India?s people?s car has found a welcoming home in Narendra Modi?s Gujarat. In the process Modi made national headlines with a smile and hug from one of the most respected business personalities of modern India together with his certificate of being the good ?M?. Recently Modi inaugurated the high profile BangaloreIT.biz. As the business-Modi love story gets mushier by the day, it is worth reflecting, not so much on Modi as an individual but rather on our own value systems?how should we balance economic triumphs with human rights disasters?
A vote of confidence from industry matters. More children grow up today idolising Narayanamurthy (and perhaps Ratan Tata as well) than some political leader from the past, not to mention contemporary political personalities. Post-liberalisation, the industry-politics relationship has become far more open, acceptable and intimate. Industry leaders are significant opinion-makers today and therefore must be more guarded in voicing their approvals.
Modi?s economic and governance accomplishments seem to have quickly assumed mythical proportions in business circles?Young President?s Organization (YPO) members, like taxi-drivers, now reportedly see divine revelation in him. At least part of that idolisation is earned through performance. Gujarat?s economic growth during Modi?s reign has consistently been in double digits, not only way ahead of the Indian average, but among the highest in the country. Modi has been way ahead of his counterparts in building infrastructure?roads, airports, telecom, optical fibre connectivity, you name it and Gujarat is today at the top or very close to it in most measures. No mean achievement by any measure. But more than that, Modi has succeeded in running a government that delivers. It has earned a reputation that work gets done in Gujarat, quickly and dependably. It is hardly surprising that this formidable combination, together with aggressive promotion of the ?Gujarat? brand, has helped Modi create national records in signing of MoUs and SEZs and Gujarat today is doubtless the leading investment destination of choice in the country.
But before giving an enthusiastic ?two thumbs up? to Modi and praying for more of his ilk to head other states (and perhaps him to head the nation), industry must weigh the flip side of this dream run of infrastructure and institution building?the individual?the human rights record of the Gujarat administration. It is perhaps unnecessary to exhume the horrific details of 2002, but the alienation, discrimination, repression, and denial of justice continue to this day. The chasm grows between the two main communities and critics of the administration?of any faith?are persecuted routinely. Economic success for the favoured is being created at the price of individual freedom and human dignity.
Gradually though, all this has shriveled into a ?minority issue? that the mainstream has little time to worry about. The massacre of the hazily distant 2002 has now become such an inconvenient footnote to the miracles of Modi, that it is tempting for many to believe the Nanavati report. Here, indeed, is Modi?s greatest triumph. It is undeniable that the Modi magic works in Gujarat and is casting its spell on India Inc. The minorities will disagree, but they are just that, minorities.
Modi may be a captive of his own political ambitions and compulsions. He has certainly won the approval of the state electorate, not once but twice?in spite of and probably as much because of his policy towards minorities as for his developmental efforts. Is that certification enough for corporate India to turn a blind eye? Or is this a knowing approval of not just the economic efficiency but the price at which it is obtained?
Modi, with Gujarat in his pocket, can now count on the enthusiastic embrace from business to help him advance, as he doubtless takes aim at Delhi, if only with less bravado than the other ?M? from UP. All the more reason industry should weigh the entire package before going overboard about him. There must be more to corporate social responsibility than just the neighborhood charities. India Inc. should be careful about what it prays for; there is considerable chance it may bring it about.
The author teaches finance at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad