Old news

Sir — Many believe that printed newspapers have become outdated in this fast-paced, digital world. Yet, the popularity of La Bougie du Sapeur, a French newspaper, which is published only once in every four years on February 29, seems to suggest otherwise. Even though the paper covers old events from the past four years — news that is dated by any standard of imagination — it sold 120,000 copies in 2020, at a time when people were mostly scrambling to stock essential goods. Only time will tell how many copies the paper sells this year. While it is anybody’s guess as to what prompts readers to pick up a copy of La Bougie du Sapeur, one cannot help but envy the lives of the desk hands whose deadline for bringing out a newspaper comes only once in four years.

Pratim Sarkar, Calcutta

Needless delay

Sir — The State Bank of India has submitted an application to the Supreme Court requesting an extension until June 30 for providing the complete details of the buyers of electoral bonds to the Election Commission of India (“‘Protection’ cry as SBI seeks time on poll bonds”, Mar 5). The apex court had earlier ruled that the SBI was to furnish these details to the ECI by March 6 and the ECI, in turn, was to display them on its website by March 13. The SBI’s plea that decoding the identities of the donors is taking time owing to a complex process of encryption that kept the donors anonymous is unreasonable. It has adequate manpower and a comprehensive database; it should not be a problem for the bank to comply with the court’s orders. Perhaps it is trying to shield the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is said to have received the lion’s share of donations under this scheme.

Khokan Das, Calcutta

Sir — The request for an extension of the deadline for providing details about the buyers of electoral bonds was expected. It is clear that this is a tactic to delay the release of information until after the results of the parliamentary elections have been declared. But does the Supreme Court not recognise this attempt at subterfuge? It had earlier failed to take action against the Centre for its alleged use of the Pegasus software to spy on citizens critical of the government. Should the apex court grant an extension to the SBI, it will be a dark day for democracy in India.

Radheshyam Sharma, Calcutta

Sir — The right to information is an unassailable tenet of democracy. A full disclosure before the public about the details regarding the purchase of electoral bonds was thus rightly demanded by the Supreme Court. But it seems that the deadline set by the court for this purpose will now be missed. For a nation that has successfully landed a rover on the Moon and has instituted a digital payments interface through which even roadside vendors can be paid using smartphones, it is astounding that SBI allegedly cannot decrypt an internal encryption software. The reason for this is political expediency and a lack of institutional accountability.

R. Narayanan, Navi Mumbai

Sir — It is unfortunate that the SBI is seeking an extension of the deadline set by the Supreme Court to reveal the details of those who bought electoral bonds. The reason given by the SBI for the delay is inexplicable. Could the imminent Lok Sabha elections be the real reason for seeking an extension? One hopes that the apex court will deny the SBI’s request.

M.N. Gupta, Hooghly

Unkind treatment

Sir — It was disturbing to read that Wakeel Hassan, one of the rat-hole miners who were hailed as heroes for saving the lives of 41 trapped labourers in the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation, now finds himself homeless after his house was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority. It is surely destiny’s unkindest cut. Hassan is justified in asking if the demolition of his home is his reward for his service to the nation. Can the authorities not find alternative ways to get those illegally occupying public land to lawfully vacate the space?

P.K. Sharma, Barnala, Punjab

Sir — Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party have cornered the Centre and the lieutenant-governor of Delhi over their alleged involvement in the demolition of the house of a rat-hole miner who had participated in the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation (“Demolition of rat-hole miner house angers AAP”, Mar 2). Wakeel Hassan and his associates have accused the government of undermining their contribution. The fact that leading media outlets have largely ignored this news reveals the control that the government enjoys over the media. Voters must not be fooled by the carefully crafted pro-poor image of this government.

Aayman Anwar Ali, Calcutta

Imbalanced growth

Sir — The State of India’s Environment 2024 report, which ranked India at 112 among 166 countries when it comes to efforts towards meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, is distressing. It exposes India’s failure to properly implement climate conservation policies (“Still behind”, Mar 5). Another report showed that a mere 21.72% of the nation’s geographical area is under forest cover. This shows how land has been used up for industrialisation and urbanisation. However, this has not alleviated economic inequality in India.

Jayanta Datta, Hooghly

Sir — The editorial, “Still behind”, has rightly highlighted the disparity between India’s booming growth rate and its failure to achieve sustainable development. The government’s desire to promote India’s economy has overshadowed the State’s social responsibilities. Environmental concerns have also largely been neglected. Such lopsided growth trajectories can have a detrimental effect on the nation.

Sneha Maji, Calcutta