In his write-up, “Where are we, and where are we going? -II” (January 23), Bimal Jalan has rightly focused on key areas where India has to take quick corrective steps for charting its onward march. In a flush of excitement over the high economic progress we are making, we seem to be losing sight of the weak spots — abdication of legislative role by Parliament and decline in the quality and speed of judicial process. Members of Parliament spend more time in the well of the House than on its floor. Preparation for, and participation in purposeful deliberations are limited to just a few members, though the number of young and educated elected representatives is on the rise.
Judicial reforms are as important as economic reforms. Easy accessibility to justice, a fair judgment and speed of delivery constitute the essence of jurisprudence but here justice is too costly, subjective and delayed to be of any use for the poor.
While we have reasons to take pride in our achievements, it is a sobering thought that when we compare with a big country like China or a small nation of 7 million people like Israel, we realise that we have miles to go in terms of education, world trade, military preparedness and creativity.
YG Chouksey, Pune