Congress is a failed experiment in Indian Politics - Rajendra Pratap Gupta

 

Tuglak’s regime would have been better.- Congress is a failed government .

 

Before i dwell more on the current issues , i must highlight some of the statements that have come from responsible organizations and reasonable people

 

Failed Judiciary :

 

On Feb 6, 2009, the Supreme court said that , the Criminal justice system has collapsed – Making the chilling observation, which to many only confirmed the widely held perception of the erosion of the system, a Bench comprising Justices B N Agrawal, G S Singhvi and Aftab Alam also said that the lower judiciary had decayed.

"The courts of magistrate and munsif have ceased to be an option for the common man," the Bench said and compared the lower courts to ill-equipped and ill-staffed public health centres (PHCs) in rural areas.

"Only those people go there who have no other option," said the Bench as an apparent indicator of the low measure of public faith in these courts, which are the first points of dispute settlement for the masses.

 

Divided Election Commission : Fading hopes !!

 

The Chief Election Commissioner's recommendation for removal of Election Commissioner , Navin Chawla ahead of the general elections brings to the fore the differences among the three-member body which has often been marred by clashes over crucial decisions. This is the second pillar after the Judiciary that safe guards the democracy . The Election commissions decisions cannot be trusted anymore . The system has lost credibility

 

Central Bureau of Investigations : “Only God can save the situation”.

 

On Tuesday 11^th Feb , 2009, the Supreme Court  said the CBI was acting at the behest of the law ministry while investigating the disproportionate assets case against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family members. An exasperated Bench said, “Only God can save the situation”.

“You are acting at the behest of the law ministry. You are not acting on your own,” said the bench comprising Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Cyriac Joseph. The court’s harsh indictment of the CBI came when additional

 

CBI is used by the center for settling political scores and vendetta . How can it be an independent institution  ? It is nothing more than the  central government’s weapon.

 

Financially , our economy is at its worst :

 

The fiscal deficit for 2009 would be in around 11 % .  Highest since the crisis year of 1991. The Fiscal deficit budgeted at 2.5 % of the GDP this year , will end up at 6 % , to which should be added another 1.5 % of the GDP for the off-budget items like dues on oil and fertilizers companies . Throw in another 3.5 % of GDP of state government deficits , and India will have a consolidated fiscal deficit of 11 % in 2008-9

Congress regime has seem unchecked inflation . Even we are not sure whether the low inflation numbers we see today are correct or cooked up

Economy is sliding day by day.  Companies are getting into voluntary shut downs, expected job losses till March 09 are expected to be to the tune of one crore.

 

 

Center has failed to act against terrorism – We are living at the mercy of the terrorists

 

The less we talk the better. This government has failed utterly against terror . We had all kinds of attacks at all the places – Air , Land & Sea. It is not just Kashmir , it is all across . We are totally at the mercy of the terrorists

 

Poor record for interest of minorities :

 

October 20, 2008, Punjab Cooperation Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary Captain Kanwaljit Singh charged the Congress-led Centre of failing to safeguard the interests of minority communities.

 

When Satyam scam happened , the government acted swiftly changing the management overnight and bringing in the best talent from across the board to put the company back on track.  The current government is  like Satyam ? Are the politicians sitting in the center not worse off than ‘Raju’s’ ? Why can’t we act fast and take control of the nation from this stupid ‘Gandhi family’ ? They have ruled this nation for about more than fifty years and have just divided India to rule it for themselves and  secure for their next generation . For marriages , this family looks abroad and for grabbing power they look at their countrymen . It is a matter of shame that we still have them to rule this nation.  I think , it is high time , we end the misrule of congress without any further delay.

 

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

President

Country First

 

Email – rajendra.india@gmail.com  / President@countryfirst.org

 

 

Satyam Fraud

Madhav Mehra
President
World Center for Corporate Governance , U.K .
President
Institute of Directors
India.

Dear Madhav,

Wish you a great 2009.

