Accountability: Angst, Awareness, Action

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The Accountability Deficit

The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.

 

Goethe, 1749–1832

The word ‘deficit’ conjures up an image of an economy that is mismanaged, with significant trade imbalances and large-scale fiscal profligacy. The most worrisome ‘deficit’ that India faces, however, is not of a macro-economic nature; rather, it is the substantial deficit of accountability in our country's governance. Discuss the morning newspaper with your family, attend a business conference, chat with your office colleagues or friends, and you will find that the conversation invariably turns to the misgovernance in India. The mind-space that governance issues occupy in the Indian conversation is large, especially after the recent public ...