14.10.11 MACCS Corruption threatening India's future, say industry leaders

A group of senior Indian businessmen, judges and economists have warned that corruption is strangling the country's prospects for growth, and called for widespread reform to increase transparency.

The fourteen leading figures made their warnings in an open letter published in local media. It follows an earlier 'call to action' which they made in January and which focused on the 'governance deficit', corruption, the need to distinguish between dissent and disruption, and environmental issues.

Although the previous letter sparked debate in Indian media, it failed to dent India's rampant corruption. A widely-publicised campaign against graft by veteran civil society activist Anna Hazare has brought wider public attention to the issue, and it is in this context that the 14 writers decided to publish their second letter.

The signatories include the founder of the software giant Wipro Azim Premji and former central bank governor Bimal Jalan. In the letter they support the need for a Lokpal Bill, given impetus by Hazare's campaign, which would set up an independent ombudsman to investigate corruption, but stress that this is only part of the solution intended to address “episodic corruption”. They underline that ordinary Indians suffer most from corruption.

The signatories call for urgent land, judicial, electoral and police reforms to overhaul India's “antiquated laws”, but insist that debate on such reforms must be conducted civilly so as to avoid eroding public confidence. They also suggest that India should follow the UK's example of a comprehensive Bribery Act which would break the nexus between politicians and corporate interests in India.

Thirdly, the letter calls for better redressal mechanisms for victims of corruption, citing the fact that in India there are just ten judges per million people, compared to 50 in the UK and 107 in the US – without a better ratio, India's sclerotic judicial system will continue to be sluggish, making it even more difficult to tackle corruption.

The signatories are realistic about the scale of the challenge, writing that activity in India is “vitiated by corruption in almost every sphere”. Although the country's graft problem will not be solved through this letter, it does continue to keep the subject in the public discourse and put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take action.

Sources: BBC, AFP, The Hindu