This refers to T N Ninan’s column “Unhappy pairings” (Weekend Ruminations, December 8). The writer considers causality in correlating corruption with underdevelopment. This may or may not be true. In fact, the converse may well be true. It is possible that because of corruption, the average income is low. In such a situation, reducing corruption becomes a pre-requisite for ensuring development. Consider an analogy. Indian Institutes of Technology have performed remarkably well and are clean. It is because they are clean in their admission process that they select the best students and then, the turnout is excellent. It is not the case that because they are good performers, they are clean.
There is yet another possibility. A third factor could be causing both corruption and underdevelopment. For instance, the real estate sector in India is not very clean, and the performance is poor (high costs, delays and questionable quality). Why? A licence-permit-quota raj in the sector has led to corruption as well as low performance. Here, there is mere correlation between corruption and performance; and no causality in either direction.
Gurbachan Singh Gurgaon
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