Corporate governance can be a lab for good political governance: Khurshid

With the economy witnessing a gradual recovery from the after-effects of the global meltdown, the country's corporate sector can try to redefine its responsibility and accountability towards society through voluntary uptake by businesses, said Salman Khurshid, minister of state for corporate affairs aid today.

He said coprporate governance could be a laboratory for good political governance in India, in an address as the chief guest at a conference, The Next Face of India Inc', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development.

Khurshid said if the society sets expectations on the various aspects of corporate governance, the government can just be a catalyst to the whole exercise as it will be much easier for it to implement guidelines on corporate social responsibility (CSR).

However, he pointed out that there is a need to make development sustainable, and this is possible only when CSR is internal to businesses. The government would prefer to opt for a liberal route in an enlightened role involving dialogue and partnerships.

When inspiration and initiatives do not result in improvement, the role of instructions from the government is inevitable. The government does not want to be like moral policeman, and businesses must try to convert CSR from a philosophy to real deliverables.

Earlier,  R Bandyopadhyay, secretary, ministry of corporate affairs, said if yet another economic meltdown had to be avoided, companies must not only think of consolidating the present but also the future.