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Deepak Parekh, the head of Housing Development Finance Corporation, who has been vocal about the ill-effects of drift in country's leadership talks about the issue and what needs to be done with Karan Thapar on television channel CNN-IBN's Devil's Advocate programme.
Edited excerpts:
Many people say 2011 was one of the worst years faced by any government for a long time. Others say the country has ended up depressed, some even say disillusioned.
I agree. 2011 is a year to forget, for India and the whole world. We should now think positively and look at options and opportunities.
In the open letter you wrote on January 17 (2011), you spoke of the collapse in the self-confidence and self-belief of Indians in themselves and in the state. Twelve months later, has that collapse of self-confidence got worse?
It is at a low end. The more you criticise the government, the more negative you are about the government, the confidence around you, the confidence among the people of the country, also takes a dip.
A self-fulfilling, vicious spiral?
Absolutely. We have to be more positive. It's a new year. Let's look at how we can get back to eight per cent GDP growth
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After a succession of scandals and scams, has the government's authority and credibility also been damaged?
It has been. Part of it is the way politics works in our country. We have a coalition government and partners with minor seats, the tail wagging the dog.
Then, the Opposition has also not played a positive role. Disagreement is part of democracy but not distortion, not breaking up Parliament every day.
What we saw in Parliament this year gives you a negative feeling on democracy. No decisions can be taken if for every policy issue the ruling party puts up, the Opposition opposes by disrupting Parliament.
We need a better system. You must have one party running the country and not 10 different parties joining hands. It doesn't work, it doesn't do good for progress.
One key issue in both the open letters you wrote last year was what you called the widespread governance deficit. One of your colleagues, Azim Premji, said, 'The biggest concerns now are government issues and the complete absence of decision making in the government.' What does this mean for industrialists, for investment and the economy?
When we talk of governance deficit, we do so at two levels. One is the petty corruption everyone in India faces.
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The other is the corruption at the senior level - large amounts like the Commonwealth Games or the telecom scandals or the Aadarsh building in Bombay.
The common man in the country can't get anything done without paying a bribe. I, myself, had to pay for a death certificate. Birth certificates, passports, driving licences... this is corruption at low levels. The salary levels of people are abysmally low.
How do you expect a policeman on the street to keep law and order, to protect the citizens, when he lives in slums or slum-like conditions?
He doesn't have enough money to feed his children. We said we need some redressal mechanism for the common man and particularly we need police reform, judicial reform and electoral reform.
You also wrote about what you called policy paralysis, that the government talks about critical reforms but is unable to deliver these. In that context, how damaging was the debacle over FDI in retail, where the Prime Minister endorsed the policy but Sonia Gandhi was silent, the allies opposed and the government couldn't go ahead?
It was a bad day for Indian democracy and a sad day for Indian business. FDI in retail will help the farming community. We need to invest in farming.
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We need much more research and development, and technology and we need to upgrade our farmers. FDI in retail will do that to some extent.
When you and your fellow business colleagues met the Prime Minister on December 22, he pointedly bristled at some of the critical comments you had made. In fact, the PM's office issued a formal statement that, 'It is little disappointing to hear negative comments emanating from our business leadership that government policy is causing slowdown and pessimism in the industrial sector.'
The PM's point was that if all of you have negativism and are totally pessimistic about growth, about the future, then what will happen to the country?
All of us who were present had stakes and are concerned. This is the right time for Indians to outshine others and we have not taken that advantage.
Harsh Mariwala, the president of Ficci, said shortly afterwards, 'There is a problem of trust between the government and the corporate sector.'
In 2011, that trust, that association one must have to succeed in a country is diminished. For a variety of reasons. Both parties have to reach out.
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