• I am not in full agreement with Ashwani Kumar’s article ‘Make NREGA new’. NREGA suffers from bureaucratic control, but giving full autonomy to the panchayats would not ensure transfer of funds or benefits to target groups. Most Indian villages are caste-based societies where power relations play a major role. People in power at the village level always prefer people of their own caste. The problem also lies with NREGA — it has been implemented following uniform procedures across states, although villages across states differ demographically, socio-economically, politically and culturally. Discounting this fact is enough to jeopardise the entire policy implementation. More factors should be included for formulation and implementation before giving NREGA a new life.

— Debasish Maitra

Anand

Talk to whom?

• For any negotiation to be meaningful there should be a potential meeting point. Is there one between the Maoist approach and the Constitution under which our democracy functions? P. Chidambaram’s call to Maoists to come to the negotiation table reveals either a defeatist approach or confusion about steps needed to eliminate them. Lack of development in backward areas is just one of the reasons for the rise of Naxalism, the chief one being extremists obsessed with an ideology based on violence and able to exercise their power due to inadequate security strategies.

— S. Rajagopalan

Chennai

• Coming after the beheading of an inspector by Maoists, the Union home minister’s remark that the government does not treat the confrontation as a war lacks plain reading of the ground situation. Everyone knows that these are our own people who are the victims of developmental failure. But is it not naiveté to fail to distinguish between demand and strategy? There seems to be a tacit acceptance of ruthless killings perpetrated by Naxalities. Unfortunately, this ostrich-like attitude of the government has given unfettered licence to Maoists to carry on their butchery.

... contd.