•The role of Indian soldiers in building political stability in Europe, the Indian Ocean region and the Far East has been significant. That Indian soldiers were allowed to march down the Champs-Élysées on Bastille Day should make the army and Indians proud about the past and hopeful about the future. Also, it’s time Indians learnt to dissociate the British Indian army — the predecessor of independent India’s army — from the political contours of the Raj.

— Rathin K. Chanda

Chinsurah

Worthy still

•For any infrastructure project to meet its deadline, speed and professionalism must go hand-in-hand (‘Strangers to haste’, IE, July 16). There’s no room here for complacency and compromise. Barring a few mishaps, big and small, the Delhi Metro project has been moving very successfully, and has become a model for Metro projects in other Indian cities. The USP of the Metro’s Delhi chapter has always been the new work culture inseparable from it. That’s how it was meeting deadlines, yet staying more or less within budget. We don’t know yet what exactly caused the recent accident. But on the whole, the Indian public and private sectors involved in infrastructure projects should emulate the

Delhi Metro.

— S.K. Gupta

Chandigarh

Power to the people

•This refers to Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s ‘Subjects to citizens’ (IE, July 16). In

India, panchayat institutions have long been acknowledged to be the best means of bringing democracy to the grassroots level. The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution was seen as a revolutionary step in this direction. However, it led to growth without roots, since local government was not empowered to the extent it should have been. Indian politicians and bureaucrats have been reluctant to devolve power to local government. Delivery mechanisms cannot be effective till proper decentralisation occurs.

... contd.