Growing Crony Capitalism, Corruption and Kleptocracy needs to be curbed

Sir,

Transparency International, a global NGO, recently made a survey of 178 countries of the world in terms of corruption where India has been ranked 87^th in the world fraternity. Last year, India was listed at the 84^th position. This means corruption level has certainly increased in the past year.

Corruption, Nepotism and Special interests are the symptoms of a deep-rooted malaise in our government system that is threatening to dismantle and derail the concept of public life and democratic government that our founding fathers envisioned.

The problems of Governance arise from the issue of “unfettered administrative discretion” - in dealing with Public assets and doling out Government contracts and spending with very little oversight and failure/compromise of institutions like Independent Regulators – leading to repeated instances of public policy / regulatory capture by vested interests.

This can be addressed by ensuring - (a) Statutory disclosures by all Government departments on commercial decisions; (b) More effective Finance Ministry oversight on all decisions relating to spending, contracts and public assets; (c) Increased use of technology for better disclosure and expenditure management; and (d) A relook at the Independent Regulatory Institutions.

I urge the Government to urgently initiate the above measures for introducing a culture of fiscal responsibility and value for public money within the Government to reduce corruption, and thereby prevent any further erosion of the nation’s image and confidence.