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22 VIEWS FRIDAY , NOVEMBER27, 2009,DELHI ° WWW. LIVEMINT. COM mint ourview myview First published in February 2007 to serve as an unbiased and clear-minded chronicler of the Indian Dream EDITORIAL LEADERSHIP TEAM R. SUKUMAR (EDITOR) NIRANJAN RAJADHYAKSHA (MANAGING EDITOR) ANILPADMANABHAN TAMALBANDYOPADHYAY PRIYARAMANI NABEELMOHIDEEN MANAS CHAKRAVARTY MONIKAHALAN VENKATESHABABU SHUCHI BANSAL SIDIN VADUKUT (MANAGING EDITOR, LIVEMINT) FOUNDINGEDITOR RAJUNARISETTI PUBLISHED/PRINTED BY VIVEK KHANNA ON BEHALF OF HTMEDIALTD 1820KasturbaGandhi Marg ,NewDelhi 110001 Print edatHT Medi aLtd presses at • B2,Sector63,Noida , DisttGautamBudhNagar, UttarPra desh& • PlotNo.8, UdyogVihar, GreaterNoida, DisttGautam BudhNagar, UttarPradesh201306; • PlotNo.6, TTCIndustrial Area,ThaneBelapurRoad, NaviMumba i 400708; • MNSPrinters Pvt.Ltd, #345/4,Bhatrahalli, NearKR PuramRTO,OldMadr asRoad, Banga lore560049; • TexmacoLtd,BTRoad, Panihati,24 Parganas (Nort h),Kolkat a 700058; • MNSPrinters Pvt.Ltd, 76/1,Poonamallee HighRoad, Velappanchavadi, Chennai600077. *Alsoavailablein Chandigarh andPune. RNIRegistration DELENG/2007/22485 Mintwelcomes readers’ respo nsestoallarticle sand editorials. Pleaseinclude yourfullname,addr essand telephonenumber.Send in yourviewstotheeditorat [email protected] ©2009HT MediaLtd AllRights Reserved 877 mint Committing to more reforms I n his budget speech this year, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had un- equivocally stated that if expec- tations held true and the econo- my stabilized, then the govern- ment would by the time of the next budget revert to fiscal pru- dence. More recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh drew a linkage between financial sec- tor reform and sustained revival in the real sector. In an interview to Mint , published on Thursday, finance secretary Ashok Chawla has restated these first princi- ples. First off, it is commendable that three key people in the de- cision making hierarchy have with such candidness renewed their faith in future reforms. And the finance minister has clearly provided political cover by linking reforms with growth without which the United Progressive Alliance will be hard-pressed to meet its avowed commitment to the so-called aam aadmi. It is also a reiteration of the fact that the worst is behind for the Indian economy. Barring any unexpected external shocks, it does seem the economic growth may even touch 7% in the current fiscal and accelerate in 2010-11. It is unlikely that the government will withdraw in a hurry the fiscal stimulus pack- age, which has clearly worked; though the withdrawal of the monetary largesse has already begun and rightly so, with in- flation, led by food prices, firm- ing up. So there are no fears of any immediate loss of momen- tum. What the finance secretary left unsaid, too, is significant. Politi- cally, the Congress has strength- ened itself, following its contin- uous electoral wins after better- than-expected performance that powered it to a second term in the 15th general election. It has also helped that the two principal political opponents, the Left and the Bharatiya Jan- ata Party, are severely distract- ed, tiding over internal crises. Along with acquiring confi- dence, the Congress has also changed its tack on pushing the reform agenda. At one level, it has begun to cleverly link it with the ability to raise funds to finance social wel- fare programmes. At another, it has begun to make major policy changes without much fanfare like the Reserve Bank of India initiating financial sector reform by including in its credit policy statement the decision to expand the portfolio of currency derivatives beyond the dollar and also set the stage for introduction of the much-maligned credit default swaps. All of this seems to suggest that the government is, with the economy gradually stabilizing, setting the stage for a big-bang Union budget on 28 February. Hopefully, it won t be a case of impressing to disappoint. Will it be a big-bang budget next year? Tell us at [email protected] Bestsellers and exit poll bans I t was a turkey shoot. On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha passed the Repre- sentation of the People (Sec- ond Amendment) Bill, 2008. While the legislation sounds innocuous, it does great dam- age: It restricts information to potential voters during an election, something necessary to make an informed political choice. It bans exit polls. From a pol itician s perspec- tive, exit polls are damaging stuff. They have the potential to unleash a bandwagon effect in the course of an electoral season. In India, a general election is usually staggered over many phases. One state may poll one day, another one the next day. If exit poll predictions for one phase of the polling are broadcast one day, they have the potential to affect voter outcome and choices in the next phase. This mortifies our politicians. But with a ban on exit polls, voter behaviour becomes more predictable. It also has the potential to bestow an unfair advantage on incum- bent governments and members of Parliament. So it is not surprising that such a ban is being given legal sanction. In most walks of life, people imitate each other, for in- stances, in trends, fashions, choosing a book (best-sellers are good examples of such choices) and other stuff. Why should political choices be immune from this current? Curmudgeons will say politics merits seriousness. We say no. For, all that seriousness will do with an exit poll ban is to ensure the election and re- election of undeserving candi- dates. Exit polls have the potential to unleash waves of change. (Imagine voters in