Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on telephone tapping stirred up many in India Inc today.
Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj said misuse of tapped phone recordings should be prevented to safeguard individuals’ privacy. Arguing against phone-taps without “adequate reason”, he said: “We have not understood from the government, CBDT, finance ministry or home ministry as to how these things got leaked.”
ITC Group Chairman Y C Deveshwar, welcoming the prime minister’s directive to examine the phone-tapping controversy, said it would address corporate India’s concerns. “We need a balance on the issues of protecting privacy and curbing corrupt practices.”
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) expressed concern over the damage caused to Indian industry by corruption. “We are deeply concerned about the potential damage to brand India due to brazen acts of corruption by a few,” said Rajan Bharti Mittal, the chamber’s president. When asked about the impact of the Radia tapes, he said, “In order to preserve the robust image of the nation, we call for transparency, accountability and probity in our system of governance.”
Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej said the government must be very careful while tapping phones. While a few corporate entities could be in nexus with lobbyists, he said, the whole of India Inc was not. Godrej said the government should refrain from routinely tapping phones.
Lord Meghnad Desai said the phone-tapping controversy had dented India’s image. Blaming corruption in India on the proliferation of laws, Desai said the prime minister was being undermined by coalition politics and the UPA allies were not working in coordination.
The new president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Dilip Modi, has called for setting up an integrity and ethics commission on the lines of the Planning Commission and the Election Commission to check corruption in the country.