Devender Sikri delivers lecture on The Market Regulator: Exploring New Areas of Mutual Cooperation

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Devender K. Sikri, Chairman-indianbureaucracy
Devender K. Sikri, Chairman-indianbureaucracy

Devender K. Sikri, Chairman, Competition Commission of India (CCI) delivered a lecture on “The Market Regulator: Exploring New Areas of Mutual Co-operation” organised by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) here.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sikri said that there is a need for cooperation and mutual sharing between the two regulators i.e. CVC and CCI. He threw light on the fact how Indian economy has changed during the years since independence. He said that the economy has changed from being a closed economy to an open economy in the post-liberalization era after 1990s. He said that competition is essential for the benefit of consumers and the society and economy at large. Shri Sikri said that CCI was set up in 2002 to fulfill this aim of competitive economy and to curb the anti-competitive practices especially by means of mergers and acquisitions. To promote and sustain competition, the regulators are needed in the market, he added. He also gave example of certain sectors including telecom and aviation, where the competition has helped in enhancing the choices of consumers and giving them benefit. At the same time, he said that there are certain sectors where the fair competition is still required to give the real benefit to the economy and the consumers. He said that various factors such as cartelization and collusion/nexus between the stakeholders lead to embezzlement of funds thus resulting in an adverse impact on the economy.

Elaborating on the issues related to procurement, Shri Sikri said that this is the common area where CVC and CCI can play a role by mutual cooperation. He said that there are various guidelines related to the procurement process in India, but still certain practices exist e.g. procurement continuing for many years, limited number of empanelled vendors, no attempt to expand vendors on panel by the authorities etc. To check these activities, he said that regulators should explore areas of cooperation and the CVOs should be sensitized in this matter. He also emphasized on the transparency in these processes.

Shri K. V. Chowdary, Chief Vigilance Commissioner said that this was the ninth lecture of the Lecture Series initiated by the CVC. The lecture series was initiated by the CVC in November, 2015 as part of a knowledge management initiative for senior officers of the vigilance administration in Central Government departments and Central Public Sector Enterprises Board level officers, he added. He also said that the lecture is viewed by a larger audience comprising of officers across the country and also the public through the live webcast on the Commission’s website. The lectures provide an opportunity for the officers to interact with eminent personalities who are at the cutting edge of policy making.

Some of the lectures delivered under this series include lecture by Shri Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General of India on the topic “The Role of CVC in the present scenario”, Shri Bibek Debroy, Member, NITI Aayog on “Making Governance Effective”, Shri Shashi Kant Sharma, Comptroller and Auditor General of India on “Accountability in Public Private Partnership”, Shri Ranjit Kumar, Solicitor General of India on “Sanction for Prosecution under IPC & PC Act-Role of CVC”, Shri Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser on “Economic Governance and Development”, Shri Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog on Indian Economy: where from and where to”, Dr. J M Vyas, Director General, Gujarat Forensic Sciences University on “Role of forensic science in investigation and vigilance” and Shri P K Sinha, Cabinet Secretary on “Vigilance as a tool for Good Governance”.

The Vigilance Commissioners Shri Rajiv and Shri T. M. Bhasin, Secretary, CVC Ms Nilam Sahani were also present on the occasion.

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