It is an old adage that ?one cannot serve two masters?. But in Arun Jaitley we have a finance minister who avows that he can serve both ?the business? and ?the poor?. Most of the present government?s economic policies serve the interests of big business as the previous government?s did. Jaitley now professes to be pro-poor because he cannot politically afford to be seen to be doing everything for the business. The Jaitley doctrine, at one stroke, demolishes the theory of ?class struggle? and sees no contradiction between being ?pro-business? and being ?pro-poor?. It holds that business must flourish for poverty mitigation to become possible. This is consistent with the standard line touted by the proponents of neo-liberal economic reforms. Jaitley appears to be in thrall to business for its inherent power for wealth generation despite its inbuilt propensity to monopoly and exploitation. By embracing free market fundamentalism with so much enthusiasm as the panacea for the country?s economic ills, Jaitley, it appears, is dislodging people from the forefront of the public realm. With a weak Opposition, the people themselves must put pressure on the government to follow policies that transform their lives and add to their well-being.
G David Milton
Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
A new Tata
Apropos of the column ?Fingers crossed, bets drawn? (FE, July 19) by Gaurav Vangaal, Tata Motors is on the cusp of its revival and has major hopes from its new offering, the Zest. Visit any Tata showroom and the excitement is all over the place. The four initiatives by Tata Motors ? Drive Next, Horizon Next, Design Next and Connect Next ? are finally leading to better products and, in all this, Tata must be missing Karl Slym, the charismatic managing director of the company who, in fact, was the driving force behind these four initiatives. It is good to know that all future Tata models are expected to kick off from the same strategy. While Hyundai?s ?fluidic design? remains the benchmark, the attractive looking next generation products from Tata cannot be discounted. The Zest onwards, Tata is expected to launch a new vehicle every year to take back its lost pie of market share. But, as the author wrote, Tata has to stick to timelines. He rightfully concluded that a new hope of revival has been ignited for Tata and the coming quarters will decide the future path of the brand.
Bhopal Singh Verma, Gurgaon
Air cargo business
The plan to allow Indian private players in the air cargo space is welcome. In 2008, Bedek Aviation Group, part of the Israel Aerospace Industries, was in talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to set up the first-ever aircraft conversion site in Bangalore. That facility could be dedicated to the conversion of 737 passenger aircraft to cargo carriers. Such a move is the need of the hour because aircraft conversion facility will cut costs in that the companies need not send their aircraft abroad for availing of the facility. The air cargo business will get uplifted.
P Senthil Saravana Durai, Mumbai
