Editor,
I recently took my family for a day out to Mawphlang Sacred Forest. As we were walking around scouting for a place to sit on the hills bordering the Sacred Grove all we could see were broken bottles everywhere. We couldn’t find any open space amidst all that expanse, which did not have broken glass in some form that could harm children and adults too. I am greatly saddened by this as I have been taking my family out to Mawphlang for the past six years and the rash kind of littering that we see now is very recent. Everyone should care for our last treasures such as this Sacred Grove and should anyone litter then they should take their litter with them. And breaking glass everywhere means whoever does so is not thinking that it could hurt humans and animals that traverse there. I hope that those responsible for looking after the Sacred Groves can monitor future bottle breakers and help clean up before the Terre Madre International Slow Food Festival to be held in November this year.
Yours etc.,
Habari Warjri,
Via email
Ban the tipping habit
Elite urbanites in India blindly follow the British culture of paying ‘tips (Bakhshish)’ everywhere. This is nothing but a bribe for being served. In most hotels the person helping the guest with luggage to the car during check out time expects a tip. So too the doorkeeper (darwan) and everyone else down the line. Heavy ‘tips’ are received by highly paid employees in five-star hotels and restaurants which is much-much more than the normal salary paid by these status conscious persons to their to their employees. It’s a way of exhibiting their wealth amongst those accompanying them. Even credit-card slips have special space to write ‘tip’ amount.The union government should seriously consider the advice of former President APJ Abdul Kalam given on the eve of his retirement, on gifts. Quoting from the Hindu code in ‘Manusmriti’, Dr Kalam rightly analyzed that gifts which come with a purpose cause persons to lose their personality greatly. It is indeed a matter of shame that catering-staff in trains beg for tips from foreigners. By doing so they insult themselves and the nation. Government should impose a ban on paying or receiving ‘tips’ which is equivalent to bribing since those who give tips usually get added facilities/services/goods free-of-cost. I am sure that status-conscious people will also gladly accept ban on ‘tips’ if implemented by government order. Even Mumbai High Court has rightly ordered Bakhshish (tip) to be taken as expense for Income Tax purposes.
‘Tips’ are considered highly objectionable by every citizen in the world’s top-ranking countries in their honesty-index. Now in several restaurants, the service charge is already added to the bill hence there is no need for clients to pay extra tips.
Yours etc.,
Madhu Agarwal
(Guinness Record Holder for letters in Newspapers)
Delhi -110006
A creative budget from the Modi Govt
Editor,
Much has been debated about the Union Budget since Saturday when the Finance Minister presented it in Parliament. There are both positives and negatives about the budget. The middle class feel cheated because there are no tax rebates. But taken from the point of view of social welfare this budget has taken on board the poor and small entrepreneurs. The setting up of Mudra bank with a Rs 20,000 crore corpus with the purpose of reaching credit to the last mile should bring some cheers for rural entrepreneurs and farmers. Mudra Bank will refinancing the micro-finance institutions (MFI). Above all, the non-banking financial sector is now allowed to go after defaulters. The Andhra Pradesh crisis that erupted after some MFI’s went public and started behaving like sharks. But borrowers too had access to multiple loans from several MFIs which they could not repay. A few farmers’ suicides became the red rag that triggered the financial crises in Andhra Pradesh. The issue got politicized and farmers were told not to repay the MFIs. This dad sunk many genuine micro-credit enterprises into debts amounting to several hundred crores of rupees.
In Meghalaya, micro-credit is not very popular as yet. Self Help Groups normally access loans from banking institutions. But we know that banks have limited reach and their commitment to agricultural funding remains suspect. Micro-crediting has helped small and marginal farmers to upscale their production and hence their earnings. Small and medium enterprises do better with micro-crediting agencies as they are easier to access and they also do a lot of hand holding with the clients they fund. Hence Meghalaya should ensure that the Mudra Bank sets up its branch here and that micro-crediting becomes a viable activity so that mutual benefits accrue to the borrowers and lenders.
Yours etc.,
KL Shangpliang,
Via email
