 7). Politics is now nothing but exploitation of power and money for personal use by those who wield them.

Mahesh Kumar, Delhi

Organised crime cannot exist without the support of political bigwigs like Babubhai Katara.The business of human trafficking indicates the Government’s inability to tackle the problem of unemployment, which makes it easy for fraudsters and travel agents to sell dollar dreams to youngsters who want to make big money.

Arvind K.Pandey, Allahabad

How could immigration officials turn a blind eye to blatant smuggling of people with forged passports? It’s amazing that this fraud was not detected at foreign immigration checkpoints. God only knows how many people were bribed to allow such a serious violation of the law. It is time India introduced finger-printing on visas and passports.

D.B.N. Murthy, Bangalore

Increase in illegal immigration from Punjab is linked to increasing agrarian debt. Globalisation has led to a free flow of capital and products across borders, but sadly, it has not facilitated the flow of labour. The upsurge in trafficking is a direct result of the inequitable development in the state.

Vitull K. Gupta, Bhatinda

Adamant Arjun

Ignoring protests and overruling objections, Arjun Singh, the self-proclaimed messiah of the backward classes, has doggedly pursued the reservation agenda (“Reprieved and Rebuked”, May 7). The rebuke of the Supreme Court may not be enough to deter him from his one-point programme of introducing reservation for obcs in elite educational institutions.

Rama Kashyap, Chandigarh

Obviously, Singh is targeting the votebank, but at what cost? If meritorious students are denied admission in favour of undeserving ones on the basis of quota, they will look abroad for opportunities and India will face a massive brain drain.

Ranjana Manchanda, on e-mail

Karunanidhi has been in the limelight due to his unsavoury comments on the Supreme Court stay on OBC reservation. Though he has developed as a strong regional leader over the years, he has not yet been able to shake off his wrong perception of so-called social discrimination.

V.S. Ganeshan, Bangalore

Crime and Punishment

The need to take decisive action against any transgression by the police should not detract attention from the fact that our judicial system must be redesigned so that criminals are punished promptly (“Encounter’s End”, May 7). Failure on this count may lead security agencies to resort to dubious short-cuts to deal with crime.

Bishan Sahai, on e-mail

Death in Cold Storage

Bal Thackeray has rightly highlighted the delaying tactics adopted by President Abdul Kalam in implementing the Supreme Court verdict of hanging Afzal Guru (Seedhi Baat, Indiascope, May 7). By delaying the disposal of the case lying with him for such a long time, Kalam is only making a mockery of the judiciary.

Asoke C. Banerjee, Kolkata

Not Made for Each Other

Greg Chappell and the Indian cricket team were a total mismatch (“No Encore Please”, May 7). It was like fitting a tractor tyre on a bus. We realised the mistake only when the bus toppled and fell into a deep ditch. Now Sharad Pawar has promised a new bus with a good start-up capacity.

Neelesh Shrivastava, Deolali, Maharashtra

Ageing Gracefully?

Mark Tully may have sobered down and grown philosophical with success and prosperity, but India has only become more violent over the years (“The Mark of God”, May 7).

Nutan Thakur, Lucknow

LOST GAME

Kudos to Mani Shankar Aiyar for saying that the Asian Games will not benefit the people (“Face-off”, May 7).

Man Mohan Bhatia, Delhi

Considering India’s pathetic performance in international sporting events like the Olympics, one is baffled by Suresh Kalmadi’s insistence on spending astronomical amounts on hosting them.

Nalini Vijayaraghavan, Thiruvananthapuram

While we hear about China’s preparations for the Olympics, all that we hear about Delhi is the widespread and troublesome demolition drive. No wonder we lost the bid to host the Asian Games.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

30
Years Ago in India Today
MAY 16-31, 1977

Emergency Duty

Rukhsana Sultana, this exotic femme fatale of the Emergency, is a glamorous 31-year-old divorcee from Delhi. During the Emergency, her prime pre-occupation was propagating the cause of Sanjay Gandhi—motivating sterilisation drives in Delhi’s politically hypersensitive Muslim quarters in and around Jama Masjid.

She induced 13,000 vasectomies in less than a year, a campaign that erupted in rioting and violent clashes with the police and resulted in bloody deaths. Rukhsana believes she took up the campaign because, like a latter-day Joan of Arc, she heard a call from above. It was Sanjay’s call to the youth of the country. Her adulation for him is only matched by her adulation for herself. “Sanjay,” she says, “is the most human of human beings. I am loyal only to him. Why should I work now?”

—by Shirley Joshua, Mandira Purie, Suchitra Behal with Sunil Sethi

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