India Inc Joins 17,000-Strong Plea to End Parliament Logjam as Reform Clock Ticks

New Delhi: 'Disheartened' by the continuing disruptions in Parliament, top industrialists including Rahul Bajaj, Adi Godrej and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw have signed an online petition along with 17,000 persons to end the gridlock.

The petition urges all political parties to end the logjam and begin a consultative and collaborative process for passage of key reforms Bills.

Started by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) five days ago, the online petition has been signed by top business leaders such as Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej, Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj, Hero Group's Sunil Kant Munjal and Pawan Munjal and Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

More than 17,000 people have already signed the online petition on Change.org, and these also include Punj Lloyd chairman Atul Punj, GVK Power & Infrastructure vice-chairman G V Sanjay Reddy, Tata Power chief Anil Sardana, Boston Consulting Group's India head Janmejaya Sinha, NIIT's Vijay Thadani and HCC's CMD Ajit Gulabchand.

Elaborating on the petition, CII said the parliamentary paralysis can lead to weakening of India's democracy.

"There is a spread of political power between the opposition and the government in Parliament. Both have an important role to play. Both have responsibility to discuss and resolve political issues... Recent events have been disheartening. They have the potential of eroding popular faith in Parliament," it said.

"We, therefore, urge all political parties to have a collaborative and consultative process in Parliament and allow it to function, debate and legislate," CII added.

Apart from industrialists, academicians such as IIM Ahmedabad Professor Piyush Kumar Sinha and IIT Madras Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala have signed the petition.