While i was the Hon. Director at IOD , i had clearly cautioned IOD, that the companies that are getting the award for corporate governance from IOD could be the next Enron’s of the world and i had cautioned Gen.Ahluwalia categorically even quoting some of the recipients

Having said this , i must re-iterate that IOD must be careful in giving out the award to companies who really deserve it after proper scrutiny and due diligence .

I had written earlier on my blog ,much before the Satyam fraud came to light ( Dec 27, 2008 . www.rajendrasays.blogspot.com ). I ,must emphasize again , that more corporate frauds can’t be rules out. Though, after this Satyam Fiasco , corporates will be more vigilant before they resort to this route.

After leaving Reliance almost two years ago , i had taken a course in Corporate governance from Kellogg Business School ,USA and decided to pursue independent board positions as my full time professions , much before people focussed on this board positions as a full time profession. Earlier , it was considered as a retired Executives parking slot,. While i took on this lead in India , a lot many people were shocked that i gave up a cushy job in Reliance and decided to pursue independent directorships as my profession. Trust me , i have been very strict with my companies for compliance and disclosures . I clearly insist and minute my issues in the board meetings so that compliance and disclosures are not dealt with lightly ( i can show some of the minutes where i have requested the board members to furnish me the quarterly compliance certificate ). If i find that the companies are not willing or are shying away. I move out of the board and mention the same in my resignations. I did that in the MNC – Medicine Shoppe . Today , we see it on the verge of closure and whatever i wrote to the board members while resigning from the board has happened . I could see that the company was not managed well and there were discrepancies in what the management was presenting to the board every quarter . I could foresee a downfall good two years back and wrote to the board and moved on as i believed that board and the management were not driving the company well.. This is despite the fact, that Medicine Shoppe Intl is a part of the fortune 20 , Cardinal Health, it was the fastest growing retail chain in India and a pioneer in pharmacy retail, adding to this ,the the investors were highly regarded PE players in the country .The country not just needs a strong law and strict guidelines to have independent directors but also the independence of directors . Independent directors and independence of directors is equally important This is not as easy as i write , as i have the experience of a dozen companies and i can understand it well from the independent directors standpoint .This has to be done by SEBI and the government without any further delay. Today, most of the independent directors are chosen from the level of comfort of promoters with the individual . In India , corporate governance is as big an issue as in the US . Only difference that , in USA you have punishments and in India you can get away with ‘ Contacts’ and ‘Payouts’.

This is what i wrote in my blog much before Satyam fiasco came to light .

“The government should be vigilant on big business houses for accounting and reporting in case they are listed, or we might see a fraud and failure like Enron or WorldCom. This is a step to avoid ‘financial terrorism’ . Some business houses ‘control’ many politicians and this is an area of big concern. We have created unequal wealth in the form of strong and gigantic business houses who are iconic Any wrong doing in such a big business houses would be like a corporate suicide and will severely impact the market scenario. I don’t rule out ‘accounting manipulations’ or ‘jugglery’ in these ‘tough times’ to keep the image and reputation intact for such big business houses”

You might like the entire blog at http://rajendragupta.wordpress.com/

It is high time that IOD reconsiders the Corporate governance award model to people who just give up the “award fee” , it must have the options of picking up people besides these applicants. Thus people like Satyam would easily get this award and no wonder that these business houses will pay any amount to get these awards and fool the investors. Seeing the current list of recipients of IOD awards. I am scared that more such names may come to light ! There is more pain in the corporate world in these turbulent times – Just wait to watch

Also, please work on the corporate governance day on 3rd Feb to create the awareness amongst people

All the best ,


Rajendra Gupta

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Rajendra Pratap Gupta
Cell : + 91- 9323109456
+ 91- 9867300045
(USA) +1515-450-6165
Skype: rajendra.india
E-Mail: mail@rajendragupta.org / rajendragupta@aol.in
www.countryfirst.org
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