I wrote an article in the Economic Times today about autonomy for bodies such as the CBI.
There are five areas where there is a role for autonomy. But this is a difficult puzzle in public administration and we should be wary of simplistic solutions. We know a bit about how to do autonomy correctly in three areas (monetary policy, financial regulation, infrastructure regulation). Comparable cogitation is required for the other two problems (criminal investigation, tax administration).
For all enforcement agencies with coercive powers of the state (arrest,search,seizure),their accountability and transparency,to the law,to the people's representatives,and to the government,are essential.They should not be allowed to become rogue agencies under the pretext of autonomy.
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