Keep a check on corruption: India Inc to government

In a first for India Inc, a group of 14 corporate leaders, bankers, former judges and regulators have written an ‘Open Letter to our Leaders’, voicing their concern over the present state of the nation. HT reports. Read 'Open letter'

In a first for India Inc, a group of 14 corporate leaders, bankers, former judges and regulators have written an ‘Open Letter to our Leaders’, voicing their concern over the present state of the nation.

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They include among others, Wipro chairman Azim Premji, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, Godrej & Boyce chairman Jamshyd Godrej, former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna and former RBI governor Bimal Jalan.

The letter makes five recommendations:
* It says that discretionary decision making in the country has been routinely subjected to extraneous influences and suggests creating genuinely independent regulatory bodies
* It calls corruption the biggest issue corroding the fabric of the nation and says investigating agencies and law enforcing bodies should be made independent of the executive.
* It advises the government to distinguish between dissent in a democratic society and disruption, particularly important in an age of coalitions
* It says growth was not reaching the poor and marginalized, and insists it should be inclusive.
* It says conditions should be created in which every India equal opportunity, access to leaders and a stake in the nation"We are alarmed at the widespread governance deficit almost in every sphere of national activity covering government, business and institutions," the letter adds. "The topmost responsibility of those at the helm of the nation’s affairs must be to urgently restore the self-confidence and self-belief of Indians in themselves and in the state."

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“We are working on an action plan to advise the country on how to take these recommendations forward,” a member who refused to be identified told Hindustan Times.