Growing lament about governance

A few days ago, Mr Mukesh Ambani went public with an appeal that the UPA Government should introduce drastic changes in governance standards, stating specifically that “we need a dramatic shift in governance and leadership at all levels — both at the Central and State Government levels”. He added that the country needed to “realign its goals and move a lot faster”. Mr Ambani was saying the right thing, but of course he was also aware that what he was prescribing was probably way beyond the reach of the country's political leadership.

SHEER PESSIMISM

But why this pessimism? Why can't one expect that “deliverance” is, in fact, attainable? After all, the economy has shown people time and again that its entrepreneurial capabilities are second to none and that, once the “critical mass” in terms of resources and innovation is in place, its sheer volume of operations could make a huge impact on the working of the international economy.

This is no doubt true, but the formation of the “critical mass” is overly dependent on the actions of the political leadership which, unfortunately, as far as concrete action is concerned, is simply not responsive enough to get work done effectively.

In fact, Mr Ambani is just the last in a longish list of distinguished industrialists who have exhorted the Government to move ahead on the road to effective governance, the sad fact being that each and every effort made in this direction so far has created momentary ripples before returning to the original state of debilitating somnolence. Just last month, Mr Azim Premji declared that there was a “complete absence of decision-making among leaders in the government,” adding that “if prompt action isn't taken, the country will face a setback”. The Wipro chief underscored the “seriousness” of the situation, but then who really cares in the Government? The politicians are never wanting when it comes to spewing forth encouraging statements and commitments but, in the main, are forever looking at the prospects of their political parties in the next elections; and the babus are always vying for plum postings and are particularly geared to what their political bosses would like them to do in view of possible service advantages.

TIME-BOUND ACTION

Thus, in such a situation, how can there be a quantum improvement in governance which, as Mr Ambani says, would make us “put our heads down and figure out how we can improve our delivery mechanisms to make sure we can grow faster”? More important, how many times should such exhortations be made, the end result of each such effort being a string of commitments made by the Government without actually any worthwhile work being done?

To take just one example, after the August 1 meeting earlier this year between a group of industrialists and the Finance Minister, Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy declared smugly: “There is a sense of close cooperation between the Government and industry.” Mr Anand Mahindra added: “If there was a trust deficit, it was dispelled today. There was an assurance on time-bound action on our proposals.”

Talking on the much-hyped Investment Commission, Mr Ratan Tata told a TV interviewer in November last year, “I think we produced two documents that were worthy of (attention) that I don't think they ever (got). We had approximately 140 specific recommendations to improve the investment climate. We have never heard one way or another that A has been approved or B has been disapproved. It's just a black box (into) which it is gone…”

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