The Hindu Business Line : Needless ruckus

THE National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has decided on a privilege motion against the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, for having written to Ms Sonia Gandhi who is the Chairperson of both the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Coordination Committee and the National Advisory Council replying to the points relating to the Budget raised by her in a letter to him.

The contents of neither of the letters are of a kind that could be said to have been detrimental to national interest. In both of her capacities, Ms Gandhi had every right to put forward her views, and courtesy, if not public duty, required the Prime Minister to make the stand of the Government known. Indeed, he owes this not only to an exalted personage like Ms Gandhi but even to a humble citizen.

(Anyone who goes through the official files of the colonial era in the National Archives will see that letters written to the highest functionaries, including the Viceroy, by ordinary citizens ended with the superscription "I am, Sir, Your most obedient and humble servant"!)

In these days of open government and transparency, there is no place for the fuss that is made of official communications and documents, including the Budget. Except where the disclosure of the subject-matter is apt to cause irreparable damage to national security or reputations of persons, or foul up relations between countries, all other processes of decision-making should be in the open and those temporarily in positions of authority should always feel accountable to citizens who are their sovereign masters.

As regards the Budget, in particular, the trend of thinking in this era of liberalisation is so strongly in favour of demystifying it that a suggestion was made some time ago that the Government should publish the draft of the Budget in advance inviting ideas and suggestions and finalise it after taking them into account.

With the gaining ground of the principle "The best Government is the one that governs the least", its discretionary powers are being shed and it is assuming the role of a helper and umpire. So, there is no longer any need to make a mystery of the Budget. It may be worthwhile for the NDA reconsider its decision in this light.

B.S. Raghavan

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