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Corporate espionage: How government can do a Swachh Bharat

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Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Rajeev ChandrasekharFeb 27, 2015 | 17:26

Corporate espionage: How government can do a Swachh Bharat

Post the recent arrests in the "corporate espionage" episode, the spotlight is back on the role and actions of the Indian corporate sector and their relationship with government.

While the role of politicians and bureaucrats in the slew of corruption scams has been widely discussed and debated, the role of corporates in the disturbing trend of corruption and policy capture in government has not been talked about enough.

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While the Narendra Modi government is clearly setting new standards of conduct amongst ministers, these arrests point to the government now redefining the relationship and stopping the influence of corporates with government.

Just like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a campaign aimed at changing 60 years of entrenched personal habit on the aspect of cleanliness, the need now for the government is to change the cosy entrenched corporate habit of using law breaking as a means to succeed.

In the decades post cconomic liberalisation with increasing opportunity for corporate participation in our economy, has seen specifics corporate increasingly invest in information and data harvesting and intelligence from the government. Instead of a culture of innovation and creativity determining success - a corporate culture of success based on political/government contacts and access to information has for many years determined success and become the competitive advantage for many Industries and groups.

As Raghuram Rajan has written earlier, "India has second largest number of billionaires per trillion dollars of GDP. If you look at the areas where we have so many billionaires, it's things like land, real estate, natural resources - areas that require government licenses, and proximity to government helps." He has also written, "If we let the nexus between politician and businessmen get too strong, we could shut down competition. That could slow us down tremendously and maybe create questions eventually for our democracy".

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The recent arrests are just a tip of the iceberg and this "information providing and access to government" business is a huge thriving business - headquartered in New Delhi and vibrantly present in all state capitals. It has evolved and grown from shady middlemen to organised entities fronting as "corporate consultants" and "media advisories". This culture and phenomenon can be dangerous especially when you look at its impact on both national and economic security! Even countries like China have realised the danger of unfettered corporate access to government and have cracked down heavily in recent times, including sentencing to death leading political and bureaucratic lights. While that may be going too far for us, that a cleanup is required is undeniable and for that the next steps are clear

1. Create a culture of deterrence: To create a new legal framework to ensure that such crimes are prosecuted speedily and fairly - thus punishing the guilty and also sparing the innocent from a prolonged process of proving innocence. This deterrent is required as an incentive for corporates to follow the rules and laws.

2. Create a culture of transparency in government: Let most of the government work in the public domain thus creating no premium for information and equal access to all corporates and stakeholders. Where secrecy is required, create a tight system of managing secret documents especially those in national security, defence etc.

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As Kaushik Basu once wrote in an economic survey "For India to develop faster and do better as an economy, it is, therefore, important to foster the culture of honesty and trustworthiness."For India to be a true Investment destination and a global competitive economy, it needs to push strongly to transform the conduct of corporates in their relationships with government.

(Article first appeared in India Today.)

Last updated: February 27, 2015 | 17:26
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