Krishna rues govt-corporate split

Krishna rues govt-corporate split
Says Jerome’s Transfer Was Sad; Won’t Advise Dharam Govt
Times of India

Mumbai: Former Karnataka CM and Maharashtra governor S.M. Krishna on Tuesday said he was saddened by the break-up in the partnership between India Inc and the Dharam Singh government and the transfer of Bangalore Development Authority commissioner Jayakar Jerome. He said he had no intention of advising the government in Bangalore, but said these were “sad’’ developments.

Within 24 hours of moving into Raj Bhavan here, he told The Times of India that during his tenure as CM, many volunteers from the corporate world had formed a partnership with the state government to qualitatively improve governance, specially in Bangalore. The most important thing for these businessmen-volunteers was time, and this they gave in ample measure to make Bangalore a better place to live in.

“Many of these corporate volunteers of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force used to spend as many as 18 hours at the headquarters of the Bangalore municipal corporation, where even dead employees were being paid salaries, in an effort to improve its working. These were persons who had created wealth of unparalleled magnitude and wanted to assist the government to improve the state.’’

He refused to give any advice to the Dharam Singh government, saying that “perhaps it knows best’’. The new government is trying to find its own path for the development of Karnataka. Without referring to Dharam Singh, he said if person is wise, he would restore the industry-government partnership.