The Nexus of Corruption: Reliance and Government

There is a gnawing feeling in the minds of every OIL Men of the Public Sector why they kept on deferring the issue for two years and then pushed us into a strike and THEN by refusing to budge an inch and accept minimum legitimate demands their real intention was to show Oil PSUs in a bad light so as to pave the way to hand over the assets of the country to one power Private group. And we all know where power flows from ? The gun barrel or money?

See this link which seems to be talking of some nexus much earlier. We are of course not experts at commenting on national issues and neither should we be drawn into them. But friends let us read what some experts are already saying.

http://desicritics.org/2008/09/09/005819.php

Some excerpts from the website :-

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The Nexus of Corruption: Reliance and Government
September 09, 2008C R Sridhar

A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay.’ - Amos Bronson Alcott, American Educator.

One of the common myths circulated in Indian mainstream media is about the inherent dynamism of the Private sector, which offers a refreshing contrast to the venal, corrupt and mendacious class of politicians and government officials. The Captains of Industries are sympathetically portrayed as dynamic, hard working and enterprising people who are thwarted by soul stifling regulation imposed by the Government. Unlike the moribund Public Sector, say the business friendly media, the Private Sector is efficient and creates a big pie in the economy. But unfortunately, like all myths, it has elements of truth but deceives us by not presenting the whole picture.

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One of the most remarkable books to emerge in the Indian publishing scene in recent times is Reliance- The Real Natwar written by Arun K. Agrawal.

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The spotlight of the book is on the alleged involvement of Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) in the Iraq oil-for-food scam. As the author says in his book,

‘This book has its origin, in the compulsion, born of exasperation, experienced by the author to record the failure- or, more accurately, the self-serving refusal – of the Indian political and administrative system to investigate the award of extremely lucrative oil contracts under the United Nations- administered Oil- for-Food programme in Iraq to RPL in transactions manifestly driven by kickbacks/ bribery and bipartisan political patronage.’

...................... Tip of the iceberg: The Oil for Food scam was not an isolated instance of Reliance Petroleum Limited walking away from corruption unscathed. There are also other scandals involving the Reliance Group. One of which was the deal involving Panna-Mukta- oil fields - given to Reliance during the Congress government by Captain Satish Sharma who was the Minister of oil and Natural Gas and a close friend of Rajiv Gandhi.

............... A dangerous collusion:

When the interests of Big business coincide with the personal interests of politicians and bureaucrats of the government, then it can be safely assumed that public good or national interest would be in an irreversible terminal decline. As Timothy P. Carney in his book The Big Rip-off: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money says,

‘Today's largest corporations have mastered the art of working with government officials at every level to stifle market competition. They reap billions through a complex web of higher taxes, stricter regulations, and shameless government handouts.’

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Need we say more? The truth is out there for all to see. It is time now for us to direct the attention to the real malady of the system.