Two recent incidents have adversely affected India’s image and global competitiveness. One, the US Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded India’s civil aviation safety rating and the other, small Indian cars have failed the safety tests of the European new car assessment programme. Earlier, the US health care regulator had put a ban on India’s pharma giant Ranbaxy, which is now owned by the Japanese. The reasons for these setbacks differ but coming as they are in succession, they tell a story of the failure of regulation and thus, by extension, of governance. This does not redound to the credit of a nation which aspires to be the third largest economy in less than two decades.
As it transpires, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had been warned in advance about a possible downgrading but it chose to ignore it while allowing the situation to deteriorate. An official reaction that if the US regulatory standards were to be applied across the board, few pharmaceutical companies would pass muster is shocking enough to shake the foundations of India’s status as a major drug exporter. India has been in the forefront of the campaign to promote the use of drugs by their generic names, rather than by their brand names.
04/02/14 Indian Express
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As it transpires, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had been warned in advance about a possible downgrading but it chose to ignore it while allowing the situation to deteriorate. An official reaction that if the US regulatory standards were to be applied across the board, few pharmaceutical companies would pass muster is shocking enough to shake the foundations of India’s status as a major drug exporter. India has been in the forefront of the campaign to promote the use of drugs by their generic names, rather than by their brand names.
04/02/14 Indian Express
