New Delhi, Aug 12: Yesterday’s billionaires are India’s most defaulting billionaires today, said journalist Josy Joseph while releasing his book ‘A Feast of Vultures – The Hidden Business of Democracy in India’ here on Thursday.

“Defaulters of the 1990s, when I started reporting, are today’s most defaulting billionaires. I am sure today’s defaulters will be tomorrow’s billionaires and this cycle will continue”, the award-winning journalist told media here.

“I thought I should break this cycle, stand up and speak,” he added.

His book lays bare the corruption across all levels, from village panchayats to the top echelons of government and private sector, which is corroding India’s innards.

The writer said: “It is regretful that we give moral lectures about other people’s corruption but we have stopped looking within ourselves. I primarily wrote this book for this reason.

“Most importantly, I wrote this book for my 13-year-old daughter Supriya. I felt that children of her generation should not inherit the India that we inherited. We were told that bribing is the way of life. I hope we don’t pass on such ideologies to these kids,” he explained.

Joseph was selected by Prem Bhatia Trust as India’s best political reporter of 2011, for a series of investigative reports, including the Adarsh scam, several corrupt decisions in organising the Commonwealth Games, etc.