Apropos“21 years of RTI: Miles to go” (June 16). The Right to Information Act (RTI) completed 21 years as a pillar of Indian democracy. It has exposed corruption, tracked funds, and forced answers from public bodies. RTI helped citizens challenge opaque political funding and projects like electoral bonds. Yet the law is strained. Over 4.1 lakh appeals choke Information Commissions, and 2.4 lakh new cases came in a single year. States like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh face the most delays. When authorities deny data, trust erodes. The Supreme Court recently called some RTI activism a business, dismissing an activist’s bail plea in a road work case. Abuse must be curbed, but courts questioning motives risk chilling genuine queries. We need faster disposal, penalties for needless denial, and training for officials. Protecting whistleblowers and streamlining commissions will keep RTI strong. Transparency is not optional for governance. After two decades, the promise remains, but the system must deliver.

K Chidanand Kumar , Kollam

RTI and judicial interference

Aproposof ‘21 years of RTI: Miles to go’ (THI June 16). It’s been 21 years since the promulgation of the Right to Information Act (RTI). It was a milestone ordinance meant to instil accountability and transparency in functioning of governments, service sectors, and availability of fundamental rights to citizens. However, judicial interference and governmental foot-dragging have undermined RTI. This is exemplified by 4.1 lakh appeals pending and 2.4 lakh cases registered for review before Information Commissions. The incident of the Supreme Court denying anticipatory bail to a ‘RTI activist’, for monitoring road construction in Punjab, exemplifies the beating RTI has received. If that person who was denied bail had paid the gargantuan road tax and vehicle registration fees, it is his prerogative to ascertain the progress of the road meant for his use.

Dr George Jacob, Kochi

Hail Indian army’s move to end colonial-era customs

TheIndian army’s recent introduction of new uniform regulations is commendable. These changes successfully shed vestigial colonial-era customs and embrace indigenous cultural aesthetics, while enhancing overall practicality and operational comfort for personnel across the board. Through these combined measures, the Indian army cultivates a distinct institutional identity rooted in India’s own cultural fabric. Such measures reflect the army’s continued commitment to ensuring that the institutions, traditions and spaces where soldiers live, train and serve increasingly embody India’s own heroes, values and national legacy while preserving the professionalism and heritage of the force. These changes align the military’s visual and ceremonial identity with contemporary sovereign Indian values, without compromising the dignity and discipline of the force. It is a proud moment for India that the visual landscape of the world’s second-largest standing army is being fundamentally rewritten to project a modern and self-reliant nation.

Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai-210

Not a typical peace framework

This refers to “Peace on paper, war on the ground — The fatal flaw in the Iran deal” (THI, June 16). The article identifies the central weakness of the US-Iran agreement with precision. A MoU that defers every substantive issue — nuclear sequencing, sanctions relief, regional security — to a sixty-day negotiation window is not a peace framework. It is a postponement dressed as diplomacy. The Israeli variable alone makes durability doubtful. Israel was not a party to the negotiations, does not consider itself bound by the terms, and has demonstrated repeatedly that it will act independently when it perceives existential threats. For countries like India that have genuine economic stakes in West Asia’s stability, this uncertainty will prove a costly affair. Cautious optimism is warranted but structural confidence is not.

K Sakunthala, Coimbatore-641671

A fine line between true morality and hypocrisy

Inan act of moral prudery, the NCERT ‘appareled’ the ‘Dancing Girl’ of Mohenjo-daro (and disfigured her in the process) to spare Class 9 students the ‘embarrassment’ of having to look at her bare torso. NCERT officials have restored the palm-sized figurine to her original looks in the face of the flak from historians and educationalists. The modification misrepresenting the original artefact, if not reversed, would have denied the students the benefit of looking at the metallurgical marvel as it was conjured up about 4500 years ago. It is a must-see for students of the Indus Valley Civilization. Deriving aesthetic pleasure from human anatomy is not immoral or sinful to be so puritanical about it or take offence at it. For instance, Michelangelo’s statue of David and sculptural works at the Khajuraho temple appeal to us as sentient beings. Desmond Morris’ book The Naked Woman is a study of the female body worth reading by everyone. It will disabuse us of outdated attitudes to nudity and sex. After all, there is a fine line between true morality and hypocrisy.

G David Milton, Maruthancode (TN)