How power is legitimised in China vs India

But,with the communist rule and absolute power resting with few people who can crush any opposition with iron hand,why so much of development is still happening in China? I found a simple answer to this question on a conversation with one of my friend staying in Shanghai. He said that every ruler in China wakes up every morning thinking about how to bring legitimacy to his/her rule? Legitimacy will come only if the citizens see continued improvement in their quality of living. Legitimacy is important for the continuity of the ruler and any disconnect in development and enhancement in quality of living will make citizens rebel against the system thereby questioning their legitimacy to rule. The rulers were not elected by people and their legitimacy is questioned everyday both inside and outside China.

People do look for freedom and democracy. But,freedom and democracy without any improvement in quality of living has no meaning. What the rulers in China had given their people is dramatic improvement in their quality of living,world-class infrastructure,economic and political superiority and,above all,a pride of an economic super power.

In contrast,the legitimacy of a ruler in India comes once in five years. They are not in a treadmill syndrome to get legitimacy like what we see in China. The politicians in India win elections by spending huge amount of money and spend the next five years to recover that investment and build a kitty to fight the next election. The right to recall a ruler in India is not there. This gives them the luxury to ignore development and enjoy the power while coming with schemes like free colour TVs,subsidised rice,etc,to win elections every five years.

The other big difference I found was that the best and the brightest in China work with the government,unlike India where bureaucrats run the show. The Chinese government actively works with its overseas diaspora to bring its best and brightest home and help in building the country. I found so many Audis in front of the government offices in China while we see only Ambassadors in our government offices.

Not for a while am I saying that democracy is bad. Nor am I supporting the ways and means by which the Chinese pursue their goals. But,I am amazed at the way the leadership in China allocates resources to get global leadership in each sector of economic activity. I am amazed at the economic sense of the leadership in China. I am also convinced that unless the leadership has the fear of losing power and constantly worries about getting the legitimacy,development will never happen.

If India is to succeed,we need to do some things. We need to elect a Prime Minister directly rather than a party doing it,similar to what we see in the US. The bottom line for development and performance should rest with that individual. He/she can then bring the best people to run the government rather than some senior politicians becoming ministers. We need to strengthen the key institutions like the Election Commission,CVC,Sebi,RBI,CBI,etc,with persons of impeccable integrity (both in substance and form). Everybody in the government should be subject to scrutiny by these bodies without any exception and protection. There should be a right given to the citizens to recall the ruler,if he/she fails to deliver. This will make sure that he/she delivers constantly to get legitimacy to his/her rule. Above all,the government functions should become more transparent,and technology will be of greater use to get there. Looking at what is happening today,all these changes look highly remote as nobody in the system wants change. It is disgusting to read newspapers nowadays as they are full of stories on various scams.

As one of my friend said,India is all about hope and one day things may change. The only question is whether that change will happen in our life time?

The author is CFO of Infosys