'Shareholders must question CEOs' salary'

Shareholders of family-owned companies should question the quantum of emoluments being drawn by the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of their companies, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said.

"In a world of transparency, it would be very reasonable for the shareholders of these (family-owned) companies to ask the question that if the top ten CEOs of the country are earning this (less) salary, would you please tell me why you deserve more," he said in an interview to Karan Thapar in the programme 'Devil's Advocate' telecast on news channel CNN-IBN.

He further added that "if you look at the ten best performing companies in India... Find out the salaries of top CEOs and then consider how many companies that are performing nowhere near as well are paying there CEOs three-four times that salary." Replying to questions on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks on CEOs salary at CII's annual general meeting last month, Ahluwalia said regulation of CEOs salary is a shareholder issue and should be decided by the remuneration committee of independent directors.

The Prime Minister did not mean that skilled and highly- skilled persons getting good salary in a competitive market is "something to be objected to," Ahluwalia said, adding that "if you have a family controlled business and they owe themselves large salaries it is not necessarily the best thing to do."