Quicker policy initiatives must after polls: Premji

BANGALORE, INDIA: Wipro chairman Azim Premji Friday hoped that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would get pro-active on policy initiatives after the elections to the five state assemblies.

"I personally expect and our company's view is that the government will get much more active on policy initiatives post-elections, irrespective of their results," Premji told reporters here.

Assembly elections will be held in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh between Jan 30 and March 3. Results are slated for March 6.

"I think the government is very preoccupied with elections in the five states, which are going to take place in the next six-to-eight weeks," Premji said.

Three months ago, the IT icon termed the absence of decision-making in the government as the biggest concern facing the country.

"The biggest concern is over governance issues. There is a complete absence of decision-making among the leaders in the government," Premji said here Oct 31 last year.

Premji is of the view that the government would have realised that it was creating a backlog and slowing down growth rates, which could do a long-lasting damage to the economy.

"I think if the opposition (parties) tends to be little more constructive, it will expedite the whole process of parliamentary reforms vis-à-vis some of the policy initiatives the government would like to take, which is really works in process," he observed.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, however, termed the criticism of the government by Premji and other executives of India Inc., such as HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, unwarranted as they were only adding to the uncertainty.

Addressing the Prime Minister's Council of Trade and Industry in New Delhi Dec 22, the prime minister told India Inc that some corporate leaders were making negative remarks about the efforts of the government in tackling the present economic situation, which was difficult and challenging.

"It is a little disappointing to sometimes hear negative comments emanating from our business leadership or be told that government's policies are causing a slowdown," he said at the meeting with business leaders.

Earlier, a group of prominent citizens, including noted industrialists wrote two 'open letters' to the prime minister and other national leaders expressing concern over a series of scams leading to governance deficit, policy paralysis, galloping inflation and rising prices.