The article “Corruptionomics” (June 22) by V Kumaraswamy made an interesting read. However, the author is incorrect in saying the current “civil society” agitations focus only on the supply side of corruption.
An efficient market model has three important aspects: demand, supply and a legal structure or a regulatory framework to ensure compliance for all parties to gain fairly from an exchange. India has managed to get this right with financial markets where the institution of stock exchanges mediated by a watchdog (Sebi) has made the markets efficient for price discovery over the years. If we consider this, the agitation for the Lok Pal Bill, in essence, is all about having an institutional regulatory mechanism in place to have the prime minister, the judiciary, MPs and bureaucrats within the purview of the Lokpal.
The agitation for the Lok Pal Bill is, therefore, from a regulatory perspective that calls for strong laws and their enforcement.
Jay Srinivasan, on email
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