Indo-Pak Peace
WITH the postponement of the SAARC meeting, the chance to have a meaningful dialogue between India and Pakistan is lost. The composite dialogue that began under Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf has not progressed under the UPA government.  Overlooking the past, India and Pakistan have to move on and look to the future. The neighbours must start talking, honestly and openly address each other’s concerns. However, Pakistan has to deal firmly with the Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terror outfits that are not just a threat to India but a danger to Pakistan’s own stability and security as well. Presently, both countries are gaining nothing from their self-imposed silence, but the militants definitely are.
GREGORY FERNANDES, Mumbai

Prices of Petroleum Products
THIS is in reference to the recommendations made towards the price rise of petroleum products. For a stable economical system, prices of petroleum products do need regular updating in tune with global price-fluctuation of crude. However, the Union government can and must take some steps which can be substantial to providing relief to the public by saving on hidden costs in distribution of petrol-products. Large overheads and publicity-budget should be curtailed by merger of all public-sector oil-companies in one unified company. Discounts on petrol purchased by affluent class through credit-cards should be abolished. Meeting of finance-ministers from all states should be convened for uniform tax-structure (local and central) to have uniform net consumer-prices of petroleum products throughout the country. The prices so calculated should be rounded to the next complete rupee in case of petrol, diesel, kerosene and CNG, while in case of cooking-gas; it should be rounded off to the next ten-rupees. This rounding-off can result in increased earnings for oil-companies. Only branded petrol and diesel should be sold initially in urban areas, and then throughout the country on all retail-outlets. Since government is the largest consumer of oil-products, only small cars with low fuel consumption should be allowed to be purchased in public-sector. Even financing on cars by public-sector financial institutions should only be for small cars to promote cars with low fuel-consumption.
MADHU AGRAWAL, DELHI

Eradication of Polio
FEBRUARY 7 was supposed to be Polio Sunday, a day when polio dose is administered to children below the age of five. But unfortunately beside a solitary advertisement in the newspapers not much effort has been done to spread the message. It is necessary to use the print, the electronic media and all other means at the disposal of the government to get the message across to the people so that more and more people, especially the poor and the illiterate are aware of this facility so that polio is completely eradicated from India.
ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco

PM must take Concrete Measures
OUR affable and scholarly Prime Minister often makes saintly pronouncements: inflation needs to be controlled, prices must be brought down, internal security must be strengthened, police force must be better trained, there should be greater allocation of funds for the police and so on. However, probably his speech writers have not realised that the buck stops with the Prime Minister. As the CEO of the Government of India, it is his duty to get these things done. Perhaps he could announce what his government has done or what it is doing to solve the problem. As a citizen, I can put out my wish-list, since I do not have the means ot the power to realise my dreams; but this certainly does not augur well for the Prime Minister of a country.
SND POOJARY, Miramar

Safeguard Interests of Indigenous People 
KUDOS to the editorial ‘Thackeray’s Constituency’ (NT, February 6) for its balanced viewpoint regarding the Mumbai issue. While the Thackerays certainly deserve strongest condemnation for issuing parochial statements or threatening the migrants, interests of the indigenous people should also be taken into consideration. The Thackerays can afford to flex muscles because a significant section of the Marathi populace supports them. Maybe they do not approve of the violence, but with their arguments, many of which are extremely genuine. And this is the very reason why the Congress government in Maharashtra dread to initiate action against the Thackerays, lest it incur the wrath of the common Marathi people. Also we should not forget that the newly formed Maharashtra Navnirman Sena fared very decently in the last Maharashtra Assembly election, that too in constituencies in and around Mumbai. Thus, to ensure a peaceful and harmonious Mumbai, the demands of the Thackerays should be taken into serious consideration. The media, politicians and individuals may act liberal by raising the slogan ‘India for Indians’, but the reality remains that in almost each and every state, the sons of the soil and their respective languages get special privileges in every sphere of life. Moreover, just because a city has undergone a demographic change following massive migration, the indigenous minority cannot be given a cold shoulder. Thus there exists a need to safeguard the interests of the indigenous people, which the Marathis are definitely entitled to, in Mumbai as well as Maharashtra.
KAJAL CHATTERJEE, KOLKATA