The red line

In the furore over the release of a letter from the finance ministry to the prime ministers office that appears to indicate that P. Chidambaram,when finance minister,could have pushed the telecom ministry harder towards altering the assignation process for 2G telecom licences,a fundamental distinction appears to have got blurred. And that distinction is the one between policy decisions and misappropriation of public funds,between possible loss and wilful under-realisation of revenue. It can be nobodys case that we should not look back on,learn from 8211; and,as far as possible,improve policy decisions that have been taken in the past. But the essential difference between a debatable policy decision and actual misappropriation should always be at the forefront of analysis.

In this case,the fever about corruption,the unsupportable sense that malfeasance is near-universal in the political and policy-making class,has built up to the point where it appears that any mention of 2G,or of discussion with the telecom ministry under A. Raja that was not completely obstructive,seems to attract the calls for penalties that are more appropriate for cases where,for example,financial chicanery is provable or even indicated. The matter is before the Supreme Court,and it is not clear how it could impact the developing investigation of the 2G licensing process. Yet it is already clear that the public response has little patience for the actual methodology by which the facts are actually arrived at. A sad consequence of this dangerous public climate is,thus,an inability to actually break down the 2G case into its scam component and the lessons we need to take away from steps or mis-steps in designing policy that governs a complicated,newly emerging sector.

Designing and evaluating policy is a dynamic process. Nor is the 2G licensing process the only occasion when a complex decision with few precedents and multiple stakeholders is going to be under discussion. If choices at that point are to be weighted with the threat of opprobrium that should attach to genuine betrayal of the public trust,it is unlikely that we,as citizens,will get the best possible decisions indeed,the fear of trial by arithmetic could lead administrators to postpone decision-making. And that would be a serious setback to sensible governance in a fast-growing economy.