Corporate connections with bureaucrats are now under a new scanner
by SHANTANU GUHA RAY
Tehelka Magazine
THE MILLS of God, it’s said, grind slowly — though nothing as slow as those of the Indian justice system. But when the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) takes note of something, its pace is fortunately faster. Troubled by the charges and counter-charges between the Ambani brothers, the PMO has directed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to track what it calls increasing corporate interface with bureaucrats of various ministries.
“The charges have been far too many,” a senior PMO official told TEHELKA, referring to the recent trading of charges between the ministry of petroleum and natural gas (read Minister Murli Deora) and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani, who blamed the former for intentionally and deliberately misleading the PMO on the vexed issue of pricing of KG-basin gas. “The PMO has sought comments from the oil ministry,” the official further said.
Senior PMO officials say Prime Minister Manhohan Singh is personally keen to clean up the stables and has said such checks by the IB should not be restricted to the petroleum ministry, but spread across other crucial ministries like telecom, commerce and railways. What prompted this? Crucial to the decision was a series of letters the PMO received from various members of Parliament who said corporate interfacing with bureaucrats was becoming a problem. “The favourite route of the bureaucrats now is to work as consultants with the private sector, because they have to follow the mandatory two year cooling period,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
While the PMO awaits a detailed report from the IB, initial notes offered by the bureau have hinted at two senior petroleum ministry bureaucrats — Sunjoy Joshi and Swami Singh — joining Reliance Industries (RIL) after handling crucial government decisions for the company. “One [Swami] works as a consultant for RIL while the other [Sunjoy] is associated with Observer Research Foundation, a RIL-funded think tank,” says former Advocate General of India Virendra Bhatia, adding: “It is important to look into these issues.”
The Left MPs had recently raised the issue of increasing corporate influence in the ministries and how bureaucrats were routinely flouting government norms to switch to the private sector almost immediately after retirement. “They have an insight no one has and it could benefit the corporate sector. We, the Left parties, have raised this issue with the government,” says Sudhakar Reddy, Communist Party of India general secretary, who has been demanding a totally transparent bureaucracy.
Reddy further clarified that the move to petition the government was not to cause a roadblock to any interaction between ministries and the private sector, but to have a transparent regime so that a situation like the KG-basin crisis does not occur again. “For example, the government has announced plans for road shows to attract investment in the latest round of NELP. Wouldn’t it be an embarrassment if an investor flags an issue involving a top bureaucrat?”
So, while Ambani v/s Ambani grinds its way through the Supreme Court, the PMO has asked the IB to submit its report by the end of next month. Once that happens, it’s crunch time: will there be any action taken? No one knows that. The PMO is grinding fast, but will it also grind exceedingly small? •
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