Sir — What could be more ironic than a State in financial problems having its Government present a cheque worth approximately Rs1.90 crore towards the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the Jammu & Kashmir flood victims!
Or, should one read it as the magnanimity of the people of Goa, who have not flinched from their moral obligation of coming to the help of their countrymen by contributing their might to alleviate the plight of the fellow beingsIJ In any case, it is well known that the PMNRF does not accept contributions flowing out of budgetary sources of the Government or from the balance-sheets of the public sector undertakings.
There is an urgent need to discontinue the practice of having the Chief Minister and other leaders making a beeline for Delhi to present such cheques to the Prime Minister. After all, the monies are donations by individuals and institutions. While understanding that the PMNRF consists entirely of public contributions with the corpus of the fund invested with banks in fixed deposits, aren’t those contributing voluntarily to the cause, deserving of public appreciationIJ Or does the system of representative politics allow for the State regimes to bask in the glory of the charitable ways of some of its more concerned citizensIJ