Letter to BS: Top level vacancies in PSUs should be filled quickly

This refers to your editorial  “Strengthening the IBC” (August 13). That the Supreme Court is, of late, exposing the game played by the rich and the powerful to circumvent regulatory oversight, using legal loopholes and mustering the support of celebrity lawyers to delay legal processes, is a silver lining in the gloomy situation of the country’s financial sector.

The government has acted quickly in passing necessary legislation for handling the non-performing asset mess of Indian banks. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the supporting architecture including the National Company Law Tribunal after facing initial criticism, are stabilising. Having said that, in an election year, the government of India is going to get pressurised to go slow on the implementation of several measures affecting the catchment area for political funding. It will be tempting to succumb to pressures in such a scenario. But the choice is between doing the right things in time and popular measures to help willful defaulters escape punishment.

If preserving the gains of measures taken so far is the objective to ensure a stable economic growth during the coming decade, the present government needs to work out a consensus among major political parties not to make election promises that will adversely affect national interests.

The institutional system that is responsible to implement the Centre’s commitments also needs immediate attention and support. Illustratively, vacancies at the top-level in statutory bodies and public sector undertakings including public sector banks should be filled quickly and each appointment should have a minimum tenure of three years. It would be ideal to get legislative backing for such an approach.

M G Warrier  

Mumbai