In an open letter, a group of industrialists and ex-bankers and judges call on the authorities to tackle petty corruption
NEW DELHI (TrustLaw) - A group of prominent Indians, including industrialists and former bankers and judges, have called on the authorities to take urgent action against daily "insidious and demeaning" graft, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday.
A series of scandals, including an alleged telecoms licensing scam that may have cost India up to $39 billion in lost revenue, have rocked the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and businesses in Asia's third-largest economy in the past year.
In an open letter, a group of India's top executives and other leading personalities said that while a stronger anti-graft law now being drafted would address "episodic corruption", it was unlikely to have any real impact on "day-to-day corruption."
"We, the people, the common individual, seem to have no recourse in our daily life which is vitiated by corruption in almost every sphere of our normal dealings," said the letter published in the Hindustan Times.
"Almost every interface of the common man with public officials is impaired by corruption, especially in the most routine transactions, such as the ... issuing of birth/death certificates, utility connections and availing of entitlements amongst several others."
The letter - signed by the group’s 14 members, who include businessman Azim Premji, head of Wipro Technologies, former Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan and Sam Variava, a former Supreme Court judge - called for "urgent and concerted action".
It is the second open letter penned by the group. The first, issued in January, also called for a war on graft.
Others who signed the letter include businesswoman-turned-social worker Anu Aga, Narayanan Vaghul who is chairman emeritus of ICICI, India's largest private bank, as well as M. Narasimham, another former central bank governor, and retired Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna.
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