My Page June 2012


M G Warrier’s

My Page



A monthly bulletin from M G Warrier incorporating select published letters/articles (and some stray thoughts based on what he read/saw and wrote during the month). Mailed on the last Sunday of every month. Send your responses and views to mgwarrier@rediffmail.com.



Vol II, No 6, June 2012

My Page Anniversary Issue

For a Mail Magazine, presenting the 12th consecutive monthly issue is an occasion to celebrate. While doing that I thank my readers and well-wishers anticipating continued patronage.



M G Warrier, MLR-116-B, Mangalam Lane, Sastamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram-695010(9349319479)



My Page Editorial



Last twelve months, My Page has been flagging issues which it considered were important for a safe and secure life. The subjects covered included, among others, social security, equity, basic human rights, planning, legal issues, universal healthcare and so on. It went beyond a mere consolidation of its editor’s published letters/articles. It is hoped that the readers enjoyed My Page as much as its editor enjoyed while putting together each issue.

Regards and thanks for the encouragement received.

M G Warrier

May 27, 2012



What follows: Online comment @VITALINFO, May 27,2012 under article “Paradox of forex reserves”-My View on 'The paradox of forex reserves'- VITALINFO May 17, 2012-Use of forex reserves- The Hindu, May 14, 2012-Letters-Ban on Shankar’s cartoons- Online comments under a blog in ET titled ‘Funneling money into PSBs to recapitalize them gross misuse of taxpayers’ money’ by Mythili Bhusnurmath- Online comments @Economic Times under the story ‘UIADAI: FM gives cold shoulder to AADHAR project’, May 7, 2012- Hindustan Times hteducation: Online comments under article ‘Agents of change’ by Gauri Kohli, May 1, 2012- The New Indian Express, April 26, 2012-MAILBAG -Italian crime- Online comments in ET on HR in public sector- Letters: Making NPS work- Business Standard / New Delhi May 08, 2012, 00:20 IST-NPS, ‘No Pension Scheme’-IDBI Wage revision and more…………………………………………………………………….

AND

My Page 1st Anniversary Special Article-Editor’s Choice-Unedited version of the introductory article selected for a book by My Page Editor slated to be published in 2013

COMMENTS/LETTERS:

Online comment @VITALINFO, May 27, 2012 under article “Paradox of forex reserves”

My View on 'The paradox of forex reserves'

It is a fact that our Forex Reserves Management has not been getting the attention it deserved, as it depended on borrowed expertise and RBI’s own priorities hovered more around internal debt management and monetary policy concerns. It is comforting to see that RBI governor is focusing on the components of forex reserves and their vulnerabilities. As the returns on forex investments were not encouraging, there has been some complacency in augmenting the reserves position, resulting in the reserves stagnating around $300 billion for quite sometime now. On the part of GOI/RBI, it was a late decision in the last quarter of 2009 to increase the gold component in the country’s forex reserves by about 200 tonnes, by a purchase from the International Monetary Fund. In the context of improving the country's image as one with a decent net-worth, it is important to manage the domestic gold-holdings outside the forex portfolio also and make them visible and available as part of nation’s resources. Let us no forget the 1991 episode when solid gold had to be carried abroad for pledging and borrowing. Such shameful experiences can be avoided in future, if a part of domestic stock of the estimated 18,000 tonnes of gold is made tradable and part of the ‘stock’ of standard gold.



- M.G.Warrier

Posted by RBI PS FRATERNITY at 9:18 AM

VITALINFO May 17, 2012

Use of forex reserves

Use of forex reserves to arrest slide of rupee is a short term measure, which will be resorted to by the central bank in emergent situations. Perhaps, eminent economists and statesmen should use their clout to persuade GOI to take long term austerity measures(austerity is a bad word for the rich and the powerful and the beneficiaries of their magnanimity) like having some control on import of luxury articles including aeroplanes and cars as also celebrations involving forex where there is no corresponding 'inflow' benefit. A recent report indicated that import of gold was 4 to 5 times of the average export of gold products including jewellery. Despite having a handsome domestic stock of over 18,000 tonnes (according to World Gold Council estimates, which must be conservative) at least a sizeable portion of which could be exploited, given the will, gold is being imported in large quantities, year after year.

M G WARRIER







The Hindu, May 14, 2012-Letters



Ban on Shankar’s cartoons

Efforts to erase history by bans and withdrawals of textbooks and pictures are too primitive. Those who were fortunate to live during the Shankar's Weekly era will know the respect the cartoonist commanded from the political leadership and other statesmen.

