Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Petrol price hike

Now that oil companies have raised petrol prices by about Rs. 3 a litre, the cost of essential commodities such as rice and vegetables will also go up. We should give more thought to the formula ‘when prices increase, consumption decreases' and reduce the use of private vehicles. We should use more of public transport.

P. Sankaranarayanan,

Kochi

The burden of higher prices will fall on petrol car owners while owners of diesel vehicles, including low-mileage sports-utility vehicles, have been spared since the rise in diesel prices is always modest. The disparity between petrol and diesel prices is unfair. The government should evolve a mechanism to bring in parity.

H.N. Ramakrishna,

Bangalore

JPC probe

This refers to the searches conducted by the CBI in Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Noida in connection with the 2G spectrum scam. It appears that it is playing cops and robbers. The searches should have been conducted as soon as the news of scam broke, not after so many days. Only a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe can get to the bottom of the massive scam. The Centre should accept the Opposition's demand.

R. Lenin,

Chennai

It is still not too late for the government to accept the Opposition's demand. It is important for it to regain people's confidence. It can do so by constituting a JPC and identifying the beneficiaries of the spectrum scam, and restoring the losses to the national exchequer.

K. Ravindranathan,

Palakkad

Sonia Gandhi's statement that nothing should be done to denigrate the institution of Prime Minister will not put the scam out of focus as the combined Opposition is unlikely to be impressed. The principle of collective responsibility puts the onus on the Prime Minister to initiate action on the issue. The UPA government could have easily accepted the demand for a JPC probe. Its obstinacy, coupled with the Opposition's obduracy to stall Parliament, has led to a huge waste of the taxpayers' money.

B. Raghavendra Rao,

Tanuku

If the UPA government is indeed clean, it should constitute a JPC, rather than stonewalling the Opposition. Doing so will improve its image in the eyes of the people. Its obstinate ‘no' leads one to conclude that it wants to save someone by hook or by crook.

L.R. Moorthy,

Badlapur

It is surprising to find many readers believing that a JPC probe is the answer to the spectrum issue. The Opposition is demanding a JPC probe only to embarrass the government, not to find solutions. The Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe is better than a JPC probe as the probability of uncovering the scandal is much higher.

D. Subramaniam,

Chennai

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Steady course
EU lets Kosovans down
Is the glass half full or half empty?
Case for an autonomous CBI
Cancun: held together by optimism
Flow of immigrants to U.S. resumes
Security Council eases sanctions on Iraq
Larry King bows out after 25 years
Corrections and Clarifications
Petrol price hike
JPC probe
National shame

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu