PHFI- CORPORATE LINK IS NOT CONFLICT OF INTEREST

PHFI- CORPORATE LINK IS NOT CONFLICT OF INTEREST

-Dr. Rajan R Patil

There is criticism from several corners that reputed people who are joining PHFI as board members are lending their reputation for wrong body since PHFI is overloaded with corporate heads.


1) We naeed to engage PHFI, or else the entire space will be taken over by
corporate CEOs- hence we should appreciate that people like Ravi Narayan,
mashelkar, narayan murthy should proactively be part of PHFI.


2) There is nothing wrong in Naryan Murthy joining PHFI because apart from
adding cerebral aura people like him will hep in utilizing the funds in fair and
just manner


I still insist that we need to stop being judgmental about people choosing to
be part of PHFI and certainly not personally attack or question their integrity
or their ethical standards. This was happening repeatedly in these e-groups,
thats how i protested against this uncalled for holier than thou attitude.
Just by not joining PHFI one does not automatically take on the ethical or moral
mantle. Lets facet it, There are unethical people in NGOs and there are also
highly ethical people in private sector. Lets stop brushing everybody in sector
other than ours with same brush.



Different people would like to bring in change in different ways, so these
different approaches need to be respected. Some may be comofortable in trying
to change by criticizing from outside, some may chose to join in and change
the same from inside which calls for greater courage of conviction and
strength of character.



Thats the reason i respect the doers over preachers. Strategy adopted by
people like Ravi Narayan who has been unfairly denigraded in these egroups Â
is in fact more commendable in comparison arm chair moralist preachers, and
thats the reason i continue to hold him in high regard. There is no need to
look down upon like him and other who have already proven their credibility like
Narayan Murthy or Amarthya Sen all of whom are not bunnies. They have achieved
great things in life because they have ALWAYS followed their conviction and not
chartered the their life path on the advice of others. If they are joining
PHFI following their conviction, they are doing with full conscience and there
is absoultely no need to advice them what to and what not to do. They exactly
know what they are doing especially at this stage of life- they are not mercy of
unsolicited advice. Lets have faith in them that the values for which they have
stood all their life,they will continued to be guided by the same value system even when they become part of PHFI.



The same holds true for the people who join UN agencies, world bank or WHO,
corporate bodies- lets not take it for granted that they have dropped their
moral bar (that would povlovian reflex) just by mere joining these institutions
one does not become corrupt-Â one can still keep up to their ethical standards
(unless otherwise proven) all these institutions certainly need people with
values, so let us encourage them as well.



morale of the story:



Conflict of interest stems from selfish motive/ intent that is converted into
action for personal gain and not by simple assoication. As long as one is being fair and upright in his or her coduct-, conflict of interest does not come into play- in spite of potentially having conflict of interest a-priori.



regards,

Dr. Rajan R Patil
Asst Professor
Division of Epidemiology
School of Public Health
SRM University
Chennai, India
9445811610
rajanpatil@yahoo.com