The cartoon row makes the following observation by Shankar in the souvenir he brought out in September 1975 (the farewell issue of Shankar's Weekly was dated July 27, 1975) prophetic: “It was not without a pang that I decided to stop publication. We could have taken the Emergency in our stride, but the burden of running a weekly magazine on a shoe-string was too much. Institutionalisation of a magazine of this type is extremely difficult, for the flavour will indubitably change in that situation.”

It would have been tough for even Shankar to prove his irreverent honesty of purpose. The letter will not be complete without a word of appreciation for Surendra's cartoon on the subject (May 12), which speaks out for the country's conscience.

M.G. Warrier,

Thiruvananthapuram

In a blog titled ‘Funneling money into PSBs to recapitalize them gross misuse of taxpayers’ money’ Mythili Bhusnurmath made the following observations:



T he government is committed to protect the financial health of public sector banks and financial institutions," said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, announcing an allocation of Rs 15,888 crore for capitalisation of public sector banks (PSBs), regional rural banks and other financial institutions in his Budget 2012 speech, delivered in March.

This is not the first time taxpayer money has been set aside to beef up banks' capital. Ever since the country accepted the Basel norms of capital adequacy, successive finance ministers have provided money to capitalise banks in their Budgets.

Budget 2012 is no exception. But at Rs 15,888 crore, the amount earmarked side to recapitalise banks in fiscal 2012-13 is more than double the amount set aside last year. It is more than 25 times the amount allocated as the Central Plan Outlay (Rs 631 crore) for the ministry of statistics and programme implementation - any wonder why we get such appalling statistics? - and about half the amount allocated for the much-acclaimed poverty-alleviation programme MGNREGA (Rs 33,000 crore). It is only a little less than half the amount set aside as revenue expenditure for the police for the current year (Rs 35,000 crore).

Yet, it is only a drop in the ocean compared to what PSBs would need to be complaint with the Basel III norms announced by the RBI last Wednesday. That's when you begin to scratch your head and wonder. There must be something very wrong with our sense of priorities. Why are we shovelling money into PSBs when we don't seem to have money for other far more critical needs: strengthen our badly-stretched police force and our court infrastructure to make the justice delivery system work better, improve our primary health care and primary education systems, beef up our statistical machinery, etc?

But first, why do banks need capital? Under existing norms, banks in India have to maintain a capital adequacy ratio or a ratio of capital - consisting of tier I (equity and reserves) and tier II (long-term subordinated bonds) - to risk-weighted assets of 9%. Further, at little over half the total capital must be tier-I capital (5.5%). Existing rules therefore place a limit on the total risk-weighted loans that a bank can give; about 22 times banks' tier-I capital (equity plus reserves).

Once banks reach this limit fresh loans can be given only………………………….

My online comments copied below:

M G WARRIER (THIRUVANANTHAPURAM)



We notice draft on taxpayer's money only when funds flow to PSUs and PSBs. It is the taxpayer who foots the bill when the rich and the powerful in the private sector builds a house spending thousands of crores, buy aeroplanes, keep secret accounts abroad and avoid tax, appropriates concessions in prices of mining rights or spectrum space or get land at throwaway prices in the name of setting up industry or 'assembling units'. One gets an impression that ethics and values are applicable only to government and public sector.







Online comments @Economic Times under the story ‘UIADAI: FM gives cold shoulder to AADHAR project’, May 7, 2012



M G WARRIER (THIRUVANANTHAPURAM)



The much publicized and costly UID project which was entrusted to a successful entrepreneur from the private sector and mandated to be a panacea for all problems of poverty and deprivation the country is facing, has encountered serious problems even from the conceptual stage. In addition to its normal share of constraints like inadequate funding and non-availability of in-house expertise and resultant dependence on external agencies including banks and government departments, the lack of experience betrayed by Nanden Nilekani in dealing with the invisible hands of government is now coming out in the form of hostile statements from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Before the whole concept of UID becomes incredible, Centre should commission a mid-term review of the UID project to find out whether at all it will meet its objectives in the near term. If the results are not encouraging, considering the huge cost and viewed from the cost-benefit angle, the project should wait for the country to mature and become rich enough for such luxuries. Meanwhile, the benefits of groundwork done in the name of the project should be transferred to the Census Organisation which can proceed further at the appropriate time. It would be suicidal to mix up PAN numbers with UID. The UID project may come through successfully in states like Kerala where literacy rate is high and total financial inclusion is a reality. But that doesn’t help achieve the broader objective of UID.





Hindustan Times hteducation: Online comments under article ‘Agents of change’ by Gauri Kohli, May 1, 2012:





M G Warrier May 1, 2012 08:32 PM

A recent RBI Committee has reviewed bank credit exposure to Priority Sectors and debate on redefining Priority Sector is on. Some thoughts come to mind:

As public sector banks including State Bank of India and its associates, old private sector banks, new private sector banks, RRBs and cooperative banks have different approaches to resource mobilization, lending and profitability, varying capabilities in terms of outreach and expertise and different mandates from the stake-holders, each category of these institutions will have to be given resource mobilization and credit delivery tasks factoring in these structural and policy aspects.

As the reorganization of the banking system may be further delayed, in the medium term, GOI and RBI may consider the following steps:

• Redefine sub-sectors in the priority sector reckoning the changes that have taken place during the last two decades and realign the targets for sub-sectors

• Ask banks to ensure that their rural, semi-urban, urban and metro branches realign their credit portfolios to meet local credit needs

• Instead of prescribing straight-jacket targets for lending to sub-sectors like agriculture, make necessary policy changes which will reflect the availability of expertise and outreach of each category of banks. E.g. If a bank has more branches in urban areas and cities and are able to lend more to microfinance, allow a set-off their disbursal to microfinance over and above a bench-mark against their target for lending to agriculture.

• Route all concessions and subsidies in interest rates through the banking channel and make the lending banker responsible to ensure that the ultimate borrower is charged a minimum interest of, say the rates paid on savings bank deposits by the bank.

M G WARRIER





The New Indian Express, April 26, 2012



MAILBAG



Italian crime



This refers to the reports on settlement of claims arising from the Enrica Lexie firing episode by Italy (April 24). It is soothing to see that the survivors of the victims received some compensation quickly. But the impression being created that the main issue, namely the crime committed within Indian territory by uniformed men from another country gets lighter, sends out disturbing signals.

While the gesture to pay cash under compelling circumstances is appreciated, this in no way reduces the gravity of the crime. The main issue should not get diverted by this gesture or the debate on the bungling by lawyers.

M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram



M G WARRIER (Thiruvananthapuram)













Online comments in ET on HR in public sector



Indian public sector is ailing from lack of autonomy, indecent competition arising from a wrong understanding of the unique position of our country and irrelevant comparisons. Unique position because, our per capita geographical area, availability of resources, literacy rate, development needs, system of governance and so on are not amenable to comparison with most of the developed and developing countries of the world. Day in and day out India is given a rank or rating among the assortment of nations in the world, many of them together can be accommodated in one of the states of India. We are persuaded to believe that corruption and inefficiency exist only in government and public sector respectively. In fact there is nothing farther than truth than this belief. Of course, there is a vested interest in the private sector to keep government corrupt and public sector inefficient. If Human Resources related issues in the government and public sector get the attention they need, many of the present problems can be solved. The HR-related problems in government and public sector never received the right treatment. The absence of talent in government and public sector is the product of a deliberate neglect of HR related issues by the government. The ageing top level in government and public sector is another serious issue.







Letters: Making NPS work

Business Standard / New Delhi May 08, 2012, 00:20 IST



This refers to the interview with Yogesh Agarwal “PFRDA is addressing marketing and distribution issues” (May 6). The New Pension System (NPS) has some structural and technical flaws that are responsible for its tardy progress and equating these to “marketing and distribution” issues would be over-simplifying the real problem. There’s a need to take some timely corrective measures to make the product “user-friendly” and bring it on a par with other financial products in the market.

The slapdash manner in which the scheme was introduced for central government employees and the constant rate of return at eight per cent till 2011, despite the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority’s claim of earning an average annual return of 12.5 per cent, speak volumes for the ad hoc implementation of NPS.

It is quite natural that there is little response from the private sector. It is unfortunate that without resolving the problems of acceptable returns on funds, adequacy of the product as a substitute for a time-tested social security instrument (a defined benefit pension scheme) and acceptance at the beneficiary level, the Centre is trying to impose NPS on states and on autonomous institutions like the Reserve Bank of India and other public sector units, including banks.

M G Warrier Thiruvananthapuram



The unedited version of the above letter:



NPS-A still-born baby



This refers to the interview titled ‘PFRDA is addressing marketing and distribution issues: Yogesh Agarwal’ (May 6). The NPS has genetic structural and technical issues which are responsible for its tardy progress. Calling the scheme’s challenges as ‘marketing and distribution issues’ is over-simplifying the real problem and will further delay evolving a rational approach to taking timely corrective measures at least to make the product ‘user-friendly’ at least on par with several financial products already in the market which offer similar benefits.

