Modi is on the right path and institutionalizing what he promised too, more governance, transparency, less corruption. As in gujarat he will wait for the investors to come on their own and not chase them. Deepak Parek has already received flak for his incomplete and partial burp! Even students applying for educational loan from his bank are an unhappy lot.
****
NEW DELHI: HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh got the Modi government's hackles up when he said on Thursday that nothing had changed on the ground in the last nine months.
Regardless of whether things have changed or not 'on the ground', things appear to have changed at the top. Most businessmen that TOI correspondents have spoken to over the past few months - including a few who do not necessarily agree with everything that the government has done - say there's been a conscious effort to curb corruption, at least in the upper reaches of government.
"I can speak of at least the economic ministries, and I've heard this about defence too — ministers and top bureaucrats don't ask for anything when you go to meet them. There isn't even a hint of any expectation of an under-the-table quid pro quo," a prominent businessman told this paper recently during an informal chat.
"There's no longer a sense that it'll cost you to get a favourable hearing in government. Many of the senior ministers, starting from the finance minister, are people of integrity," another top industrialist told TOI, before adding with a laugh, "And some who might be tempted to stray from the straight and narrow are s*** scared of the Prime Minister."
"For years, businessmen knew how to get things done in government. Suddenly, they find the game has changed; the old ways of doing business no longer work. Ideas and proposals are being considered on merit. I can't say what'll happen tomorrow, but as things stand, there seems to be greater transparency."
Almost from the early days of the Modi government, it was clear that middlemen and lobbyists would no longer enjoy the unfettered access of the past. They found it more difficult to gain entry to key government offices or to roam the corridors at will. In fact, soon after taking charge, ministers such as Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan publicly spoke of keeping middlemen out.
In the finance ministry, for instance, there were a few corporate affairs executives who would enter North Block around 11 am and spend the entire day sitting with low-ranking babus or chatting up peons to check on the status of various proposals. These people are no longer in evidence.
Even bosses of public sector organisations, including banks, were more or less told that they should avoid visiting their administrative ministries unless they had been invited for a specific meeting, or "hang around" with flowers and bouquets. Several ministries have installed CCTVs to keep tabs on movements.
In the finance ministry, thanks to the arrest of former Syndicate Bank CMD SK Jain, the entire appointment process has been revamped and moneybags who often pushed appointments, are no longer as active.
The crackdown on what is being widely described as 'corporate espionage' is only the latest - and most demonstrable measure - to end a long-entrenched culture of give-and-take in the capital. It's been one of New Delhi's worst-kept secrets that classified documents (both hard and soft copies) routinely find their way out of ministries and government departments - particularly the 'resource-based' ones such as oil, coal, power, telecom and defence — where decisions worth tens of thousands of crores are taken regularly.
Such information is typically sought, and paid for, by business groups for competitive reasons, or by those looking to make a killing on the market.
A number of ministers have told this paper at various points of time that they've been told by the Prime Minister that there can be no soft-pedaling on corruption.
The Supreme Court, too, has played a role in trying to clean up the system: Its order resulting in dismantling of the first-come first-served principle has brought about transparency in allocation of spectrum, coal and, soon, mining rights.
Everyone agrees it'll be a long haul. It'll be interesting to see if over the next few years India can dramatically improve its ranking on the various indices that measure corruption.
Top-level corruption's down in Modi govt, fingers crossed: India Inc - The Times of India
****
NEW DELHI: HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh got the Modi government's hackles up when he said on Thursday that nothing had changed on the ground in the last nine months.
Regardless of whether things have changed or not 'on the ground', things appear to have changed at the top. Most businessmen that TOI correspondents have spoken to over the past few months - including a few who do not necessarily agree with everything that the government has done - say there's been a conscious effort to curb corruption, at least in the upper reaches of government.
"I can speak of at least the economic ministries, and I've heard this about defence too — ministers and top bureaucrats don't ask for anything when you go to meet them. There isn't even a hint of any expectation of an under-the-table quid pro quo," a prominent businessman told this paper recently during an informal chat.
"There's no longer a sense that it'll cost you to get a favourable hearing in government. Many of the senior ministers, starting from the finance minister, are people of integrity," another top industrialist told TOI, before adding with a laugh, "And some who might be tempted to stray from the straight and narrow are s*** scared of the Prime Minister."
"For years, businessmen knew how to get things done in government. Suddenly, they find the game has changed; the old ways of doing business no longer work. Ideas and proposals are being considered on merit. I can't say what'll happen tomorrow, but as things stand, there seems to be greater transparency."
Almost from the early days of the Modi government, it was clear that middlemen and lobbyists would no longer enjoy the unfettered access of the past. They found it more difficult to gain entry to key government offices or to roam the corridors at will. In fact, soon after taking charge, ministers such as Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan publicly spoke of keeping middlemen out.
In the finance ministry, for instance, there were a few corporate affairs executives who would enter North Block around 11 am and spend the entire day sitting with low-ranking babus or chatting up peons to check on the status of various proposals. These people are no longer in evidence.
Even bosses of public sector organisations, including banks, were more or less told that they should avoid visiting their administrative ministries unless they had been invited for a specific meeting, or "hang around" with flowers and bouquets. Several ministries have installed CCTVs to keep tabs on movements.
In the finance ministry, thanks to the arrest of former Syndicate Bank CMD SK Jain, the entire appointment process has been revamped and moneybags who often pushed appointments, are no longer as active.
The crackdown on what is being widely described as 'corporate espionage' is only the latest - and most demonstrable measure - to end a long-entrenched culture of give-and-take in the capital. It's been one of New Delhi's worst-kept secrets that classified documents (both hard and soft copies) routinely find their way out of ministries and government departments - particularly the 'resource-based' ones such as oil, coal, power, telecom and defence — where decisions worth tens of thousands of crores are taken regularly.
Such information is typically sought, and paid for, by business groups for competitive reasons, or by those looking to make a killing on the market.
A number of ministers have told this paper at various points of time that they've been told by the Prime Minister that there can be no soft-pedaling on corruption.
The Supreme Court, too, has played a role in trying to clean up the system: Its order resulting in dismantling of the first-come first-served principle has brought about transparency in allocation of spectrum, coal and, soon, mining rights.
Everyone agrees it'll be a long haul. It'll be interesting to see if over the next few years India can dramatically improve its ranking on the various indices that measure corruption.
Top-level corruption's down in Modi govt, fingers crossed: India Inc - The Times of India