Maharash- tra taking a cue from those in Assam, exit polls ensuring that. Many a cookie will crum- ble.) What is wrong with that? In fact, it will make representatives more aware of the demands and problems of their voters. Unsurprisingly, this regressive legislation had all-round political support. The saving grace here is that when the Bill becomes law, it could be subject to ju- dicial scrutiny. It should be. There is, of course, the danger that exit polls can be manipu- lated and then used for un- healthy political purposes. But there are other ways to check the problem, say, by regula- tion. A blanket ban, however, is no solution. Exit poll ban: unfair advan- tage to ruling parties and governments? Tell us at [email protected] AN EMAIL FULL OF HAPPINESS CUBICLENAMA SIDIN VADUKUT our PowerPoint slides in purple? Instantly, within minutes, the entire organization makes depurplification its core competence. Meetings are convened, conference calls are sched- uled and KRAs are mass-rewritten. And then two hours later, he pops out again: Actually, purple is OK. I don t know why my Babloo said that. Say hello to everyone, Babloo... And you smile at Babloo like that doll in the Child s Play movies. Purple swoops back in, work-life goes out of the window. Face-time is another massive imbal- ancer. As an astute office elder once mentored me: Why do you leave of- fice so early every day? To make your resume? Zen-like, no? So between pressure, face-time, deadlines and meetings, how in God s name does one balance anything? The CEO in our storied email for- ward decided to do something. He an- nounced office reforms with immedi- ate effect: At 7.00 pm security would empty the building. And no, laptops would not be issued to anyone to make up for this. All overtime would need his picky personal approval. The benevolent CEO then exhorted his col- leagues to enjoy their lives more. Do you remember reading this email? Was he your CEO? If so, please send a copy to the address below. I will read it between 8.30 and 8.47pm next Friday. If I can. Cubiclenama takes a fortnightly look at the pleasures and perils of corporate life. Your comments are welcome at T his email forward was a rage in some offices a few years ago. The forward itself contained a short, im- passioned email by an IT company CEO to his staff, and was forwarded and reforwarded for weeks. The mis- sive was all about work-life balance. And readers treated it like a mantra. (I ve rummaged in my inbox all day. But alas, cant find the forward or re- call it precisely. The exact details and names are sketchy.) He was (is?) the CEO of a midsize IT firm based in Bangalore. I suspect it was the local development centre of a foreign multinational. One of those companies that quietly went about do- ing its business, paid spectacular sala- ries and genuinely believed in things like Friday dressing and company gyms. A land, if you will, of plentiful Sodexho booklets and high-quality company logo polo shirts. In the email, the CEO (Bob Some- thing) thought aloud about the work culture prevalent in his office: How long did his people work? What work- life balance did they achieve? How many of his people worked late? When did security finally close the building? And he sounded very upset. People were working too long, he said, and that too for no reason that was appar- ent to him. He wondered when they pursue passions outside work. And it went on. But before I reveal the rest of that email forward, let us analyse. First, you are surely thinking, this is one of those emails that the HR head sat next to him and made him write. Full of irritants like team, friend, partners in success, last but not least and so on. It wasnt. This was an actual outpouring of CEO grief. Perhaps, I hear you persisting with profundity, but is it anything new? Don t all CE Os and managers, at sev- eral points in the year, make this very same speech? Indeed isn t this part of their CEO orientation programme along with the the Rumours of my I sold a few shares for some personal family need onlyemails? Fair point. While most senior man- agement has perfected the art of show- ing other people the virtues of a bal- anced work life, they really dont do much to help underlings achieve it. Instead, every quarter or two, at the office party open bar, a senior manag- er will tell a gaggle of underlings how easy it is to balance: I run a marathon every weekend, he will say. And ev- ery evening I go swimming at the In- dia Habitat Centre... he will spout, sipping the Laphroaig that appears at the bar only when he does. At this point the eyes of one under- ling, and there is always one, will glaze over with faux admiration. Too much, sir! How do you do all these wonderful things and such a super job in the of- fice? You are great! I am Vikram from second floor accounting. But you are simply amazing. (We will talk exclu- sively about the Vikram variety in a fu- ture Cubiclenama.) Oh, I manage time by delegating! boss will say, leaving out details of his two secretaries, executive assistant and the fact that each time his email stops working, someone in admin gets two weeksnotice. And if it s not dele gation, the ulti- mate secret is either focus, planning, speed or, my personal worst, prioriti- zation. That one just makes the skin crawl. I welcome you to try I under- stand there is a blazing fire in our pa- per factory. But my cousin s son’s mundan is tonight, so... with the boss. How many times have you sat in of- fice, bags packed, computer making those shutting down noises, when big boss pops his head out and says some- It s one thin g to talk about worklif e balance, and entirely another to do something about achieving it JAYACHANDRAN/ MINT