Though the observation that ‘the scheme started with the government sector where it’s a mandatory scheme’ is a statement of fact, the hurry with which the scheme was introduced for central government employees joining service from January 1, 2004(excluding defence personnel in the first stage and civil services and legislators, perhaps permanently), introducing Family Pension as applicable to pre-2004 employees as an after-thought in 2009, subject to a condition that ‘any payment found to be in excess of his/her entitlement will be refunded to Government/adjusted out of his/her final entitlement…’, imposing submission of individual application forms for registration to the NPS as a pre-condition for release of 2nd instalment of arrears of Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations for post 1-1-2004 entrants and giving a constant rate of return of 8 per cent till 2011 despite PFRDA’s claim that they are earning an average annual return of 12.5 per cent (as mentioned in the interview) all speak volumes about the adhocism in implementation of NPS for central government employees.

In the above background, it is quite natural that there is hardly any response from the private sector. It is unfortunate that without resolving the problems of acceptable returns on funds, adequacy of the product as a substitute for a time-tested social security instrument (Defined benefit pension scheme) and acceptance at the beneficiary level, the Centre is trying to impose the NPS on states which have a stake in the coalition at the Centre and autonomous institutions like RBI and PSUs including public sector banks to introduce NPS.

M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram



THE INTERVIEW



PFRDA is addressing marketing and distribution issues: Yogesh Agarwal

Interview with Chairman, PFRDA

Santosh Tiwari / New Delhi May 05, 2012, 01:11 IST

The New Pension System (NPS) has failed to meet its objective of catering to the non-government sector, which accounts for 87 per cent of the country’s population. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Yogesh Agarwal, in an interview with Santosh Tiwari, outlines the initiatives through which the regulator expects the situation would change. Edited excerpts:

Despite the introduction of the NPS, there is still a huge gap between the requirement and what is offered in the pension market. How do you plan to bridge the gap and what are the challenges before you?

Marketing and distribution issues are the biggest challenges. The scheme started with the government sector and was extended to the non-government sector without actually carrying out some basic issues. The fact that in the government sector it’s a mandatory scheme but in the private sector, it has to be sold like any other financial product was forgotten. To address marketing and distribution issues, you have to address incentivisation. Today, as the NPS is structured, nobody is there for the marketing role. We have started addressing these issues now. We have already revised the incentivisation structure for the points of presence. The new fee structure for pension fund managers (PFMs) would be a game changer. We will put a cap on the fees to be charged by PFMs and then, market forces would take care of the rest.

But then, people would have to pay the fees. Would that not be an added cost?

Yes, but unless you increase the fess and people who want advice pay for it, how would they get it? Who would get them the advice? PFRDA or the government cannot do that. It has to be an intermediary. It is a financial instrument and somebody needs to explain this to people. You can’t eliminate the intermediary. In all other products—banks, insurance and mutual funds—there is a fee structure everywhere.

What has been the response to the NPS?

There is hardly any response from the private sector. Currently, of the three million members, more than 90 per cent are from the government sector. People know about the NPS, but they don’t know how to open the account. We are expecting with the fee structure for PFMs, marketing and distribution issues would be addressed and it would take off vertically.

How would you address the issue of fixed returns in NPS?

PFMs would explain the product to people. The investor has a choice. If he doesn’t want to invest in equity, he can do that and opt for investment only in government securities, in which he would get fixed returns, even if these are low. But to get good returns, you will have to play the market. It has to be part of the financial education that risk and returns are co-related. Compared to others, we have been offering superior returns. Since inception, our average return has been 12.5 per cent, which is far superior to any other financial product in the country. And, it is so because we had been investing in equities. The major part is still in debt, but the part which we invest in equity has allowed us to offer better returns.

Don’t’ you think there should be a coordinated approach, as far as subscribi ng to NPS and the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) are concerned?

I believe the government is already taking a look at this, and is considering offering the option of whether they want to opt for NPS to employees currently under the EPF.

***** ***** *****



Letters: Fool's gold

Business Standard / New Delhi May 22, 2012, 00:15 IST

This refers to the report “300% jump in gold export industry questions data” (May 13). What is more disturbing than the possible discrepancy in the export figures for gold is our continual need to import gold despite a handsome domestic stock of over 18,000 tonnes. This is a direct draft on our precious forex funds. It is unfortunate that the government has made no perceivable effort to discourage the accumulation of “ornament gold” in households, which is partly responsible for financial loss in middle-class families and, to some extent, dowry and security problems.

