New Delhi: As expected the Corporate Affair Minister Salman Khurshid’s counsel to companies on October 4 to refrain from paying ‘vulgar salaries’ to CEOs has sparked not merely a debate but a storm of protests.

Under the new policy of liberalization, it is understood that better workers can hope for better remuneration and that incentives will be provided for industries to develop. And India has seen better results on the economic front thanks to the new policy initiated by Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh. They are no longer apologetic about discarding socialistic principles as regards economic development.

Amusing reasoning
Now some of the arguments in defense of fat pay packets are amusing. One plea is that the payments to top managers should be seen in the light of the wealth they help generate.

But the fallacy in this is that the growth of any industrial unit should be seen as the result of team work by thousands and to pick up some top men for encomiums is apparently unfair.

What is the justification for one cricketer to net in Rs 180 crore a year through endorsements, loyalty etc? Modeling is alright but if burdens the common consumers of drugs, soaps and soft drinks burdens with crores of extra payment how can that be justified. After all ultimately all costs are passed on to the common man. Amitabh Bachchan can boast of owning property worth Rs 7000 crores along with numerous other khans. They have got it all from cine goers, ordinary workers —a perennial cyclical transfer of wealth to the rich.

Unlike earlier times, corporate success does not depend always on hard work put in. Take the case of fashion design firms or marketers of cosmetic products. They make big profits simply because of man’s vanity! Not necessarily the marketing skill of a genius. It is the rickshaw pullers, vendors, domestic helps and such lowly people who fill the coffers of a Reliance unit selling cell phones. And it is incumbent on such firms to better the lot of the downtrodden from whom, money had reached their coffers..

Life styles:
And in a poor nation, even the affluent should avoid ostentation. It is certainly not appropriate for an industrialist to squander Rs 200 crore on a daughter’s marriage or for another to build a 27-story residence with a helipad in a nation that still has millions who can’t afford safe drinking water.

The compensation can certainly be in commensurate with efforts put in by the specialized team. But the astronomical sums paid to big bosses certainly looks extravagant. Not all those who get wealthy are experts or hard workers. Very often wealth results automatically from a manipulation of supply and demand for a product and service.

It is presumed that the proposal for restricting the huge pay packets came in the wake of the austerity measures being talked about. The subsequent debate has thrown up comparisons with the perks enjoyed by politicians in our legislatures, bureaucrats in governments and incomes earned by cricketers and Bollywood icons. Are these payments justified? Are they in commensurate with efforts put in by recipients? It is good that such questions are being asked now.

Partly this society, of which we are a part, should be blamed for the state of affairs. A state that promotes sale of lotteries and earns huge revenue through sale of liquor do not set good examples in financial discipline or simple living. In fact greed is being promoted in many forms .

The rat race for success prompted by the current materialism means ‘grabbing as much as one can.’ In a society which worships success and power, the wisdom of an Einstein will have little impact! He wrote: ‘A successful man is one he who receives a great deal from his fellowmen , usually incomparably more than corresponds to the service to them. The value of a man , however, should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.’ .

Work Culture
The present boom in the Indian economy has been propelled by the purchasing power of the middle and higher income groups and not from the prosperity of the poor! And when India hopes to become a super power in the 2020s, it will offer little comfort to millions who will find even the basic minimum health, education and food out of their reach.

If all men are created equal, their needs too should be considered similar and the assumption of men differing in abilities should not be made a matter for atrocious discrimination in respect of compensation for labour. Who makes one differ from another? This is a mystery still; a secret that the Creator had not disclosed to the human race. Better reward for harder work is justified; but the huge differences in the pay scales of higher placed and specialized workers and those at the lower rung are thoroughly unjust.

The socialist goal of ‘from each according to his ability and to each according to his need’ is something which has not been achieved even in communist nations. But when we are rushing towards an economic utopia, with our liberalism, this welfare ideal should not be lost sight of. Ultimately the rich and the well- to- do are not safe in an ocean of poverty. Crime-ridden cities, suicides, the extremists’ violence should all be taken as warnings reflecting that the patience of the desperate are reaching dangerous levels.

But more than three decades of socialist policies, (after winning freedom) it must be admitted, had only promoted corruption, hypocrisy, idleness and jealousy among the people. Trade union leaders and communists who profess sympathy for the poor should bear responsibility for the abysmal lack of development in pockets of poverty. They have only taught workers to keep on grabbing unmindful of the poor work culture that has been promoted. With no accountability and with increasing desire to grab more while putting in the least is no magic formula for ushering in prosperity.

The Capitalist class on the other hand has taken the route of ruinous entertainment and stupor. They have set up as models, cricketers, fashion designers, actresses and actors and entertainers on a high pedestal as role models. The tears and pains of fellow beings do not seem to move them.

What is the work culture that will save this country and usher in real prosperity all around? A clergyman of old, Rev Washington Gladden, has put it in these words: ‘ One thing I am resolved upon: I will not be a sponge or a parasite. I will give an honest equivalent for what I get. I want no man’s money for which I have not rendered a full return. I want no wages that I have not earned. If I work for any man or any company or any institution, I will render a full, ample, generous service. If I work for the city or state I will give my best thought, my best effort, my most conscientious and efficient endeavor. No man, no body of men, shall ever be made poor by their dealings with me.If I can give a little more than I get every time, in that shall be my happiness. The great commonwealth of human society shall not be the loser through me. I will take good care to put into the common fund more than I take out.’