Corporate bashing: Reckless critics are having a free run

If we are done with bashing everything Indian, let's just take a break and import some common sense for the billion-plus nation which is hell-bent on doubting everything indigenous. 

But don't get surprised if we all end up biting on some useless foreign wisdom -- proposed and discarded in the West but packaged and delivered to us via the national interest of China. 

For the past few years, Indian corporates have become the newest entrants in our national-bashing list who we have knowingly or unknowingly painted as nothing less than the villains of late 60s Bollywood movies. 

Throwing all common sense out of the window, we have painted these corporates as those irresponsible entities who have not only looted our resources but have also stored their ill-gotten wealth on some distant island just like the East India Company. 

An island where they will escape to one day and spend the rest of their lives chilling and making fun of every institution and establishment tasked with the only job to ensure fair play in everything. 

But are we doing the right thing here? Instead of indulging in never-ending and convoluted arguments laced with accusations cooked by "political parties in opposition", let us all first sample some basic facts. 

Corporates have been turned into easy targets
Before Ambanis and Adanis of the present time, there were Tatas and Birlas of the past who were blamed for indulging in crony capitalism. Industrial houses benefitted immensely due to License Raj. However, those flourishing in the highly competitive and regulated times are being targeted. 

Not only is their image being tarnished on the home ground, but distractors are also increasingly joining hands with foreign elements with vested interests to demonise entrepreneurs and the ruling government. 

Running anti-national agenda under the garb of corporate bashing
The agenda-driven critics, working as economic hitmen and driven by political agendas are compromising national interests. And it is evident from their rhetoric against Adani Group's proposed power project at Jharkhand's Godda that will supply electricity to Bangladesh. Strangely, anti-development lobbies want China to have deeper penetration in Bangladesh and create further threat to India. 

Similarly, this brigade is working hard to sabotage Adani Group's mining project in the name of the environment in Australia that is better known as the world's leading coal exporter. 

To improve the standards of living of 1.38 billion Indians by doubling the per capita electricity consumption, renewable energy is not the solution. India needs rich coal and Australia also wants Indian investments to counter the growing influence of China. 

However, our activists willingly or unwillingly are joining hands with foreign forces and becoming anarchists to malign the name of India. 

Countering the Chinese narrative
Off late we have been under constant comparison with China and the Chinese narrative is only growing bigger with each day. While China has successfully portrayed itself as the Asian giant, we have to up the ante and not only grow in stature but make the world understand that we are not there to play second fiddle to anyone. 

Indian corporates have played an important role in this area and today we have the capability to offer almost the same or even better solution than China.  

They have survived despite all odds
Right meaning corporates have thrived in the country despite the government of any particular political party at the Centre. Dalmias, Mahindras, Goenaks, Munjals, Reddys, Ruias, Jindals, Birlas, Tatas and flavour of the season Adanis and Ambanis are some of the time-tested business houses of our era on account of their professional and visionary approach instead of political patronage. 

They have succeeded despite the Centre being ruled by one party and states by another. While accusing them of political patronage, let's not demean their strengths, capabilities, intentions and will to prosper. 

Political establishment alone cannot make our nation great and strong. These business houses are the real strength of the country in the international arena. 

Providing meaningful career opportunities to everyone
For a country where 65 per cent of the population is within the age bracket of 35 to 40, we need jobs and meaningful career opportunities. The responsibility of generating jobs should never be restricted to the government alone and for the past 70 years, private and corporate sectors have emerged strongly in this area. 

Corporates therefore not only generate jobs but also create long-term meaningful opportunities for people. Today, critics are misguiding the people at large by criticising the government for not providing enough jobs and also creating roadblocks for the entrepreneurs who are generating thousands and lakh of direct and indirect employment opportunities. 

We also know that employment is one of the strong mediums to channelize the energy and thought process of youngsters who otherwise have exhibited tendencies to get involved in criminal as well as anti-national activities. 

