What Manmohan may say in his open letter to India Inc

(Firstpost has accessed the “open letter” sent by the PM in reply to Deepak Parekh and other “like-minded” citizens’ open letter sent on 3 October. Since too many letters are being leaked by the PMO in the wake of the 2G scam, the PMO has decided to keep this open letter secret. Firstpost cannot vouch for this open letter’s authenticity since we got it from sources who in turn got it from their sources.)

An open letter from Manmohan Singh to “Like-minded citizens”

Dear Deepak Parekhji,

At the outset, let me thank you and your colleagues for your open letter dated 3 October.

I hadn’t opened it since it was addressed to “our leaders” and must have come to me by mistake. I had duly forwarded the letter to “our leader” Sonia_ji_ for further action. But yesterday, her representative in my office, Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji, informed me that I had her permission to reply to it.

So let me begin by thanking you for the unstinting support you and your group of like-minded citizens have offered me. I particularly agree with the statement that says: “We wholeheartedly endorse Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s statement that economic progress must not be hijacked by internal dissensions.”

In recent weeks, some ministers in my cabinet had done precisely that, but thanks to the return of Sonia_ji,_ All is Well.

Let me also confirm that I am in agreement with your sentiments 100 percent. I can confirm that our government is seriously concerned about all the four issues you have raised - governance, corruption, environment, etc. I will deal with them one by one, so that all of you understand how seriously we in the UPA are taking it.

I am strongly concerned about the “governance deficit” pointed out by your group. This is why I wrote a letter to Sonia_ji_ in 2009, soon after our glorious election victory, on ways to bridge this deficit. She informed me orally that a big deficit like this cannot be closed in one year, and that we should do it in installments - just like Pranab Babu is handling the fiscal deficit.

In line with this philosophy, we have decided to focus on governance in non-Congress states like Karnataka and Gujarat before thinking about ourselves. This way we are putting the country above ourselves and will also disprove the opposition argument that we only take care of Congress governments. Our governors in Gujarat and Karnataka have already stepped up to the plate and are enforcing good governance there.

Next, we shall look at Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal. Just in case people think we are only concerned about BJP-ruled states, we will now extend the concept to Uttar Pradesh, where Mayawati obviously needs help on governance.

Governance at the centre is a different matter. Since we are part of a coalition culture, Sonia_ji_ said she would have to discuss the issue with Karunanidhi and revert on the issue. I recently got a reply from Ahmad Patel confirming that Karunanidhi is all for governance - as long as it is not anti-Dalit or sends innocent mothers to jail.

I can go on and on about how much the UPA has done to improve governance, but I don’t want to sound self-congratulatory.

So let us move on to the next issue: “galloping corruption.”

You all know I have never taken a bribe - not even in 1992, when Harshad Mehta claimed he had offered the Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, a Rs 1 crore bribe in a suitcase. I have already declared my assets on the PMO website, and you can all note that I don’t own any such suitcase.

[caption id=“attachment_104742” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“I am in agreement with your sentiments 100 percent. PTI”] [/caption]

I must also take issue with you on “galloping corruption.” As you all know, the only thing galloping right now is inflation, and inflation is damaging the real value of all past bribes. Just think how much the value of all the bribes allegedly taken by Raja must have depleted due to inflation.

I have always believed that corruption is a systemic issue, and the only way to defeat it is to make bribes worthless to whoever receives it. I hear from IB sources in Tihar that both Raja and Suresh Kalmadi have discussed the falling value of the rupee. They are seeking bail not to get out of Tihar, but to put their devalued money elsewhere.

I note your call for more land, judicial, electoral and police reforms, and assure you that we will implement all of them one by one. For a start, we have already cleared a Land Bill that will make land so expensive that even politicians will not be able to afford it in future. Once this happens, benami deals in land will fall as politicians will move on to other things.

