Insurance stance on Aids vindicated .sx From Mr John Lockyer .sx Sir , Scheherazade Daneshkhu attributes particular criticism ( " Life Insurance for Gays " , August 3 ) of the life insurance industry's lifestyle questionnaire to the Institute of Actuaries working party on Aids .sx This misinterprets the working party's views .sx Indeed , in its bulletin published in March , the working party noted that the continued use of the lifestyle questionnaire appears to be vindicated by the fact that two-thirds of newly-reported cases of HIV infection are from among the homosexual community .sx The recommendation of a switch of emphasis has to be set against the context of a bulletin which discusses the possibility of more widespread infection in the heterosexual community .sx If that event comes to pass the insurance industry may well need to review its procedures .sx As yet there is very little evidence , either in Europe or the US , of an appreciable level of infection among sexual partners where neither is a member of one of the recognised risk groups .sx The working party is charged with looking to the uncertain future of the epidemic ; the insurance industry has the delicate task of making commercial judgments in the light of today's realities as it sees them .sx If life insurance underwriters believe there is insufficient evidence to justify a change of direction we should not criticise them .sx John Lockyer , .sx chairman , .sx Institute of Actuaries Aids Working Party , .sx Leadenhall Street , .sx London EC3A 2PQ .sx India's needs :sx less of the textbook and more aid .sx From Parviz Dabir-Alai .sx Sir , Your leader , " Perestroika in India " , is a classic example of good analysis followed by an unworthy conclusion .sx You state that , given its fragility , the Indian government should " go further and .sx .. still faster " in its attempts to liberalise the economy by disbanding subsidies ( such as those on fertilisers ) and other manifestations of control prevalent there .sx This textbook-like conclusion , like many of its type , is a recipe for disaster as it ignores the concerns of the myriad interest groups found across rural and metropolitan India .sx To ignore the wishes of any electorate in the pursuit of economic liberalisation alone is bound to be politically dangerous as evidenced by Rajiv Gandhi's defeat in the Haryana elections of May 1987 .sx Your contempt for the decision partially to reinstate the fertiliser subsidies is insensitive as their principal objective has always been to underwrite incomes of marginal and lesser able farmers .sx Removal of such subsidies will immediately jeopardise the livelihood of millions .sx This is not to anyone's interest , least of all to a government suffering from political fragility .sx Parviz Dabir-Alai , .sx lecturer in economics , .sx Division of Business Administration and the Social Sciences , .sx Richmond College , London .sx From Messrs John Toye and Michael Lipton .sx Sir , Your leader of sic !sx is right both to congratulate the minister of finance , Dr Mammohan Singh , on his courageous moves towards stabilisation and liberalisation , and to warn that they may not go far enough .sx Unfortunately , you recognise neither the past achievements and improvements in Indian economic policy , flawed as these have been , nor the complicity of the western world in the flaws .sx From 1947 to the early 1970s , the Indian economy crawled forward at just over 3 per cent per year - about 1 per cent per person .sx The proportion of Indians below the national 'poverty line' fluctuated around 50 per cent .sx Comparable figures now are about 5 per cent yearly , that is , almost 3 per cent per person , and those below the poverty line are now less than one in three .sx Government policies and programmes played a major part in these improvements .sx They took place in an economically hostile world environment , and largely in a fully democratic framework .sx However , India has also been experiencing a huge expansion of public-sector deficits .sx This trend was stimulated by the policies pressed upon India by western donors in the early 1980s .sx At that time , India was strongly encouraged to reduce its borrowing from concessional sources , such as the International Development Association , and instead to borrow heavily from banks at commercial rates .sx Progressively , monetary and fiscal caution was borne down in a flood of easy , but expensive commercial paper on which debt service had to be raised through the public budget .sx India now needs greatly expanded flows of concessional aid , not only as a reward for liberalisation , but also to support a reformed and expanded role for the state in its appropriate functions of providing infrastructure and social services for continued growth and poverty reduction .sx John Toye and Michael Lipton , .sx The Institute of Development Studies , .sx University of Sussex , .sx Brighton BN1 9RE .sx What has become of the EEC ?sx From Mr Ian Macavoy .sx Sir , In the argument on erosion of parliamentary control over the UK , little comment has been made on the original premise upon which our application for membership was made .sx That we were to join the European Economic Community .sx Similarly , in the subsequent national referendum on continuing membership , the promarketeers' main argument in favour was of economic benefits accruing to the UK , and the cost of withdrawing .sx No argument was made by them in favour of devolving parliamentary power to the EEC .sx I am now ashamed to say that I voted in the referendum for continuing membership of the European Economic Community .sx But in recent years the title of that has been changed to the European Community , a completely different animal for which I did not vote .sx The 'manifesto' of Mr Heath and pro-marketeers effectively sold the nation a pup .sx Ian Macavoy , .sx Wantage Hall , .sx Upper Redlands Road , .sx Reading , Berkshire .sx Relate high pay to insecurity of tenure .sx From Mr Derek H Broome .sx Sir , Christopher Hood and Chris Tinder ( Personal View , August 6 ) should consider the market principles of remuneration before advising prime ministers or anybody else to raise their pay .sx The only valid reasons for paying one person more than another are relative scarcity of skills and qualifications .sx The Review Body has the wrong terms of reference .sx Monopoly rents are of course earned where there is little market and few performance measures - in boardrooms as well as the public sector - and clearly there is little relationship between performance and pay in such cases .sx Arguments based on