Sri Lankan crisis
A slew of factors including ill-advised populism, wrong policies and a mix of adverse natural events seem to have pushed Sri Lanka to the brink (OpEd, “Explaining Sri Lanka’s economic crisis”, March 31). As a neighbouring country, India has tried to support Sri Lanka in this hour of crisis. Sri Lanka should prepare a comprehensive long-term plan to come out of this misery imposed on its citizens by the political leadership.
K. Ramachandran,
Chennai
Macro-economic miseries such as high tax-cuts, a Budget deficit, depleting forex reserves and a significant loss of income from tourism have all wrecked Sri Lanka’s plans for an economic recovery. The perception is that President Rajapaksa seems clueless about the shape of a credible road map for economic recovery. As a responsible neighbour, India has extended economic assistance to Sri Lanka. However, India should be cautious about opening its doors to refugees who may try to flee the island-nation.
Kangayam R. Narasimhan,
Chennai
It is Sri Lanka’s increasing dependence on China that is a worry as the resultant, and well-documented, debt trap diplomacy will only make things worse. One can only hope that Sri Lanka will act wisely in these tough times and seek help from credible actors such as India and international organisations.
V.S. Sindhuri,
Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh
It is unfortunate that Sri Lanka seems to be shutting down in stages (‘World’ page, “Sri Lankan hospitals suspend surgeries after 10-hour outage”, March 31). The leadership has been foolish in isolating itself from the international community, in turn resulting in dependence on China. The failure to initiate internal corrective actions to energise the economy has only aggravated the crisis in the island-nation.
M.V. Nagavender Rao,
Hyderabad
Reform and the ICAI
While everyone will concur that the quality standards of the ICAI as a regulator have eroded, no one can deny the yeoman services rendered by CAs despite the many hurdles they face.
When a government does not show adequate skills to implement an error-free portal for filing even tax returns, speaking about introducing advanced technology such as AI, Big data, etc. can hardly be termed as a reformatory step. The public also needs to be aware of the reform process being undertaken by ICAI in its functioning every now then. One should never undermine the strength of an institution based on wrong-doings by a few (Editorial page, March 31).
R. Baskar,
Salem, Tamil Nadu
The SilverLine
Despite stiff resistance to the SilverLine rail corridor project in Kerala from scientists, environmental groups, Opposition parties, and the common man, the egotistical approach of those in the ruling party to endorse it at full throttle smacks of political hubris. The financial, social and environmental drawbacks of the project far outweigh the proposed benefits — of reduced travel time, low-carbon emission, connectivity with airports, and economic growth. A lack of clarity on aspects including economic viability, land acquisition, compensation, rehabilitation and changes in track alignment have raised doubts about the real motives behind this venture. Even more surprising is the paradigm shift of the LDF government: from its claims of being an acolyte of the poor and the oppressed, to the present autocratic avatar.
Dr. Biju C. Mathew,
Thiruvananthapuram
