Stairway to hell

Sir — Ultadanga is a busy intersection. However, its footbridge — which numerous pedestrians use to cross the road everyday — is in a deplorable state. It is high time that the structure was repaired and maintained properly. The stairs to the footbridge are broken in various places. Moreover, there are broken iron rods in the floorboards. Recently, an old man hurt his feet because of the jagged rods. The footbridge must be repaired before it collapses like the Ultadanga flyover did.

Yours faithfully,
Bhaskar Chakrabarty, Calcutta

Visionary zeal

Sir — The editorial, “Miles to go” (April 6), has correctly analysed Rahul Gandhi’s recent address to the Confederation of Indian Industry. Rahul Gandhi, who is the vice-president of the Congress, spoke at length about inclusive growth in India, empowering the common man and making sincere efforts to increase the country’s gross domestic product. He sought the help of successful Indian industrialists to achieve these goals. He spoke with zeal and vigour.

Rahul Gandhi was made the vice-president of the Congress at the party’s chintan shivir that was held in Jaipur in January. He now has to shoulder greater responsibilities with the aim of strengthening the party and steering the country in the right direction. But even though Rahul Gandhi is a hard working man and does not seem to lust after power, he has not been able to revive the fortunes of the Congress in the recent past. His party suffered some humiliating losses at the assembly polls in various states in spite of his relentless campaigning in some of them.

It is heartening, though, that the Gandhi scion seems to have taken his new job as a challenge, as his speech at the CII conference showed. His visionary zeal will stand him in good stead. But it was disappointing to note that he did not make any reference in his speech to some of the biggest problems plaguing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government — rampant corruption, a failure to check inflation, and most importantly, the inability to control the nation’s fiscal deficit in spite of the repeated warnings that were issued by the Reserve Bank of India. But one hopes that the reforms initiated by the UPA II government will yield rich dividends for the country’s economy in the future.

Given the dismal state that the government is in, it will be surprising if Rahul Gandhi manages to help his party win back the trust of the nation before the general elections that are slated to be held in 2014. He does not have much time at all. One hopes, however, that he is able to fulfil his mission and turn the fortunes of the nation around.

Yours faithfully,
Jayant Mukherjee, Calcutta

Parting shot

Sir — The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, must be congratulated for taking all possible steps to make Calcutta a cleaner and a more beautiful city to live in. However, I was pained to see that the pavement next to the gurdwara on Rash Behari Avenue has been taken over by dozens of rag pickers and street urchins.

It is tragic that the city has so many homeless people. Given their swelling numbers, the government must take steps to relocate them. If this is done, the pavement dwellers will be able to live a dignified life with adequate shelter, and people visiting the city will not leave with a bad impression of it.

Yours faithfully,
A.S. Mehta, Calcutta