'Good leader leaves behind a better leader'

HYDERABAD: Former governor of Reserve Bank of India, Y V Reddy, stressed on the need for better governance, especially in the public sector which he said is often encouraged to mimic the private sector these days.  Speaking at a conference on `Leadership & corporate governance in turbulent times' organised in the city by the School of Management Studies (University of Hyderabad) on Friday, Reddy said that is was poor governance that led to the micro-finance trouble last year.  Reddy, in response to questions posed at him during the session, expressed concern over the underlining feudalism prevalent in the country, which was leading to concerns of dearth in second-rung leadership in the country. Taking the example of a family enterprise, the Padma Vibhushan awardee said that family members are preferred to take over as successors as against an outsider, irrespective of the individual's credentials. "That is why I personally feel that a good leader is one who is able to ensure there are better leaders after him," Reddy said.  He said, "I had the good fortune to have people like  Dr.Jalan and others as my superiors who were men of great intellect and capability. My short five-year stint as a leader (I was following orders the rest of my career), was inspired by such people and what I learnt from them."  Reddy then went on to speak about crisis situations during his stint in the RBI and elaborated on one incident that took place in the nineties. "We had to decide on whether or not to sell gold to clear India's debts. That was a crucial choice and after much deliberation we went ahead with it," Reddy said.  Further, answering questions as to why RBI decided to abruptly increase interest rates, when the US, also reeling under inflation, has not, the former governor said: "The economic cycle of every country is not the same. Increasing the rates in India was a necessity. I said this when I was governor and I still maintain my stand."