One of the major challenges facing accountability in governance in countries like India is to create mechanisms for governing conflicts of interests.
The stories mentioned above are just the most recent developments in the last week. In each of these examples, the professional ability of the decision-maker to take an independent and objective decision in the larger public interest entrusted is likely to be seriously compromised due to competing interests of the decision-makers.
In the culture of governance of public and private institutions in India, there is hardly any understanding or appreciation of conflict of interest. Appointing relatives and friends to positions of influence and power is a commonplace phenomenon by all political leaders. Recent revelations of corrupt practices of Pawan Bansal (disgraced Railway Minister) include appointment of his friends to the Boards of public sector banks, which in turn approved huge unsecured loans to companies owned by the family of Pawan Bansal.
A review of patronages and appointments of Indiaâs well-known former cricketers would throw up similar conflicts of interest. The captain of Indian cricket team (MS Dhoni) is a Vice President in India Cements Company whose Managing Director (Meiyappan) has been jailed for illegal betting and match fixing in IPL; he is also the owner of the most fancied team CSK in IPL whose captain is none other than Dhoni himself. Other well-known former celebrity cricketers manage private coaching academies and also serve as selectors of official teams. The recent scandal in badminton is a similar illustration of conflict of interest as the owner/coach of a private badminton academy was also the chief selector of players representing India.
What is this conflict of interest? Essentially, conflict is presumed to be arising between two or more interests of the decision-maker (s)âall professional interests or a combination of professional and personal interests---related to a decision-making situation. Recognising such conflict (s) in advance of the decision is key to its governance; creating mechanisms and systems to eliminate and/or reduce the risks of affecting objective professional decisions in public interests can only follow if the recognition is explicit.
Many countries and institutions have created explicit policies for doing the same. Some Governing Boards of Corporates as well as NGOs (like PRIA, Synergos Institute and IDS, to name just a few)) have robust and clear mechanisms for recognizing and dealing with conflict of interests of the members of the Governing Boards. The City of New York has a Conflict of Interest Board which advises city officials and reviews compliance of procedures already in place.
In reforming governance in India today, recognizing and dealing with conflicts of interests is likely to be most critical. It is not merely a case of legislative lacunae, but also weak and limited understanding of the phenomenon of conflict of interests in the governance of public and private institutions of society today.
Rajesh Tandon
PRIA’s MobiliseHER team traveled to Bangalore during the week of June, 10 – 14, 2024. The aim of the visit was to gain relevant insights into the civil society ecosystem in Bangalore and meet different organisations to understand the city through a lens of gender and inclusive mobility.
Working at PRIA, often leads us to various cities across the country. Each trip is an opportunity to witness firsthand the challenges and triumphs of different communities.
Mr. Yedukrishnan V has recently joined PRIA after gaining valuable experience in the development sector. Drawing from his journey in the social sector and personal encounters in Kerala, he emphasises the importance of participatory governance and research in empowering marginalised communities.'