Co-chairs of the India Economic Summit on Tuesday sounded critical of the Government of India’s “perceived ineffectiveness” in tackling socio-economic problems. Members of the panel, comprising CEOs of six multinational corporations, told Home Minister P Chidambaram that problems in India were aplenty, but the government did not seem to be acting with a sense of urgency.

“We’ve talked about all issues and what needs to be done. Now we’ve got to show progress against the action and I think progress has to be faster than it has been,” said Pepsico CEO Indira Nooyi. “I know the problems are enormous, Mr Chidambaram and I know the administration has a lot of issues to face, but I think the issues are growing exponentially while the solutions are coming at a very slow pace. That's not a very good equation to contend with.”

While responding to criticisms during the final session of the three-day World Economic Forum summit, Chidambaram cited programmes aimed at expanding women's welfare, education for the poor and healthcare and said the government was not organised for swift action. He said the solution to India’s growing

challenges had more to do with accountability of the programmes and plans, not new policies or more employees to execute them.

“No, I don’t think the problems are growing at a rate faster than our capacity to find solutions. I think, where the gap is growing is in accountability,” The Union Home Minister said in response to Nooyi's claim. “The issue is in what they say they will do and what they’ll actually do.”

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