Women are not eligible for permanent commission in the Indian army and air force, they are compulsorily retired in the prime of their life, even though they have to prove to be equal to men in all respects. But the government has denied “any sort of discrimination” against women in court. The government counsel has stated that “women officers accepted the job knowing well the conditions of service from the outset” and added that “this is a policy matter”. Does that mean outdated policies should not be changed?

— Kamala Sundaresan

Pune

• Women commissioned officers have been serving in defence for the last 15 years. This was sufficient time for the military top brass to decide whether they were suitable for the tasks entrusted to them. If a woman officer has worked well, there is no reason why she should not be suitable for permanent commission. When there is a deficiency of commissioned officers, there is no justification for “retiring” trained and experienced women officers if they are willing to serve further.

There is a need to give a larger number of vacancies to women so that they can fulfil their aspirations and serve the nation by joining a field where many men are scared to tread.

— H.S. Gur

Hisar

Exit loser

• This refers to your editorial ‘Carry on Doctor’. The Supreme Court has called Anbumani Ramadoss’s bluff over his personal war with P. Venugopal. Ramadoss made all-out efforts to see that Parliament passed the ordinance ensuring the untimely exit of Venugopal. You are right in saying that despite India’s enormous public health needs, ministers choose to fight “imaginary monsters”. The health minister should now resign.

— S.K. Gupta

Delhi

One, united tongue

• I agree with M.S. Ananth’s view that multilingualism will shatter the fabric of the Indian administration. Macaulay wanted English to be taught in India to produce natives with a working knowledge of the language. But once the language was established, it produced Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Tagore, J.C. Bose, Tilak, Gokhale, Gandhi and Nehru. The British were finally thrown out by this very language. The mode of governance and the cultural diversity of India is such that it cannot be run without English. After all, English gave us a language which made us a nation.

— M.G. Kapahy

Delhi