Author:
Publication: Deccan Chronicle
Date: February 4, 2007
The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission,
Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, holds two other posts in US-based organisations:
one is with the Commission on Growth and Development set up by the World Bank,
and the other is under the US Institute of International Finance to oversee
capital flows and fair debt restructuring in emerging markets. This information
was obtained by this newspaper through an application filed under the Right
to Information Act (RTI).
Senior parliamentarians and lawyers, when
contacted for their response to this information, had no hesitation in pointing
out that this was a "serious and alarming" issue and would affect
Mr Ahluwalia's independence as the chief planner of the Indian economy. It
amounted to a clear conflict of interest, they claimed. The response to the
application under the RTI Act also established that most of Mr Ahluwalia's
travels abroad in the past two years have taken him to the US, with his eight
visits being paid for by the Indian government. One visit to the US was for
a full two weeks, from May 23, 2005 till June 7, 2005, and cost the government
Rs 8,47,895. His other visits during this two-year period have been to Italy,
Davos, Melbourne, Singapore and London.
The last was usually clubbed with some of
his visits to the US. The entire cost of Mr Ahluwalia's foreign travel was
over Rs 53 lakhs. It was not clear from the government's response whether
Mr Ahluwalia attended meetings of international organisations while he was
in the US. If he did, these were clubbed together with the official visits
that were paid for by the government of India. The response to the information
obtained under the RTI Act was categorical: that the Planning Commission deputy
chairman had not gone abroad on any personal visit in the last two years.
The US Institute of International Finance
has included Dr Ahluwalia in the group of trustees for overseeing the "principles
for stable capital flows and fair debt restructuring in emerging markets".
Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, "It is an alarming situation that
most of the top bureaucrats of India have jobs with the World Bank or the
International Monetary Fund. They are toeing the line of these organisations,
not the interest of the government." He added, "It is a known fact
that the US has enormous influence on the World Bank, which is in turn controlled
by multinationals in the US, so there is a huge conflict of interest when
Mr Ahluwalia is holding a position in not just the World Bank but also at
the Institute of International Finance, which has all the largest commercial
banks as its members."
The members of the IIF include Merrill Lynch,
J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, ABN Amro Bank, HSBC Holdings, Citibank and Deutsche
Bank. Many of these have opened offices in India. Samajwadi MP Shahid Siddiqui
said there was a definite conflict of interest in the jobs Mr Ahluwalia holds.
"As the deputy chairman he has to plan
for India and for the Indian economy, and being a member of these bodies will
definitely influence the planning process. He will try to protect the global
interests and the interests of the US economy," Mr Siddiqui alleged.
He said the government of India should look into the matter and that he would
raise this issue in Parliament. After this correspondent filed the application
under the RTI Act seeking information about Mr Ahluwalia's foreign visits,
in what was clearly an unprecedented gesture she received a call from an official
of the Planning Commission to meet her. The official said that he was surprised
about the information sought and wanted to personally meet the individual
who had filed the RTI application. The questions asked were:
* How many foreign trips has Mr Ahluwalia
undertaken since he took over as deputy chairman in his official capacity?
And also mention his personal trips.
* Specify the number of trips, the places
visited and the number of days per trip.
* Which are the international organisations
in which he is a member of any committee, board and member of the advisory
committee?
* Who has funded the trips, and what has been
the expense incurred on each trip?
