A banana republic?

A banana republic?
When Ratan Tata calls India a ‘banana republic’ for targeting individuals and companies as captured in a series of Income Tax department phone taps, the nation ought to take a serious note of what he says (Ratan Tata reignites 2G debate with hoarding remark’, DNA, November 29).

Misuse of investigating process — including snooping, continuation of tainted people in positions of power, unprecedented loot, disruption of Parliament for so long, worsening security scenario, terrorism and runaway price rise are areas of grave concern.

An incident like 26/11 can happen anywhere but knee-jerk responses like ours are quite shameful for the country’s image. Maybe time has come to include Opposition parties and industry stalwarts like Ratan Tata in policy-making to tackle spiralling corruption and price rise.
— Raghubir Singh, Pune

Welcome directive
Let’s welcome Mumbai HC directive to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to complete the painting of all the zebra crossings in the city (‘Paint all zebra crossings: Bombay high court’, DNA, December 3). Unpainted zebra crossings and make-shift roundabouts confuse the motorists and pedestrians. Apart from complying with the court directive, the BMC should see to it that roundabouts are fixed in permanent locations for the safety of motorists and pedestrians.
—KP Rajan, Mumbai

Stop child labour
This is with reference to ‘Child labour: Enslaving innocence’, (DNA, December 2), the government accepts that there are nearly 13 million child labourers vis-a-vis the 70 million estimated by the NGOs, despite the rules and regulations on the contrary. Whatever the figure, the proportion is alarming. The ILO Convention 182 to prohibit child labour in any form has already been ratified by 160 countries, however India is yet to do so. Industries like carpet making and fireworks keep employing mostly the under-14 and exploit them. The labour ministry should wake up and take immediate action to stop the enslavement of these hapless children so that they could lead a normal life like any other Indian.
— Bikram Banerjea, Mumbai