Electoral bonds
The government of the day has been reaping a rich harvest in the form of electoral bonds, with a lion’s share of the donations said to be flooding its coffers. In such a situation, it would be loath to make room for more transparency in the scheme as that could result in donors shying away from investing in the bonds. Unless the top court steps in and recommends changes in the Electoral Bonds Scheme, it would be futile to expect the government to tweak the scheme even a wee bit.
C.V. Aravind,
Bengaluru
Air quality
While the deterioration of air quality in the country’s two major cities, Mumbai and Delhi, remains an annual phenomenon, turning them into gas chambers, there have been no concerted measures taken by the authorities to tackle the issue The reality is that only judicial diktats have been nudging governments to initiate steps to control air pollution in the country, while several legal frameworks ushered in to combat pollution suffer from poor implementation on the ground.
Given that many of the worst air pollution-affected cities are in India, governments at the Centre and State cannot afford to be lackadaisical in bringing air pollution under control. Parties across the political spectrum must incorporate action plans in their electoral manifestos and demonstrate their commitment and political will to keep air pollution under control (“‘Air pollution ups diabetes risk in Chennai, Delhi’,” November 2).
M. Jeyaram,
Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu
On the Governor
There can be no denying the charge by the Tamil Nadu government that the Governor is an obstacle. The Tamil Nadu government has cited a slew of instances where the Governor has been obstinate. One wonders how long the Centre will continue to remain cold and unconcerned in the all important issue of the Governor’s stance.
Mani Nataraajan,
Chennai