The import and accumulation of huge quantities of gold in the form of jewellery has other social implications like the under-utilisation of financial resources for productive use, and the pledging of assets for raising funds, which ultimately help only the money lender. One way to check the current rise in imports, which is not commensurate with exports of gold products, is to link the quantum of imports to the past few years’ export record. Import of gold for pharmaceutical and other essential purposes could be outside such limits.

M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram



Please read my online comments on IDBI wage issue, ET report included in VITALINFO, May 18, 2012



Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to resolve wage revision issue of IDBI staff



M G WARRIER (Thiruvananthapuram)

18 May, 2012 03:21 PM

The FM’s gesture to resolve IDBI wage issue immediately after the current parliament session will be well-received, as it gives a time-frame for action. Skeptics will see this as ‘buying time’, as parliament won’t stand in the way of a reasonable solution of a longstanding issue and as one doesn’t expect the FM to do the original work in this case. The problem with the Finance Ministry, is that by habit the ministry does not allow autonomous institutions like RBI and PSUs including banks and other premier financial sector organisations like LIC to leave the apron strings of central government when it comes to recruitment, training, placement, remuneration package at all levels and a host of HR-related issues. This approach makes the managements lazy and complacent. As decision-making has become tough for central government at the highest level, many a time owing to pulls and pushes attributable to coalition pressures, it is high time PM and FM thought in terms of decentralization and delegation subject to adherence of policy guidance from the top. The present adhocism and procrastination built into the functioning of government is affecting the day to day functioning of institutions at ground level and the resultant sagging morale of the workforce is evident in the tardy implementation of programmes and projects.



Please read my online comment under the following report in Hindu Business Line, May 15, 2012:

Use forex reserves to check slide, says Rangarajan

Even as the rupee closed at all-time low of 53.96 against the dollar today, Dr C. Rangajaran, Chairman, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, suggested use of foreign exchange reserves to arrest the slide if temporary capital flow disruptions are perceived as the main cause for the currency's sharp fall. ……….

Online comment:

Use of forex reserves to arrest slide of rupee is a short term measure, which will be resorted to by the central bank in emergent situations. Perhaps, eminent economists and statesmen should use their clout to persuade GOI to take long term austerity measures(austerity is a bad word for the rich and the powerful and the beneficiaries of their magnanimity) like having some control on import of luxury articles including aeroplanes and cars as also celebrations involving forex where there is no corresponding 'inflow' benefit. A recent report indicated that import of gold was 4 to 5 times of the average export of gold products including jewellery. Despite having a handsome domestic stock of over 18,000 tonnes (according to World Gold Council estimates, which must be conservative) at least a sizeable portion of which could be exploited, given the will, gold is being imported in large quantities, year after year.

from: M G WARRIER

Posted on: May 15, 2012 at 08:44 IST



New Delhi, May 14:



The Hindu, May 14, 2012



Letters



Efforts to erase history by bans and withdrawals of textbooks and pictures are too primitive. Those who were fortunate to live during the Shankar's Weekly era will know the respect the cartoonist commanded from the political leadership and other statesmen.

The cartoon row makes the following observation by Shankar in the souvenir he brought out in September 1975 (the farewell issue of Shankar's Weekly was dated July 27, 1975) prophetic: “It was not without a pang that I decided to stop publication. We could have taken the Emergency in our stride, but the burden of running a weekly magazine on a shoe-string was too much. Institutionalisation of a magazine of this type is extremely difficult, for the flavour will indubitably change in that situation.”

It would have been tough for even Shankar to prove his irreverent honesty of purpose. The letter will not be complete without a word of appreciation for Surendra's cartoon on the subject (May 12), which speaks out for the country's conscience.

