Sir — It is heartening to learn that S. Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist with the Indian Space Research Organization, has finally got justice. He was wrongly implicated by the police in an espionage case in 1994 and had to spend almost 50 days in jail. Narayanan was subsequently cleared of the charges. However, the erring officials who implicated him were not punished. At last, a division bench of the Supreme Court has not only constituted a committee to recommend suitable disciplinary action against the officials but has also awarded Rs 50 lakh to Narayanan as compensation.

Hira Lal De,
Hooghly

Unpleasant truths

Sir — The former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, filed a 17-page reply to the estimates committee of Parliament recently. His views shed light on the problem of bad loans ailing the Indian banking system (“Rajan traces roots of bad loan problem”, Sept 11). Rajan’s submission has exposed certain unpleasant truths. For instance, the ex-governor of the RBI said that during his tenure he had sent a “list of high-profile (bad loan) cases” to the Prime Minister’s Office urging the latter to take action against wilful defaulters. But hardly any step was taken by the PMO. As a result, wilful defaults by unscrupulous businessmen have become the norm. Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya are cases in point.

Between 2006 and 2011, the gross non-performing assets of Indian banks was below Rs 1 lakh crore, but the figure was nearing Rs 9 lakh crore by December 2017, primarily owing to bad loans. Of this, Rs 7.78 lakh crore comes from public sector banks. The introduction of Mudra loans during the current National Democratic Alliance regime has further aggravated the NPA crisis. If the government continues to ignore Rajan’s advice and does not take stringent corrective measures, our economy will face graver consequences.

Pulak Bhattacharya,
Calcutta

Sir — In his note to a parliamentary committee, Raghuram Rajan made the startling revelation that seeds of the present bad loan crisis were sown between 2006-08. This means that the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance dispensation must be held accountable for the current NPA mess. In the earlier days, it was also quite common for bankers to receive prodding calls from politicians and bureaucrats asking them to give loans to a specific promoter or group. The bank officials could hardly dare to ignore the diktats. These loans turned bad with time. Unfortunately, the UPA government never made any sincere efforts to stem the rot. Rajan also mentioned that while he was the RBI governor, he had sent to the present PMO a list of suspected high-profile fraud cases seeking co-ordinated action against the defaulters. But, inexplicably, the PMO did not do much.

It is important that our banking system sticks to the rules of credit disbursal.

Tapash Chatterjee,
Calcutta

Safety first

Sir — Last week, the Union health ministry banned 328 fixed-dose combination drugs on safety grounds, and put restrictions on the manufacture and sale of six other medicines. The Supreme Court, however, has stayed the ban on three drugs after their makers moved court. The list of banned medicines includes certain products that have over the years become household names in the country.

It is difficult to fathom why we often take years to ban harmful drugs. Many of the medicines in the list have been prohibited in other countries much earlier. The Union government needs to be prompt in this matter. Also, action should be taken against celebrities endorsing such products.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal,
Dariba, Delhi

Arrogant men

Sir — The coach of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, had asserted before the fifth Test against England that the Virat Kohli-led squad is the best Indian side in the last 15-20 years. Now, even after getting another drubbing at the hands of England, the Indian captain seems to be backing his coach’s claim (“Series lost 1-4, but team still best in ‘last 15 years’”, Sept 13). Both the captain and the coach must remember that playing well in spinner-friendly tracks in the subcontinent or beating a weak West Indies team in the Caribbean is no yardstick to judge a team. The real test lies in negotiating the conditions in England, South Africa and Australia. Sadly, in England this year, Indian batsmen failed repeatedly against swing bowling.

Finally, the teams led by Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid were in no way inferior to the present squad. Any effort to describe the present team as the best is illogical and smacks of arrogance.

Debasish Chatterjee,
Calcutta