Regulating the 'swamp': India urgently needs a lobbying law

In India, where the secretive habits of the licence raj linger in terms of opacity in policy-making, lobbying remains a grey area

When Donald Trump famously vowed to “drain the swamp” on the campaign trail, he displayed a surprising ignorance of the dynamics of the business-political complex that is matched only by Indian policymakers and investigative agencies. “The swamp” to which he referred is the crowd of lobbyists who swarm all over Washington DC. Their presence may not reflect the most attractive facets of the policy-making establishment, but they reflect the fact that lobbying is an inescapable characteristic of any economy with a vibrant business ecosystem, especially one that functions in a democratic polity. Every company worth its bottom-line makes an effort