OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2012. The city of Durgapur witnessed a unique initiative by the country’s largest eCommerce company mjunction, when it hosted a not-for-profit conference called the Movement for Efficiency and Transparency (MET). MET is an endeavour to recognise, reward and replicate models of creating efficiency and transparency in society and businesses. The movement which was kickstarted with the successful launch of the inaugural MET conference in Kolkata in August 2011 was followed by three MET conferences in Jamshedpur in December 2011, Bokaro in March 2012 and Bhilai in June 2012. The MET conference in Durgapur provided a further thrust in making the movement a nationwide initiative. Through this conference mjunction expects to recognise people who have transcended barriers of bureaucracy, inefficiency and opaqueness and also provide a platform to the achievers to share their ideas with others so that they can be replicated.

The conference witnessed an enriching panel discussion on the subject of Efficiency and Transparency - the key to an ever flourishing society, wherein change leaders like Rangan Varadan, co-founder, Micro Graam; Arnab Basu, partner, PwC; Joylita Saldanha from Janaagraha; and Himanshu Tayal from Hole-in-the-Wall; joined in sharing their views and opinions. The conference also saw PK Singh, CEO, Durgapur Steel Plant, and Viresh Oberoi, founder, MET and MD, mjunction addressing the audience on the subject of efficiency and transparency.

Mr Singh welcomed the distinguished panellists to Durgapur and said, “It has been our culture to bring awareness about transparency, probity and integrity among our employees. On the one hand, we have well-laid down sets of rules, regulations and guidelines for all spheres of our business activities and on the other hand, we have systems in place to ensure that the rules and regulations are implemented in letter and spirit. The fact that SAIL, a maharatna company, in-spite of having to strictly follow so many rules and regulations, has been consistently doing good as a commercial organisation, is a testimony to the fact that we have been transparent as well as efficient in the conduct of our business.”

Introducing the movement to the audience at Durgapur, Mr Oberoi said, “We have ushered in transparency and efficiency in the sales processes of the steel and coal supply chains in India, as also to the sourcing and procurement processes across industries. Similarly MET has also been instituted with a thought process of recognising those who have brought about efficiency and transparency across aspects of governance, corporate and social life. MET is a platform to identify, appreciate, exchange and amplify contributions of individuals and organisations. It is a forum for the change agents to share their vision, experiences and stories and thereby encourage others to join the movement. Our ultimate goal is to catalyse and inspire similar achievements in civil society.”

Mr Varadan spoke about the journey of Micro Graam and its vision to create and run a platform for impact investment, intended to create a positive impact beyond financial returns. Mr Basu took the audience through the changing face of the enterprise in India. He spoke about the role of technology to drive efficiency and transparency. Ms Saldanha spoke about the journey of Janaagraha in transforming the quality of life in India’s city and towns. She demonstrated the power of the current projects “I Paid a Bribe” and “I Change my City”.

Mr Tayal shared with the audience the very interesting concept of Hole-in-the-Wall that even in the absence of any direct input from a teacher, an environment that stimulates curiosity can cause learning through self-instruction and peer-shared knowledge.

Hosted at the Synergy Hall, CHRD Centre, Durgapur Steel Plant, by mjunction and supported by SAIL Durgapur Steel Plant, the conference saw significant participation, with over 200 people from diverse fields and background of the city joining in. The relevance of such initiative is apparent not only in what is happening within the country today but also in the world view of India. India’s ranking in corruption perception index by transparency international has fallen significantly from 70 to 87 out of the surveyed 178 countries in a span four years from 2006 to 2010. The integrity score for India is a dismal 3.3 on 10, 10 being the highest.

Additionally, Washington DC based research group Global Financial Integrity records that India has lost over USD 125 billion in illicit outflows between 2000 and 2008. Contrary to the expectations that a growing economy will create better infrastructure and better standard of living, the gini coefficient , which measures income inequality has gone up from 0.32 to 0.37 on a scale of 0 to 1 (1 being the highest income inequality) from 2000-2005.