I agree with A V Rajwade that India cannot continue to grow at 7-8 per cent unless governance and corruption issues are sorted out. And I’m quite pessimistic about governance improving dramatically or corruption ever being brought to reasonable levels. That’s because voters are not demanding integrity from politicians. Maharashtra is a case in point where a government that was universally acknowledged to be corrupt returned to power in 2009.
So the message to politicians is: be corrupt and do nothing and you’ll be back. Gujarat is an outlier because the Gujarati ethos is more protestant (because of its entrepreneurial culture), where good governance, economic growth and security are essential for successful commerce, whereas in a state like Maharashtra or UP corruption are non-issues
Roma Shah, on email
