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Winning Perception Battle In Enforcing Contracts Can’t Hide Rot
- Published on 21 September 2017
(Image Courtesy: US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives atf.org )
Modi Government is desperate to see India pole-vaults in the ease of doing business (EoDB) sweepstakes. Take the case of ‘enforcing contracts’. It is one of the 11 indicators on the basis which the World Bank assesses 190 countries for EoDB rankings in its annual Doing Business (DB) Report.
On the ‘enforcement contracts (ECs) parameter, the Government is eying 50-points jump in the forthcoming DB2018 report from 172nd rank in DB2017 report. A Task Force (TF) chaired by Secretary (Justice) has prepared slew of reforms that appear to fit well into DB methodology.
The problem here is that EC evaluation methodology is very narrow in scope and is standardized for all countries. This approach thus does not reflect the ground reality on EoDB that varies from one nation to another.
It has thus left out a lot of major irritants in ECs in India as we find a bit later.
Under ECs, DB report measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through the first-tier court. It also assesses good practices adopted by each country to promote quality and efficiency in the commercial court system.
This quality of judicial processes index reckons good practices across four areas or components. These are: 1) court structure and proceedings, 2) case management, 3) court automation and 4) alternative dispute resolution.
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Unveil Industrial Policy to Promote Unhindered, Efficient Production
- Published on 08 September 2017
(Image Courtesy: SAIL)
Demonetization-battered Modi Government appears to be in search of Aladdin Ka Chirag for ringing in elusive double-digit growth. Its move to draft a new industrial policy reflects this quest.
“A comprehensive, actionable, outcome oriented industrial policy will enable industry to deliver a larger role in the economy; to fulfill its role as the engine of growth and to shoulder the responsibility of adding more value and jobs”, says the ‘Industrial Policy - 2017 A Discussion Paper’ released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 29th August 2017.
The discussion paper (DP) might put off Aladdin as it is mishmash of “Illustrative outcomes and questions that trigger the search for solutions”. Had DP authors done some additional homework, they would have found solutions to all their questions in official documents including reports of expert committees one of which was specifically appointed by DIPP.
DP does not articulate policy objectives. It is deficient in offering credible solutions to major problems that delay projects, erode their competitiveness and curtail scope for productivity increase.
DP does not provide assurance to investors against risks such as retrospective Raj unleashed by Government. The new policy should promise not to hurt/kill a greenfield project with duty-free imports under a new free trade agreement (FTA). Assurance is the key to attracting and sustaining investments in highly uncertain times.
It is here pertinent to cite Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s statement on participation of foreign capital delivered in the Constituent Assembly on 6th April 1949.
Corruption Encounters New Sound & Fury From All Quarters
- Published on 31 August 2017
(Edited Image Courtesy: Transparency International's UNCAC Guide)
The more the merrier. Yes, the idiom ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ is invalid in the global battle against corruption. One can infer this after scanning a slew of new initiatives against bribery being cooked at multilateral, regional, bilateral and at national levels.
The rationale for stakeholders upping the global ante against corruption is the fact that bribes are like mosquitoes that resists all controls. They react by acting as vector of new diseases in addition to malaria.
As put by the World Bank in its recent Brief on Corruption, “Businesses and individuals pay an estimated $1.5 trillion in bribes each year. This is about 2% of global GDP—and 10 times the value of overseas development assistance. The harm that corruption causes to development is, in fact, a multiple of the estimated volume, given the negative impact of corruption on the poor and on economic growth”.
It adds: “Data on international financial flows shows that money is moving from poor to wealthy countries in ways that fundamentally undermine development. Corruption is a global problem that requires global solutions”.
All stakeholders agree that new steps are needed to rein in corruption. No one is, however, sure about the precise efficacy of existing measures. Bribery can be checked substantially if all countries embrace global treaties and implement them sincerely.
Forgotten Pledges; Broken Dreams – Yehi Hai India!
- Published on 19 August 2017
(Image Courtesy: taxindiaonline.com)
The Prime Minister stated: “this pledge which we have taken today is not to be treated lightly. We lose our self-respect if we fail to live up to ourselves. If we cannot honour our pledge, we cannot do anything. Therefore, we have to take this pledge with full deliberations and with fullest sense of responsibility and to live up to its spirit.”
This is not Rashtra Rishi Narendra Modi reminding masses about the significance of his New India Pledge (NIP) on the Independence Day. It was late Jawaharlal Nehru speaking about sanctity of national solidarity pledge (NSP). He administered NSP to the Nation on National Solidarity day (NSD) on 20th October 1963.
It would not be surprising if hardly anyone within the Government or outside is able to recall either NSP or NSD. It was conceived as resolve/event to be organized on 20th October every year to reaffirm our commitment to learn from our failures in 1962 Indo-China war.
Any entity can today tag NSD label to its event as was done by Indian Medical Association (IMA) that observed NSD on 17th January 2017 to protest increasing attack on healthcare staff.
Even Rashtrapati Bhavan has slipped on NSD. The then President, Pranab Mukherjee in message dated 13th May 2015 to the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Committee noted that the Committee was “organizing the 40th National Solidarity Day to commemorate the 110th Birth Anniversary of former President of India, Late Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed”.
The sad plight of NSD is equally true of some of the great national pledges taken and forgotten over the decades.