POLITICAL DIARY                             

New Delhi, 6 November 2010

Corruption Unlimited

INDIA’s OSAMA BIN LADEN

By Poonam I Kaushish

Have you noticed how a bunch of ants surround a cube of sugar? In the Indian lexicon replace the ants with our netagan and sugar with corruption. Voila, one has the answer: Corruption is India’s creepy-crawly Osama bin Laden! Which permeates the very core of daily Government functioning and has ensnared the country in its vicious tentacles with the devil taking the hindmost.

Tragically, this truism was underscored last week when the media exposed how the aam aadmi’s ‘Adarsh’ leaders scandalously ‘bombed out’ a prime defence property in Mumbai meant for the families of Kargil martyrs. By cornering flats for family and friends at a fraction of the market rate in the 31-storeyed plush Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society in connivance with the military authorities. From Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, down

his predecessors Vilasrao Deshmukh (Union Heavy Industries Minister) and Narayan Rane (Revenue Minister) all benefitted.

Big deal! In a country where political morality is non-existent, what corruption are we taking out? Aren’t we accustomed to an immoral, corrupt, criminal and unaccountable polity who could stoop to anything for paisa. Loot, bribe and deals have become the bedrock of our system with none interested in reforming it. Wherein a ghotala of a few thousands crores is not worth feeding the chara of morality. Shrugged of as one of the “unlisted” perks of their job.

What troubles one is the new dimension of this age-old malaise. That it did not strike any chord among our leaders who have reduced graft to a farcical political pantomime. There is no sense of outrage or shame. All conveniently washing their hands off corruption by calling it a “systematic failure.”

Epitomised by the Congress High Command’s  inability to sack the Chief Minister on the facetious plea of ordering an “internal probe” and remaining deafeningly silent on corruption and probity in public life. Just as it has on the litany of accusations surrounding the Rs 70,000 crore Commonwealth Games loot, the Rs 65,000 crore 3G spectrum scandal et al. Does instituting various committees wash of the crimes of Messers Kalmadi, Raja and co?

Look at the irony. The inequity in the system is such that while a   petty thief languishes in jail for years and a junior babu caught for accepting a princely bribe of Rs.1000 is immediately suspended, a leader who ‘transacts’ crores goes scot free.  On the facetious plea that there are “innocent till proven guilty” and the “law will take its own course.” Or hide behind the smokescreen of "verdict of the electorate" to escape punishment by manipulating the system.

Till date since Independence no leader has been held accountable leave alone put behind bars. Cocooned by continuing to be a law unto themselves and ruling by law. All following the example of Louis XIV who claimed, “I am the State!” Read Madhu Koda, Laloo Yadav, Mayawati, Mulayam, Jayalalitha etc. Sadly, the principle of “sovereign immunity” continues to protect our polity. Operating in the expanded concept of “instrumentality of State”. No matter that the principle is a contradiction in a democracy.

Little wonder then that the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that India has slipped three places in global rankings of most corrupt countries, from 84 in 2009 to 87 this year among 178 countries. Not only that. Transparency International recently released the Global corruption barometer for 2009. It reveals that our neta’s are the MOST corrupt lot even more than the police and bureaucrats. 

Not a few assert that the cost of corruption to the country might exceed Rs. 250,000 crores. Leading even the Supreme Court to lament and express concern over growing corruption in Government machinery. Said an anguished Bench last week, “nothing moves without money.”

For instance, the total spending for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is pegged at a whopping Rs. 10,000 crore. According to the Election Commission the break-up of monies spent sheds some interesting insights: Rs 1,300 crore was by the Commission, Rs 700 crore by the Centre and State Governments while the largest sum, Rs 8,000 crore was spent by political parties and individual candidates.

Raising a moot point? How and from where did the parties and candidates get the money? The answer is a no-brainer. While parties attract money from big pocket industrialists. Whereby, the favoured are rewarded with huge contracts or large tenders with an unwritten sub-text: in-built kickbacks.  Candidates, on their part fund elections by taking bribes, getting jobs done, bluntly, act like venture capitalists, wherein once elected an MP or MLA will not settle for less than a 10-fold return.

Sadly, our powers-that-be fail to realise that corruption not only perpetuates poverty but makes the poor poorer. Think. Sleaze erodes and cripples the capacity of the State to provide the aam aadmi roti, kapada aur makaan forget bijli, sadak aur paani. Recall, Rajiv Gandhi’s memorable words in 1984, “Only a mere 16 paisa of Re one spent by the Government reaches the poor,” he thundered. Thus, the ‘siphoning-off’ by middle men reduces its capability to offer infrastructural support to the poor.

More. Corrupt Governments at the Centre and State tend to focus spending of public money on large contracts since bribes are large. Consequently, public spending on health and education becomes a lower priority which in turn perpetuates poverty. Resulting in increasing the marginalisation of the most vulnerable in society, rising discontent, deprivation, lack of choice and helplessness which if not rectified could incite the aam aadmi to take recourse to violence.

What next? As India aspires to sit at the high-table of nations, it needs to rid it self of the stigma of deep-rooted corruption at all levels. Time to recall what Mahatma Gandhi said about the “corrupt” Congress in May 1939. “I would go to the length of giving the whole Congress a decent burial, rather than put up with the corruption that is rampant.” His outburst was against rampant corruption in Congress Ministries formed under the 1935 Act in six States in 1937. 

Even as our polity swears by Gandhi and promises to uphold his ideals they need to realize that license to govern does not mean license to be corrupt. Gandhiji believed in the need for creating a social climate against corruption, which meant creating an atmosphere in which the corrupt could not thrive. 

All in all, the UPA and its leaders, especially Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chairperson Sonia Gandhi are clearly on test. Are they serious about combating corruption or have they willy nilly decided to surrender shamelessly to horrendous corruption? Time is of vital essence to ensure the return of probity, accountability, morality and good governance for strengthening our nascent democracy.

For this our leaders must devise a political mechanism to create a social atmosphere by empowering the aam janata. Replacing one corrupt Tweedledum with another corrupt Tweedledee is not the challenge. Rather, the challenge is to overhaul politics.  Anyone game? ----- INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)