As for electoral and other reforms, I have written to Rahul_ji_, who, as you know, will be the next PM once I retire or am made President. Rahul_ji_ is a game-changer, and in a brilliant speech in parliament last August he wanted the Lokpal to be given statutory status like the Election Commission. I am sure he has more brilliant ideas on electoral and judicial reforms. I am sure when he becomes PM, he will implement all these game-changing ideas. Ours is a young nation, and issues like these must be handled by young leaders like Rahul_ji._

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Your letter calls for a law just like the UK Bribery Act. Let me assure you, I will be your strongest supporter, but, as you know, there is no political consensus on this. Moreover, given our colonial experience, no one in the Congress party will have anything to do with a law passed by the British parliament. Instead, we will Indianise it.

Salman Khurshid is studying an Indian version called Ghoos-Phoos Act, which will be drafted to take the mickey out of corruption on India. We have solicited Priyanka_ji’s_ opinion on it so that we can present it when Rahul_ji_ becomes PM.

Next, you have pointed out the “strong nexus…between certain corporates, politicians, bureaucrats and power brokers.” Let me tell you, the Congress party is all for the aam aadmi and not for the rich and super-rich. As you know, we have a strong nexus only with the National Advisory Council under Sonia_ji_, and corporates have no role to play in it. My friend Montek Ahluwalia, who heads the Planning Commission and is alleged to be reform-friendly, is constantly battling them even on small things like where to draw the poverty line.

You may also be aware that most of my cabinet colleagues run huge businesses of their own - see the assets disclosed by Praful Patel and Kamal Nath on my website and you will know what I mean. They have no time to entertain any other business interests and crony capitalists. As for my bureaucrats, they are too busy erasing file notings and fending off RTI queries to chase corporate nexus of any kind.

[caption id=“attachment_104748” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“We have a strong nexus only with the National Advisory Council under Soniaji. Reuters”] [/caption]

We also have no power brokers in the UPA since every party in the coalition runs its own ministry with minimal need for coordination with the rest of the government. There is, therefore, no need for power brokers under UPA. We have decentralised and outsourced governance to many of our allies. Power brokers can only hamper this efficient system.

I welcome your ideas on environmental clearances. Your suggestion for an online auction for the allocation of natural resources will provide much needed transparency to the process. I completely agree. Raja was, in fact, a pioneer in this area. He conducted private auctions for many things when he was environment minister, and then tested the same ideas on a larger scale when he was communications minister and sold spectrum.

Now that the pilot auctions have been roaringly successful, we can now adopt it for environmental clearances. Raja, when he comes out of jail, will be the ideal person to implement it. Chidambaram will help him do the job better this time.

Last, but not least, I completely agree with you that “legislative reforms (must) be constructively and constitutionally debated in a time-bound and orderly manner and not in uncivil and hostile environments. Disruption, both in parliament and outside, is socially debilitating and erodes public confidence.”

But putting this into practice has been difficult in a country like ours. For example, I asked Chidambaram to put Anna Hazare in jail so that “public disruption” is minimised, but Anna ended up as a hero. Now he is taking things too far by opposing the Congress candidate in Hisar.

But I am learning fast. When Lal Krishna Advani said he was willing to go to jail in the cash-for-votes case, I advised Sonia_ji_ that we should not do this for it will make him a hero. Now he is forced to go on a yatra in the October sun.

I hope this letter will convince you that the UPA government is fully committed to your cause.

Jai Hind

Yours sincerely

Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

C/o 10, Janpath

New Delhi

PS: I have addressed this letter only to you, Deepak Parekh_ji, since yours is the only signature I can easily recognise. I have asked IB to authenticate the remaining signatures. In any case, you may pass on this open letter to Mr Vaghul, Mr Premji, Mr Godrej, Mr Mahindra, Dr Ganguly, Prof Narasimham, Mr Malegam, Ms Aga, Dr Vaidyanathan, Dr Jalan, Mr Mor, Justice Srikrishna, and Justice Variava._