This article is from the blog res gestae (www.rajivndesai.blogspot.com <http://www.rajivndesai.blogspot.com/> )
you can reach the person managing the list at i...@comma.in MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2012 Advocacy <http://rajivndesai.blogspot.in/2012/12/advocacy-of-interest-or-corporate.ht ml> of interest or corporate bribery? "...to secure the public interest, it is vital that the government shine a light on the power brokerages and influences peddlers in Delhi and other states." Though the BJP's noisemakers may not appreciate it, through their hysterical outbursts against Wal-Mart, they may have unwittingly sponsored a major reform in pursuit of good governance. In its misbegotten campaign against the American firm, the BJP threatened to disrupt Parliament again, as it has done repeatedly for the past nine years. This prompted Parliamentary Affairs minister Kamal Nath to agree to a public inquiry into the company's lobbying activities in India. Though a spectacularly ignorant BJP spokesman suggested that the minister's assent to an inquiry proved their point, the truth is that the UPA's quick response saved the day and it appears that much overdue legislation will now be enacted. The BJP's empty-vessel strategy to corner the government on lobbying by Wal-Mart boomeranged in Parliament because of Mr Nath's finesse. Reports say the government will appoint a retired judge to conduct the inquiry. Most likely, the exercise will stretch out and will hold no more sensation value; the BJP will find some other dubious platform from which to rant against the UPA government. As such, the inquiry will join the long list of commissions that have provided not much more than sinecures for superannuated law officers. On the other hand, the government could actually use the inquiry to clean up the murk that surrounds lobbying in India. To secure the public interest, it is vital that the government shine a light on power brokerages and influence peddlers in Delhi and in the various states. A thoughtful judge at the helm of the inquiry might recommend the establishment of a Parliamentary registry that provides credentials to lobbyists, individual as well as firms. In accepting such credentials, lobbyists would be required to disclose their clients and fees received. The registry could go a step further and demand from various government ministries, departments and agencies periodic reports on any contacts they may have had with lobbyists. Recommendations of this nature could bring much needed transparency to the conduct of public affairs; you won't have a BJP president Bangaru Laxman accepting bribes or a DMK minister A Raja playing fast and loose with the allocation of telecom spectrum. A whole horde of middlemen, the kind you see at power lunches in The Taj or cocktail parties at The Oberoi, will stand exposed. The business of lobbying could become professional and cleansed of the stain of corruption. Lobbying is a time-honored practice that dates at least as far back as the signing of the Magna Carta in 13th-century England, from whence sprang the right of association and the right to petition authority, the cornerstones of the lobbying profession. Closer to home and to the age, lobbying has had many beneficial outcomes. These include campaigns for universal primary education, against sex trafficking, to lower taxes on toiletries and cosmetics, to amend laws governing the business of financial services, courier firms and cable operators, among others. They have been successful and have benefited the public interest as much as the interests of those who sponsored them. This article appeared in Hindustan Times on December 16, 2012. <http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Advocacy-of-interest-or-c orporate-bribery/Article1-973355.aspx> Advocacy of interest or corporate bribery?
