Should businessmen run the finance ministry

Should businessmen run the finance ministry

The objective of the finance ministry cannot be merely to bolster the prospects of business and industry.The finance ministry's primary goal must be the welfare of the people in keeping with the obligations the Constitution imposes on the Union government.Viewed in this context, the appointment of a businessman as one of the ministers in the finance ministry would seriously undermine the very purpose for which the ministry exists.

That apart, the decade and more of economic reforms in India has been characterised by crony capitalism of the worst order.Acts of omission and commission by the government in this direction continue to grow by the day as scam after scam has shown.Given this background, putting a businessman in a key ministry like the finance ministry can only compound the problem of crony capitalism. All major business houses are borrowers to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees from public sector banks and financial institutions.

In many cases, the loans have turned into NPAs for banks and FIs. When NPAs are worth thousands of crores and we need tough action against defaulters, it would be anachronistic to make a person from a business family a minister in charge of banks and FIs.In the specific case being talked about now - that of R N Dhoot of Videocon - there are also other conflicts of interest that would arise.Videocon has expressed an interest in bidding in the disinvestment of some PSUs. For someone from the bidders to be simultaneously a minister in the government is an obvious conflict of interest.There is another kind of conflict of interest that cannot be ignored either.

That is the conflict of interest between rival business groups.When these are becoming increasingly heightened, appointing a businessman as a minister in the finance ministry could turn the ministry into a playground for advancing narrow business interests to the detriment of all others.In the final analysis, if a businessman is appointed to the finance ministry, it would mean legalising the unholy nexus that already exists between business, the bureaucracy and politicians in power.