The Delhi result
Given the nature of the anti-incumbency wave, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi win was on the lines predicted. But the defeats of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are inexplicable.
The result need not resonate across the country but it confirms that the Congress party has lost whatever sheen it had in the past.
V. Lakshmanan,
Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
MFI ordinance
The MFI ordinance (“Karnataka: Governor returns microfinance ordinance, says existing laws can be used to curb harassment”, February 7) was one that was created without consultation within the House or even regulators such as the RBI which governs the MFI sector and whose views are paramount on maximum interest rates. This ordinance could have had the effect of driving credit deprived poor and rural workers back into the hands of usurious moneylenders. While there is no doubt that agencies that use illegal strong-arm tactics for recovery need to be kept in check, this is by no means confined to MFIs. This is seen in the case of credit card and loan recoveries by scheduled banks and NBFCs. It is a law and order problem and errant parties have to be punished on a case by case basis.
By and large, all governments are cash strapped and unable/unwilling to support the needy with minimum credit lines or underwriting, thus leaving them at the hands of unorganised private players.
MFIs sought to address this problem through a well-regulated market mechanism — they are also tightly regulated. However, often for political reasons, governments get into the fray by wantonly waiving loans and micro management measures, thus threatening the sustainability of this industry.
Sunil K. Kolangara,
Bengaluru
Published - February 10, 2025 12:24 am IST
