Apropos Ravi Bhoothalingam's article "Of 'Econs', 'Humans', China and India" (January 20), it is a well-known fact that the unprecedented economic growth in China had redefined many social and economic theories. We know that when they started all these social and economic restructuring programmes, they had to resort to the "Econ" type of functioning to ruthlessly implement some of the vital policies that totally defied the "Human" type of attributes. A case in point was population control. Government personnel were deployed to ensure that no woman got pregnant. That explains the huge percentage of elderly workers in China. But now, the government is trying to encourage "conception" by giving rewards.
It is a fact that real development only happens when there is an accepted balance between the "Econs" and "Humans". But this drive has to be initiated from the top. Statesmen from both the countries have to understand this.
Ashok Chakrabarty Kolkata
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