Letters: A tone from the top

This refers to the graphical representation of Corporate India's Anti-Corruption Compliance titled "The slip is showing" (June 17). The survey report from E&Y is rather disturbing as well as disheartening. If the memory of Enron (in the global scenario) and Satyam (in our own courtyard) is allowed to fade so early, it would not lead us to live up to the dream for a new India that our prime minister has spelt out categorically as one of his topmost priorities (his declaration on black money - its identification and disclosure.) In the report, we see a declining trend in every aspect of compliance and governance, which, of course, does not reflect a good image of our corporate culture vis-à-vis global standards.

What we need is a strong "tone from the top", because to drive such culture through the organisational fabric calls for a high level of commitment from our corporate leaders, who are still respected at a higher plane than the political leaders in our country. The need of the day is to drive this internally where the government is expected to ensure and provide a proper regulatory framework to support such a culture (we already have a revised Companies Act in place, addressing many related areas of compliance and governance).

M L Kabir Kolkata

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