Premji slams 'absence of government decision-making'

IT czar Azim Premji today slammed ‘complete absence of decision making’ in the government and warned that growth would suffer if prompt corrective action is not taken. “I think the biggest concerns are governance issues…,” the chairman of Wipro, the country’s third largest software service exporter and listed on New York Stock Exchange, said when asked what he thought was the “biggest concern for the country today”. [caption id=“attachment_120036” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A group of prominent personalities, including Premji, Keshub Mahindra and Deepak Parekh, had in a letter to the nation’s leaders earlier this month”]  [/caption] Referring to scams in media spotlight,he pointed to ‘governance issues which are hitting headlines, hitting a little less today they were hitting a month back.’ “…complete absence of decision-making among leaders in the government…,” Premji said, adding, if prompt corrective action is not taken, there is going to be a set-back to growth. “You must appreciate how serious it is,” he said. A group of prominent personalities, including Premji, Keshub Mahindra and Deepak Parekh, had in a letter to the nation’s leaders earlier this month expressed concern over  a series of scams leading to ‘governance deficit’, but said that national challenges like fighting corruption cannot be solved by urban protests and posturing. In their second ‘open letter’ addressed to the nation’s leaders, they had endorsed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that economic progress must not be hijacked by internal dissensions. On the government’s response to this, Premji said, “So far as the open letter is concerned, the reaction of the prime minister has been positive to it in terms of taking it on record.” PTI