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Corruption has become a major of
issue of concern for a good number of Indians in last few years.
The major scandals of recent past has shaken the ordinary people.
But are we, as citizens, serious to confront this menance once for
all ? This needs to be understand with an open mind.
Those who believes that corruption is a recent phenomenon lives in
illusions. 'Bhishma Pitamah' of Indian politics, Chanakya had
commented, "Corruption and governance are like the fish and
water". A political strategist, who commands such large following
since centuries in India and is considered as a political ideal by
majority of the politicians and by those who are part of the
governance, needs to be commended for his transparent and factual
position in Indian ruling class on this important issue.
The question arises who is not corrupt? For me any body who got an
opportunity to exploit the entrusted trust and loopholes of system
in one's own favor but refused to be tempted by the greed and lust
is a person of integrity. An individual who had never got an
opportunity to indulge in corruption can be a person of integrity
only till he gets the chance to prove otherwise.
In last quarter of century the issue of corruption has just become
an issue of politics. All those who have political aspirations had
exploited the issue to get either prominence or political power.
Unfortunately majority of these voices had exposed themselves to
be not more than that of those bubbles which have exploded before
taking the issue to a decisive stage.
With the rise of Indian middle class, the country unfortunately
has seen the rise in corruption. To an estimate every 12th house
in posh localities of Delhi and every 10th Industrial unit, big or
small, in Delhi had in past or still indulges in electricity
thefts. While traveling in public transport buses, one would
usually listen from a good number of ticket less commuters, the
word 'Staff', in case of their being confronted by the ticket
checkers. These self proclaimed 'staff members' are even ready to
react violently if pursued to give fine or advised to purchase
tickets.
Majority of the Indian newspapers furnish frivolous data to be
bracketed into the category of maximum rate slabs to get
government advertisements. The menance of paid news have reached
to an alarming proportions and innocent Indians are forced to see
and understand what the paid journalists and electronic channels
tends to educate and show.
One would be amused to see an advertisement of a tender being
invited by the government departments for goods and work projects
in newspapers. Most of the times, the cost of the advertisements
surpassed the estimated cost of the goods or work. Also, if one
minutely follows tender advertisements, the inviting department
announces the estimate cost of the goods or that of the work in
the announced tenders. There have been known instances when the
tender inviting departments has raised the cost of the goods or
work in collision with the suppliers and the contractors but if
one follows the tender mafia minutely there are more ways to
plunder the taxpayers than that of raising the cost of the goods
or work. Most of the times the tenders are awarded below the
announced estimated cost too. It is difficult to understand, how
government officials who had announced calculated estimated cost
of the goods or work, issues supply or work/contract orders below
the estimated costs. If a km of road stretch is estimated to cost
a million of rupees is awarded to a tenderer who had offered to
complete the project in less than the estimated cost, than the
officer who had calculated the estimated cost needs to be grilled
for his incompetence for calculating wrong estimate. No doubt, any
tender below the estimate cost effects the quality of the goods
and that of the project because its an open secret that the
supplier of the contractor needs to grease the palm of every
officer in the department beside keeping the concerned local
politicians in good humour. Former PM, Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi had
once rightly commented that only 15 percent of the sanctioned
amount reaches the people.
The process to get permission to initiate the prosecution of the
government officials and the ministers is near to impossible. Most
of the times the higher ups sits on the files for the permission
submitted by the investigating agencies. Governments irrespective
of the political class, easily slowdown the process of prosecution
or ensure that offenders are never prosecuted.
Between the period of 2005 - 2009 , on the recommendation of the
Central Vigilance Commission, the premium institution to fight
corruption at the central level, the Central Government had
sanctioned in just 6 percent of the cases and remaining 94 percent
of the cases were let off with departmental enquiries and minor
penalties.
As per the records available of the period till 2010, the central
government had not even responded to 236 requests of the
investigating agencies to prosecute the public servants on
corruption related charges. 66 percent of these 236 cases were
pending before the central government for more than 3 months.
Various state governments, irrespective of their political colors,
have not responded to the 84 requests of the investigating
agencies for prosecuting the officials on corruption charges
during same period.
Slow criminal justice process has become one of the factors for
the steep rise of the corrupt practices in public life. By the end
of 2010, there were nearly 10,000 CBI cased pending in the courts
and close to quarter i.e of 23 percent of these cases were pending
for more than 10 years.
In early sixties, in the year 1963, the idea of Lokpal or the
office of Ombudsman was first floated during a parliamentary
debate. After the recommendation of the First Administrative
Reforms Commission under the Chairmanship of Morarji Desai, who
later became PM too, since the year 1968 there have been eight
unsuccessful attempts to introduce Anti Corruption Bill in the
Parliament but political parties had failed to have a consensus on
the office and powers of the Lokpal.
