Events & Issues

New Delhi, 1 September 2008

Rampant Corruption

WILL THERE BE AN END TO GREED?

By Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba

A tehsildar (tax collector), who was very corrupt couldn’t have done better for himself, even when punished. He was deputed to sit on the shores of the Corramandel coast, in Tamil Nadu, and given the task of counting the waves as form of a punsihment. Taking a cue from Birbal, one of Akbar’s navratanas, the tehsildar found an opportunity to make money even here. He started collecting tax from the ship captains that crossed the waves, saying that the vessel was stalling his job—of counting the waves.

The moral of the story is corruption is an age old phenomena that has been evolving over a period of time. Earlier, corruption used to be confined only to a certain section of society with large sections remaining untouched. Now, it’s a different story. Corruption appears to have percolated down to every single section of the society. It’s hard to point out where corruption is not present.

Today, we are regularly fed media reports on corruption: Bofors gun deal, Bihar’s fodder scandal, MPs Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme, the defence coffin scandal, hawala scam, cricket match-fixing, securities scandal involving Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parikh, BJP’s Bangarau Laxman, nuclear deal trust vote...the list is endless. Every new report pales the previous one into insignificance. All scream loud --that corruption is rampant and growing at an alarming pace in the country. If it goes unchecked, the nation is in peril.   

In the given background, a Chennai-based NGO Nandini - Voice for the Deprived, decided to go in for introspection into the problem of corruption. On the country’s Independence Day it held a meeting, which was attended by over 250 participants, including former IAS officers, NGOs, professionals and ordinary people from the lower income group. Among them was 88-year-old Kalyanam, and who had served as personal assistant to Mahatma Gandhi.

Delivering the keynote speech, Former Central Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal started by defining corruption as understood by the World Bank i.e. it is the ‘use of public office for private profit.’ In our country, there are five major players on the corruption scene, interdependent, strengthening and supportive of the vicious cycle. They are the corrupt politician (Neta); the corrupt bureaucrat (Babu); the corrupting businessman (Lala); the corrupt NGO (Jhola); and the criminals (Dada).

Vittal elaborated that in our system corruption flourishes because of five basic reasons:  one, scarcity of goods and services; two, red tape and complicated rules and procedures; three, lack of transparency in decision-making; four, legal cushions of safety for the corrupt under the ‘healthy’ principle that everyone is innocent till proved guilty; and five, tribalism among the corrupt, those who protect each other.

Corruption, according to him is a two-way street. For every bribe taker, there is a bribe giver. While the debate on corruption in our country has focused on the demand side of corruption, there has been a thundering silence on the supply side i.e. who bribes the public servants and politicians.

The former Vigilance Commissioner suggested a three-point plan to check corruption:  simplification of rules and procedures, empowering the public and bringing in greater transparency and effective punishment.

An important aspect of the meeting was that prior to it, 15 colleges from all over India took part in an essay competition “Rampant Corruption in India: Who is responsible.” While 11 college students won prizes, five were allowed to speak and present their views on the burning issue of corruption.  

One of the students opined that corruption follows a vicious cycle, with the root cause lying in a corrupt political system. The nexus between corrupt politicians and corrupt bureaucrats makes it look that any fight against corruption is the fight against the government itself, he regretted. The attitude of many a people that ‘so long as the work is done, it is fine’ could be yet another cause.

We, in India have a tendency to blame our politicians, government employees or higher authorities for taking bribes. But, have we ever asked ourselves how honest we are as citizens? How many of us don’t look for “a contact” to get our children admitted into a good school or college, questioned another student.

An additional underlying cause of corruption could be the tolerance of our people. Sadly, there appears to be a blatant lack of public outcry against corruption. As a result, thanks to an absence of a strong and effective public forum to oppose corruption, we simply allow it to reign over us.

Another student was intrigued as to why even well-informed people have carried this corruption burden for so long and why they haven’t revolted? Is this linked to an unflinching faith in karma theory or is it a reflection simply of utter helplessness, he wondered? Even the efforts of social activists such as Anna Hazare have not been able to make a dent. Worse, neither are educated people supporting such efforts adequately.

A participant felt that we need a second freedom struggle and the fight against corruption must begin at home. The family and schools are the two indispensable social institutions, which must be activated to fight for the revival of our value system. Functioning of these institutions at high ethical level could perhaps usher in a revolution. A revolution to change the mind set of both the giver and the taker. However, the pressure must come from the public. It should be stirred against corrupt practices. In fact, the youth can make a difference if only they had role models.

An interesting view point that emerged was that the ones who talk about corruption and ethics today happen to be sixty-plus.  Most of them, however, had been part of the corrupt system in one way or the other. But, they didn’t fight against the issues when they had the power or the energy. So, at 60 when they preach, they fail to inspire confidence amongst the youth.

Hinting towards the rise of Maoists in the country, a speaker wondered what would happen to the society, if the common man, whose interests were getting defeated by the corrupt, would one fine day take to violence as the only option available to him to improve his lot. So where do we go from here?

Be a citizen journalist, said one. Make use of modern gadgets such as cell phones with cameras to expose corrupt officials, felt another. However, a trustee of Nandini stressed that efforts must be made to develop hatred against corrupt practices and corrupt elements in our society. The root cause of corruption, he explained, is greed and the biggest challenge before us is how to overcome it. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)