M.G. Warrier,

Thiruvananthapuram



















My Page 1st Anniversary Special Article-Editor’s Choice

Unedited version of the introductory article selected for a book by My Page Editor to be published in 2013:



Corruption: Diagnosis and Cure



M G Warrier



In November 2010 writing on ‘Demand and supply of corruption in India’ Dr Bimal Jalan made the following observation on the working of the watchdogs of governance in India: ‘Investigations are carried out, guilt is established, appeals are filed- but nothing much happens after that. Years pass; courts, people and the media soon move on to other cases.’ The same feeling, in different situations has been finding expression through word of mouth, media reports and on faces of aam admi captured by electronic media and telecast across the world. The simmering discontent in the minds of one billion people who toiled day in and day out to make India rich and were denied any share in the end-product of their work which is there for all to see in the form of the wealth accumulated and being managed and enjoyed by around 600 families in the country is finding expression in various forms, some peaceful, some violent and most of the time as statistics on hunger deaths, increasing number of people going down the ‘Poverty Line’ which itself is defective and designed to camouflage real situation. The political leadership is being blind to the realities when they are trying even at this late hour to resolve the issues being focused in well-intentioned movements like the one spearheaded by Anna Hazare. The issues get dodged or diverted by raising trivial differences of views, where the real problem is the fear of any ‘watchdog’.

India has an array of politicians, statesmen, businessmen and bureaucrats who do not face corruption charges. These eminent individuals have a moral responsibility to help the country pull out of the present crisis. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had exhorted for ‘zero tolerance’ to corruption while addressing congressmen in Allahabad last year. Her vision did not find takers even among her followers inasmuch as the government guided by her failed to take steps to ensure that at least people facing huge corruption charges did not hold public offices. While convalescing in the United States sometime back, Sonia Gandhi once again remembered the need to tackle corruption and on return to India promptly requested her party to do something about it.

Going by dictionary meaning, the word corruption is associated with words like bribe, cheating, evil, badness, decayed, stinking, decayed, false, defilement, wickedness, violation, defective, spoilt, faulty, wrong, malignant, offensive, immoral, unchaste, vile and fallen (the list can go on). Suffice to say, anyone or any institution/organization having something attributable to any formations out of any of these words can be alleged to be corrupt. Luckily not so. It is generally accepted that what is legal is not corrupt. Then, like morality, the perception of corruption varies from individual to individual, society to society and country to country. Meaning, what is construed as legal in one context need not be so in another context.

For the rich and the powerful, there will always be legal remedies, as, historically, the laws are made and interpreted in their favor. No wonder, while really corrupt people take shelter under legal interpretations and the age-old protection available to those facing allegations to the effect that until proved guilty, the benefit of doubt would go in favor of the accused, eminent statesmen and innocent common man get dragged into controversies related to corruption, day in and day out, despite their efforts to maintain high moral and ethical standards in their own lives. In the deluge of corruption that the world is witnessing today, no Krishna will be able to float on a leaf unaffected by the deluge. The value system which is in disrepair globally needs a shock treatment. The initiative can come from India, if the nation decides to make every embarrassment an opportunity to correct and move forward. This can be done only by handling individual corruption cases on the basis of the facts of the case and not with reference to the impact such action will have on coalition government’s equilibrium or the immediate inconvenience or discomfort some individuals will face.

There are several ‘current’ corruption cases which compete between and among them as to which one has more quality ingredients of immense possibilities for squandering public funds using position, influence, relationships and various other supports necessary for multiplying personal net-worth without any value addition. While on the subject of corruption, one is reminded of a quote from Kautilya:

“Just as fish moving inside water cannot be known when drinking water, even so officers appointed for carrying out works cannot be known when appropriating money.

It is possible to know even the path of birds flying in the sky, but not the ways of officers moving with their intentions concealed.”(Kautilya Arthasastra, 2.9.33, 34)

Leaving political in-fights and probes by various agencies to take their course, management institutes like IIMs and academicians should consider seriously studying the most ‘popular’ corruption cases of recent times such as 2G spectrum auction, Common Wealth Games and the allegations against family members of former CJI K G Balakrishnan having amassed wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. The cases cited are illustrative meant to indicate that they are multi-dimensional in nature as stakeholders include politicians, ministers and government officials, ex-members from the bench and large corporates and a dispassionate study by academicians may bring out socio-economic issues that may have to be addressed as part of the fight against corruption. The study should aim at unearthing the connections or nexus between and among stakeholders at various levels and come out with suggestions/recommendations about the safeguards that can be built into the system to minimize recurrence of similar instances. The safeguards could include, stricter penalties for economic crimes, denial of party tickets to ‘tainted’ politicians for fighting election, periodic publication of names of individuals/organizations involved in economic offences involving, say, Rs 100 crore or more and voluntary/automatc vacation of public offices by individuals occupying high public offices and facing allegations which courts or government agencies like CBI admit for investigation.

If we miss this opportunity to cleanse public life and allow our position in international assessments to drift further, it may take ages to redeem the country’s reputation.

**** **** ****







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