Going nowhere

Sir ? Ashok Mitra?s support of the strike by the employees of the State Bank of India to pressurize the bank management into conceding their demands, is really unexpected (?Authoritarian utopias?, May 1). Mitra advocates meeting the employees? demand for pension restructuring on the ground that the SBI has been making huge profits in recent years and so can bear the extra burden. But why should the employees alone grab the profit of the SBI? Why not distribute a part of the profit to account-holders in the form of higher interest? It would be better still if the profit is distributed among the poorest section of the population instead of giving it to the already well-off employees.

Yours faithfully,
Asoke C. Banerjee, Calcutta

Sir ? Ashok Mitra has proved once more that he has not learnt to progress with the times. Like most of his fellow Indian communists, Mitra?s sympathy is directed at the workers of the organized sector, while the unorganized sector, which contains a sizeable amount of the total labour force of the country, goes unnoticed by him. Mitra observes that ?the demands of the SBI employees were not unreasonable given the prevalent culture elsewhere in the service sector?. But the service sector surely does not start and end with banking. It includes transport workers, street vendors, and employees of call centres among others. Will Mitra defend their right to pension as well? It would be na?ve to argue that the SBI employees are poorly paid. It is only when workers are well paid that they can afford to go on strikes, because then they can absorb the wage losses that a strike entails. The exploited workers in the unorganized sector do not declare cease-work at the drop of a hat simply because they cannot afford even a day?s wage loss.

A good economist will hardly argue in favour of pension in the contemporary context. With work becoming more mechanized by the day, the ratio of employed persons to retired people is drastically falling over the years, meaning that less and less people are working to ensure the pension of more and more superannuated ones. In a market economy, the worker needs to be encouraged instead of having to hand over a portion of his hard-earned money to a non-worker. The finance minister, P. Chidambaram, was justified in refusing to give in to the employees? demands at first. Now that he has succumbed, the employees of other banks will start clamouring for the same in no time.

Mitra should remember that the modern economy is meritocratic. If business-school graduates get fat pay packets, they surely work very hard for it. And they do not get pensions on retiring.

Yours faithfully,
Tapan Pal, Batanagar

Sir ? The SBI employees have shown that they care two hoots about their customers. Ashok Mitra will find few takers for his stand in support of the striking employees, who have reinforced India?s image as a country with very poor work culture. Foreign investors will now think twice before investing in a country whose largest bank is so irresponsible. The reasons given by the striking employees will cut little ice with an outsider. The unfairness of the strikers? demands would have been clear had Mitra judged the situation in the context of India?s position in the world economy rather than from his blindly leftist angle.

Yours faithfully,
A.K. Chattopadhyay, Chandannagar

Unholy matrimony

Sir ? It is horrifying that even today, 50 per cent girls in India continue to be married off before reaching the age of maturity. (?Stage set for child marriage battle?, April 29). Most child marriages take place because the financial condition of their parents does not allow them to take care of their daughters for long. The government which talks big about its nuclear programme cannot provide more than half of its population with basic education and jobs or ensure their security. Proper legislation can put an end to this malpractice once and for all, but the government, which has the power to bring it about, is not bothered enough to take necessary action. Social workers like Shakuntala Verma end up being barbarically assaulted when they try to prevent child marriages because they lack the strength of the government?s backing behind them. At the same time, the NGOs that have been working hard to stop the practice with little or no help from the government, need to be thanked for their dedication to the cause.

Yours faithfully,
Subhanjan Sengupta, Durgapur

Sir ? The initiative of the government of Madhya Pradesh to prevent hundreds of child marriages deserves commendation. However, the state government?s efforts need to be backed by that of the Centre if this social evil is to be rooted out. The people also must be made aware of the ills of this practice through educational campaigns. The priests, who perform the wedding rituals, help to perpetuate the evil and should be discouraged, if necessary, via punishment. It is unfortunate that political leaders, instead of helping to fight such medieval customs, engage in petty squabbles and partisan politics. They, in fact, often turn a blind eye to the issue out of fear of earning the ire of religious leaders. For all the advancements in science and technology, India cannot be said to have progressed too far if child marriage is still in practice. Only the administrative machinery can help remove the evil.

Yours faithfully,
Moumita Nandi, Calcutta