MUMBAI: A group of 14 prominent and well-regarded citizens has written an "Open Letter To Our Leaders" to express alarm at the "governance deficit" in "government, business and institutions", and underline the "urgent need" to tackle the "malaise of corruption, which is corroding the fabric of our nation."
It is a rare move and goes to show how quickly the mood of the nation appears to have shifted from a sense of satisfaction with political stability and high growth rates to one of grave concern over the recent spate of scandals and the sense of drift in government which, it is feared, could affect the growth story. The letter, which follows a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, has been signed by businesspersons Azim Premji of Wipro, Keshub Mahindra of Mahindra & Mahindra, Jamshyd Godrej of the Godrej Group and Anu Aga of Thermax; HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh; ICICI chairman emeritus N Vaghul; former Hindustan Lever chairman and now Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Ganguly; former Reserve Bank of India governors Bimal Jalan (also an RS MP) and M Narasimham; Justices Sam Variava and B N Srikrishna, who heard the Harshad Mehta and Mumbai riots cases respectively; chartered accountant and architect of key Sebi and RBI regulations Yezdi Malegam; member of the PM's Economic Advisory Council Prof A Vaidyanathan and banker-turned-social worker Nachiket Mor. Many in this group have played crucial roles in the India Story, advising successive governments, and at critical junctures, playing conscience-keepers. Some of them are, in fact, said to be close to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The group has said that among "several urgent steps to tackle corruption", the most critical is to make the "investigative agencies and law-enforcing bodies independent of the Executive... in order to ensure citizens that corruption will be most severely dealt with". "In the last few months, the country has witnessed eruption of a number of egregious events, thanks to an active media eagerly tracking malfeasance. There are, at present, several loud and outraged voices, in the public domain, clamouring on these issues, which have deeply hurt the nation," the letter says. On the crisis of governance, the letter says, "Widespread discretionary decision-making has been routinely subjected to extraneous influences... The judiciary is a source of some reassurance but creation of genuinely independent and constitutionally constituted regulatory bodies, manned by persons who are judicially trained in the concerned field, would be one of the first and important steps to restore public confidence." The group has called for the setting up of "effective and fully empowered Lok Ayuktas" in every state and "early introduction of the Lok Pal Bill at the national level for the purpose of highlighting, pursuing and dealing with corruption issues and corrupt individuals". Without naming environment minister Jairam Ramesh, the group appears to tilt in favour of industry in the raging development vs conservation debate. "It is widely acknowledged that the benefits of growth are not reaching the poor and marginalized sections adequately due to impediments to economic development. This is because of some critical issues like environmental concerns and differences in perspectives between central and state governments," the letter says. The group is also implicitly critical of the opposition for blocking almost the entire Parliament session gone by. It says elected representatives need to "distinguish between dissent and disruption". The G14 has decided to meet again later this month and come up with suggestions on economic issues should there be a positive response from the political leadership to its offer, a member of the group told TOI. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Leading-citizens-speak-up-on-graft-lack-of-governance/articleshow/7308253.cms
