Letters: The government's job

This refers to the editorial “Ponty Chadha’s world” (November 29). A government dependent on markets, directly or indirectly, to raise revenue for itself is prone to perversion. The way Gurdeep Singh Chadha has operated in three states, assuring them of tax revenues, is just a step before fascism. We wonder what locus standi Chadha & Co, as enterprises with profit motive, had in terms of curbing smuggling of goods they produced. Enough reasons have been given for him to be targeted by rival gangs. The police department is to blame for this fiasco. This is similar to the strategy adopted by Chhattisgarh, promoting the Salwa Judum against Naxals. Kashmir did the same by arming civilians with weapons. All of them were failures.

 

Allocation of licences mostly play a destructive role. In this context, auctions would enable people not only with the “right contacts”, but with the right credentials to be able to bid for business. Revenue arrangements can always be worked out. Moreover, as mentioned in the editorial, the government’s job – unlike a business job – can never be outsourced. Imagine privatisation of fire stations — the first step would require answering an auto-reply machine, “Please press ‘A’ for ‘cash payment’ and ‘B’ for ‘card payment’”. Hence, a government’s job must remain with the government — no matter what.

Raghu Seshadri, Chennai

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