Letters: Profits and social costs

In “LIC stake in ITC: courting trouble” (April 27) Shyamal Majumdar rightly questions the wisdom in seeking court intervention to prevent public sector insurance companies from investing in ITC’s tobacco business. Tobacco business does increase social costs in terms of the ill effect on the health of smokers and a dent on their useful spending. Passive smoking hurts non-smokers also. In order to atone for putting funds in such a corporate activity two alternatives are possible. A good portion of the profits earned by the insurance companies here could be diverted for the creation of social welfare institutions to absorb