The Forum of Free Enterprise is a non-political organization founded in 1956 by A. D. Shroff and has been established to educate public opinion in India on free enterprise and a democratic way of life. The Forum publishes booklets to further its objects. The following booklet titled “The Vicious Cycle Of Vittal’s Law” was published on May 14, 1991, and was authored by N. Vittal. The author attempts to answer questions like how and why in our organizations we have more and more people doing less and less work and how the most hardworking ends up with more work while the most inefficient gets to the top. He explains this using, what he calls, the ‘Vittal’s Law’. According to the law in any organisation, those who work will tend to get more work while those who do not work will get pay, perquisites and promotions. Through personal experiences, he finds out that in every organisation, there are quite a few people engaged in the game of buck-passing. He argues that Vittal’s Law also explains why countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong are flourishing and our country is lagging behind. In his concluding remarks, the author suggests steps to escape the vicious cycle of ‘Vittal’s Law’. He recommends recognising the insidious impact of this law, restructuring work in a way that even the unwilling laggards will be made to perform and simplifying procedures and systems to reduce buck passing and cross-referencing. And lastly, creating a situation whereby genuine work is rewarded.