Regulatory Coordination Key for Promoting Responsible Business

Regulatory Coordination Key for Promoting Responsible Business

New Delhi, June 20, 2013

“While the reforms in the regulatory environment of key sectors are vital and urgent, other conditions for creating a culture of responsible business are equally important. In a highly diverse and democratic country, such as India, consensus building is required for all stakeholders to move together, forward and faster”’ said Shri Arun Maira, Member of the Planning Commission of India, while releasing CUTS report titled ‘Rethinking Business Responsibility in India: A review of Pharmaceutical and Private Healthcare sectors’ in New Delhi.

Shri Maira also observed that there is need for a change in the governance and functioning of public and business institutions in the current Indian context, especially the way they interact with stakeholders and the society at large

Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General of CUTS said that it is important to analyse the effectiveness of regulatory institutions/processes and their impact on responsible conduct of business, so that they can be better corporate citizens and add value.

Mehta added, there is a simultaneous need for initiating a discourse in the country that can enable the regulatory regimes aimed at promoting economic growth to also facilitate responsible business and awareness among consumers and other stakeholder groups in the key sectors of economy.

The project leader, Rijit Sengupta, Director of CUTS briefed the media, that CUTS has implemented this project (referred to as the BRCC project across four states of the country (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal). The main goal of the project was to assess the drivers and challenges for promoting responsible business behaviour in the pharmaceutical and private healthcare sectors

He added, that the project is also to test the application of the Government of India’s National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environment & Economic Responsibilities of Business, which were adopted in 2011 http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/latestnews/National_Voluntary_Guidelines_2011_12jul2011.pdf. CUTS is working closely with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in this campaign.

The project report has mapped the institutional context of the two sectors, gathered data from different stakeholders to understand the realities and challenges and presented findings on different facets of regulation and implications for business behaviour in the two sectors. The report can be accessed at
Rethinking_Business_Responsibility_in_India.pdf.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Rijit Sengupta, Director, CUTS (rsg@cuts.org; +91 9828285928)

Mr. Vikash Batham, Senior Programme Officer, CUTS (vb@cuts.org; +91 9460707005)