We should be thankful for the corporates that they are helping us reap the benefits of our demographic dividend, which otherwise could have become our biggest worry.

Corporates have helped create the true welfare society
If the corporates have created millions for themselves, they have shared billions as well in the form of various tax, levies, surcharges, salaries, bonuses, perks, and other facilities with government and employees. We may like to believe so, but corporates don't have a magic wand to manage their businesses. They simply hire educated, talented and hard-working go-getters to plan, execute and manage every aspect of their mammoth operations. 

No space for monopoly in the country
It is impossible for corporates in a country like India to behave like monopolies. Thanks to the rapid evolution of information technology, stricter legal framework and increased awareness among the citizens, it is neither possible, not advisable for corporates to think that they can live by the rules of the jungle. 

Those having concerns over monopolies should look at the dominance enjoyed by some of the public sector units that are the epitome of inefficiencies and wasting tax payers' hard-earned money.

They have helped reduce the import burden
We all agree that a country like India can't stay dependent on imports forever. But the irony is we protest when our own enterprises extract the country’s natural resources. And the same protestors thrash the government and entrepreneurs when they import those critical inputs. 

We don't like foreign corporates to come and operate from our land, but we also disagree when our own corporates try to offer a solution. 

The creation of wealth is not an immoral act
It takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to create wealth unlike activists indulging in clickbait narratives in the comfort of their well-lit houses from the imported coal-fired power plant. Also, not all nickels and pennies are stolen, some are well-earned by people who have worked hard and smart for it. 

The interesting case of disinvestment of PSUs
Again we are caught in a quagmire. We are so full of complaints about low-quality services offered by the government-owned airline, railways, banks, power utilities, telecom, highways and whatnot. 

Since liberalisation, we have seen how effective private companies can be when it comes to running the airlines, hotels, banks, hospitals etc, but we smell something wrong whenever there is a talk for disinvestment in our PSUs. 

We have to understand that PSUs were promoted when there was a serious dearth of capital and entrepreneurship in the country that needed a lot of government support. But with time these PSUs have turned into loss-making monopolies reeking of poor management, administration, and vision. PSUs are driven by the babugiri instead of visionary professional managers. 

West might not offer us a solution for everything
Whenever we talk about something good, we have a habit of looking westward for examples as well as inspiration. We tend to keep our eyes shut towards the fact that we too can do it and there is no need to 'import' solutions every time you are planning to improve something. 

Let us show some trust first
Consolidation and privatisation have been an integral part of all the developed economies and 'our favourite West' has successfully created companies that later turned into their own centres of excellence. In the name of nationalism itself, it will be great if we trust the homegrown brands like Nirma, Amul, Dabur, Wipro, Emami and even Adani and Ambani instead of killing their enterprising spirits. 

Let's just end this mindless targeting 
While there is no law against mindless gossiping, it certainly is harmful for the health and fabric of our developing nation. On the other hand, business entities operate under a stringent legal and regulatory framework. Time and again entrepreneurs have complained against he rigid environment that is restricting them from making it big. 

However, reckless critics are having a free run. They are the same elements who enjoy speaking whatever filth and still pretending of not having the freedom of expression.

Interestingly, India despite being a late bloomer is reckoned as an important country that has made rapid progress after opening its economy 30 years ago. Today we are recognised as a country with opportunity in almost every segment of the economy. 

Instead of crying wolf after every single act of demonstration of our capability, for example -- the biggest sports stadium, the vision for becoming the largest solar power producer, launching the biggest-ever vaccine drive, one of the biggest-ever national IT infrastructure, among others -- let's join the bandwagon and empower the process with positive criticism – if any. 

We must also be aware that the lynching of Indian corporations, which we have also become a part of, is agenda-driven by foreign forces for their national interests, to create a blockade in the process of India, shifting its league from a developing to a developed nation.

Binay Kumar Singh is an author and columnist. Views expressed above are the author's own.