The huge amount of wealth as being exposed in the recent scandals
had prompted the civil society to initiate the process of having a
Jan Lokpal Bill with a demand to have a strong and effective
Lokpal to tackle the menance of corruption where the citizens can
directly files complaints about any acts or omissions that
constitutes an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act
1988, against any public servant including the PM, ministers,
Members of Parliament, Government servants and employees of
Statutory Corporations with powers of enquiry, investigation,
prosecution, enforcement of orders, tapping phones and
intercepting messages, confiscating properties of the accused etc,
all proposed to be vested in one single window of Lokpal.
But there are fears that the concept of single authority with wide
ranging powers and functions to investigate and prosecute by the
same agency goes against the basic principles of separation of two
functions in the criminal justice system. The Independence of the
prosecutor would always be in question if the prosecutor and the
investigating agency both are under the overall control of Lokpal.
Another highly contentious provision in the Jan Lokpal Bill is to
limit the powers of the President to sign on the dotted lines of
the recommended names of Lokpal snatching the right of the
President to satisfy him/her that the procedure of selection as
laid down by the law have been properly followed or not.
The draft persons of Jan Lok Pal Bill have enthusiastically
ignored another important independent side of fairness by
insisting to have videography of selection procedure and making it
public. There can be instances that if all candidates had
qualified and got same marks in the interviews process and there
are deliberations to select the best from amongst them, the
freeness of the discussion are likely to be effected adversely if
discussions are allowed to made public.
Another surprising aspect of the Jan Lokpal Bill is of the
provision of having absolute discretion of the Lokpal over the use
the funds generated through the share of 10 percent of the the
confiscated money and of the penalties. This provision is against
the basic powers of legislative checks on the spending of funds
collected from the public. The second flaw in this proposed
provision is that it is silent on its source of income in case
Lokpal fails to reach to any conclusion on the complaints against
the officials and is not able to generate the required funds for
its functioning.
Also if the provisions of the bill are accepted in to to, there
are fears that the provisions would encroach upon the independence
of even Supreme Court and thus the jurisprudence.
Another anaomoly in the draft of Jan Lokpal Bill is the provision
to cover the corruption of the Central government officials only.
It is totaly silent on role of Lokpal viz a viz the cases of
corruption at the state level and its authority in case the state
Ombudsman fails in its duty to acts or ignores the complaints
against the politicans and the government officers of the states
and that of the officials of the powerful Municipal Corporations
where the level of corruption is unimaginable.
The draft gives an impression that Lokpal would be an authority
above authorities and consititutional institutions like the
controversial super authority of ''vilavyate faqih' under the
Constituion of Islamic Republic of Iran.
Anti corruption campaign is an important issue for safeguarding
the foundations of any society and nation at large. But sincerity
of all would be at stake if one fails to see the dangers of
inequality, exclusiveness, criminalisation in politics and
communalism.
The denial of the rights to oppressed groups of tribals, scheduled
castes and minorities are major issues which would endanger the
progress and unity of nation. Few talks about the important
provision of fraternity enshrined in the constitution. The concept
of togetherness is missing just because of the indifferent and
biased approach of the ruling establishment irrespective of the
political colors. Sachar Committee had revealed that the country
had failed in its paramount duty to do justice to the second
largest section of its society, the Muslims, who have became
backward in every walk of life. Denying rights to the oppressed
and the minorities is nothing but political corruption. If
financial corruption would endanger the progress of our nation,
the political corruption of exclusiveness and hatred would
endanger the unity of India.
No movement against corruption would succeed if we fails to
educated people about the dangers of temptation to vote for note
at times of elections. It is general public, who intentionally or
unintentionally encourages the malpractices and corruption by
selling their votes to those who are desperate to intrude into the
institutions of power for minting nothing but money. For a free
and transparent elections, the political parties and the civil
society should launch an agitation to have law for the state
funding of the elections for eradicating the menance of financial
corruption and nexus between leaders, officers and the corporate
houses.
It is irony that in past the campaigns against the financial
corruption have been hijacked by the communal forces to pursue
their agenda to reach to the corridors of power. Mr. Anna Hazare
cleverly understood the anguish of the younger generations against
the corruption and proved himself to be the Pied Piper to start a
campaign for the Lokpal Bill. It is need of the hour that all
those who are associated with Anna should ensure that he keeps his
campaign away from the influence of the agents of communal forces
and their mukhautas (masks) because they are more dangerous than
the cause for which he wishes to fight.
(The writer is
Secretary, Peoples' Integration Council and Member, National
Integration Council, Government of India)
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