comparisons , or even incentives , can be shown to be largely fallacious ; the answer is to make high pay , wherever earned , subject to total insecurity of tenure , dependent on performance , and with no golden handshakes .sx It is improbable that the supply or performance of prime ministers is much affected by pay , nor is it evident that the country is better served now than when the office was held for little or no direct remuneration .sx The comparison between Messrs .sx Wilson and Heath and John Major was perhaps particularly unfortunate .sx If the first two were paid relatively twice as much - did they perform twice as well ?sx Derek H Broome , .sx Potter's End , .sx Mears Ashby , .sx Northampton .sx Future of the European Commission .sx From Mr Dick Taverne .sx Sir , In the Brussels discussions about the future of political and monetary union , one important item has been left out :sx the future and effectiveness of the European Commission .sx The Commission seems to have few friends in high political places .sx It is therefore worth bearing in mind how vital an effective Commission is to the Community's well-being .sx The Commission is the only European institution which represents the interests of the Community as such , rather than those of the nation states .sx There are times when all states benefit from the assertion of this wider perspective .sx The Commission has played a crucial role in the remarkable progress we have made towards a single market .sx Further , we would not be as close as we are to agreement about monetary union if it had not been for the Delors Report and the efforts of M sic !sx Delors himself .sx Whatever the nature of the new constitution which emerges from the inter-governmental conferences , the role of the Commission is likely to be more important than ever .sx There will be more majority voting in the Council , which enhances the Commission's role ; there will be new fields in which the Commission will acquire the right to make proposals , a right which has been in part of the basis of its influence .sx But if the Commission is to perform these enhanced duties effectively , it must function better than it does now .sx The number of commissioners is too large .sx I am told that on important issues a preliminary tour de table takes two-and-a-half hours .sx And there are doubts about the cohesion of the Commission as a body .sx In 1979 the Spierenburg Committee ( of which I was the British member ) was set up to review the working of the Commission .sx Two of its central recommendations were to reduce the number of commissioners and to split the duties of the presidency .sx We recommended that there should only be one commissioner per member state .sx There are now 17 , two for each of the larger states .sx If and when Austria , probably Sweden , and possibly others join , the college will become unmanageable .sx We also recommended that , to relieve the burden on the presidency , there should be a deputy president .sx The president would be concerned with strategy and represent the Commission on important matters inside and outside the Community ; the deputy president would be responsible for organising and co-ordinating the Commission's internal work .sx These recommendations were as relevant as ever .sx They should be revived as an important practical contribution to the future of the Community .sx Dick Taverne , .sx PRIMA Europe Ltd , .sx 14 Soho Square , .sx London W1 .sx Blind Spots on the Dark Ages .sx From Mr Peter Clery .sx Sir , David Richardson , a tenant himself , appears to have a blind spot ( " Tenant farmers fear return to Dark Ages " , April 16) .sx There is currently a massive subsidy in value terms from landlord to tenant .sx This is beyond doubt as the price of agricultural tenancy is generally half the value of the same land with vacant possession .sx The minister of agriculture is proposing freedom of contract ( on new tenancies only) .sx For would-be tenants to claim some further rights over a landowner's freehold property is impertinent and illogical .sx If the minister's proposals go through , it is likely that there will be considerable opportunities for new lettings on a freely agreed basis .sx One might even arrive at the position , as is the case in commercial lettings , where a farm let to a good tenant is worth as much as it would be if in hand .sx This point appears to have been missed by Mr Richardson and the tenant farming lobby which seeks a degree of influence over landowners' property completely unjustified by the circumstances .sx Peter Clery , .sx Managing Director , .sx The Lands Improvement Group Limited , .sx 1 Buckingham Place , SW1 .sx Chemical mix-up was no laughing matter .sx From Dr A. Scotney .sx Sir , I have no doubt that many of your chemically trained readers experienced the same delicious frisson as I when they read Clive Cookson's item " Nitrous Acid gets last laugh " ( April 10) .sx Suffice it to say that intractable confusion between nitrous oxide ( laughing gas ) and nitrous acid ( an entirely distinct compound known only in an aqueous solution ) rendered the entire article largely meaningless .sx Nitrous and nitric acids are present as pollutants in atmospheric water droplets largely as a result of emissions of two other oxides of nitrogen ( nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide ) from petrol combustion and other chemical processes .sx However , I was particularly entertained by the prospect of dentists using nitrous acid in high concentration as an anaesthetic .sx I would be unlikely to induce the last ( or any other ) laugh , but I can confidently predict the last gasp , the last rites and the last will and testament in that order .sx Dr A Scotney .sx 17 Hyndland Avenue , .sx Glasgow .sx G11 .sx Quality and productivity in education .sx From Mr John Farago .sx Sir , In the last 10 years industry and commerce ( and readers of the FT's Management features ) have learned that dedication to continuing improvements in quality of goods and services to meet rising customer expectations , almost invariably brings added benefits of less waste , lower costs , higher productivity and an improved working environment .sx Those unwilling to change attitudes , methods and organisation have not survived .sx Dedication to quality improvement techniques , better use of time and other resources is just as likely to yield improved , more cost-effective services and elimination of wastage in the labour-intensive fields of research and education ; better quality and productivity need not mean less personal contact with students or larger classes .sx