Corruption, No. 1 national security threat, is eating into the vitals of the state, enfeebling internal security and crimping foreign policy.
India confronts several pressing national security threats. But only one of them - political corruption - poses an existential threat to the state, which in reality has degenerated into a republic of mega-scandals. The pervasive misuse of public office for private gain is an evil, eating into the vitals of the state, sapping India’s strength. When important decisions, from arms procurement to policy changes, are often tainted by corrupt considerations, it is inevitable that national security will get compromised. If India today is widely seen as a soft state, much of the blame must be pinned on the corrupt and the compromised that lead it. Such ‘softening’ of India has made the country a tempting target for those seeking to undermine its security.
India’s situation is best explained by an ancient proverb, “A fish rots from the head down.” When the head is putrid, the body politic cannot be healthy. And when those at the helm remain wedded to grand corruption, clerks or traffic police cannot be singled out for taking small bribes. In fact, it is the self-perpetuating cycle of corruption at all government levels - federal, State and local - that has turned internal security into India’s Achilles heel. As the then Chief Justice of India pointed out last year, the plastic explosives employed in the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings had been smuggled into the country due to local corrupt practices.
But it is the institutionalised corruption in high office that is eviscerating the republic. When domestic policy is seriously stained by corruption, foreign policy can hardly be dynamic and proactive.
Such is the weakening of the state that India did a better job warding off regional security threats when it was economically weak - like during Indira Gandhi’s reign - than it is able to do today, despite nearly two decades of impressive GDP growth. Economic liberalisation, paradoxically, has whetted personal greed and brought in an era of big-bucks corruption, even as a system of arbitrary environmental stoppages and clearances has taken the place of the old “licence-permit raj.”
India now is witnessing not mere corruption but national plunder. The consequence is that it is getting feebler institutionally. Yet scandals remain so recurrent that public ire over any malfeasance is short-lived.
Indeed, one strategy often employed to ease public anger over revelations of a new mega-scandal is to start targeting second-tier corruption selectively. The misuse of government agencies remains rampant.
Corruption scandals now actually resemble television soaps, with engrossing but diversionary plots. To deflect public attention, the focus in the immediate aftermath is always on government processes related to probing a scandal, not on opening judicial paths to identify the real beneficiaries and quickly recover the loot. The latest scandal over the government’s allotment of second-generation telecom spectrum in 2008 falls in the same category, although the putative loss to the national treasury has been estimated at $39 billion, or 14.3 per cent of India’s total current external debt. The sheer scale of this kickback scandal indicates that multiple political interests must have had a hand in the till. If there is any good news, it is the belated appointment of a clean professional as Telecom Minister.
Make no mistake: The spiriting away of billions of dollars to international financial safe havens constitutes more than criminal wrongdoing. When economic contracts are signed or policy decisions taken so as to net handsome kickbacks, it constitutes a flagrant assault on the national interest. India ranks among the top countries whose stolen national wealth is stashed away in Swiss bank accounts. Yet no Indian politician has ever been convicted and hanged for waging such war on the state.
Let’s be clear: Corruption stalls development, undermines social progress, undercuts the confidence of citizens in the fairness and impartiality of public administration, impedes good governance, erodes the rule of law, distorts competitive conditions in business transactions, discourages domestic and foreign investment, fosters a black market economy, and raises new security threats. In sum, corruption obstructs a country from realising its goals and undercuts national security.
The cancer of corruption in Indiahas alarmingly spread to elements within the two institutions that are central to the country’s future - the judiciary and the armed forces. Recent revelations have highlighted the deep corporate penetration of the major political parties and the manner big business influences policymaking and media coverage. The rot in the media - the nation’s supposed watchdog - stands exposed. In fact, even the integrity of the national Padma awards has been badly vitiated.
But nothing illustrates the corrosive effects of the culture of corruption better than the palpable decay of state capacity. India’s economic dynamism is rooted in its private sector-led growth. But in stark contrast to China, India does poorly wherever the state is involved. The deterioration of the state is the principal constraint on India’s ability to secure its interests. That underscores the national-security costs of widespread corruption.
Today, a self-advertised “incredible India” has no articulated national security strategy, or a defined defence policy, or a declared counterterrorism doctrine, yet it is the only large country dependent on other powers to meet basic defence needs. Instead of seeking to build a first-rate military with strategic reach and an independent deterrent, India has allowed itself to become a money-spinning dumping ground for weapons it can do without. As a result, India has emerged as the world’s top arms importer in the past decade, even as its capacity to decisively win a war erodes.
The defence of India indeed has turned into an unending scandal. Even indictments by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) have made little difference to the manner arms continue to be procured from overseas. Such imports, often clinched without transparency or open bidding, are a major source of political corruption. India shows that the more corrupt a system, the greater will be will be its corrupting power. A corrupt system quickly corrupts those who enter it, fixating them on the lure of kickbacks and on amassing pelf. Such metastasising corruption cannot be controlled simply by public funding of political parties. After all, much of the big-bucks corruption is designed to line one’s pocket, with no seeming limit to personal greed. In fact, the series of scandals during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government - from bribery-influenced arms imports and $1-billion urea contract with Oman to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars to the state in allowing private mobile telephone operators to shift from fixed licence fees to revenue sharing - served as a reminder of the growing concentration of powers in a few hands and the consequent disdain for integrated, holistic policymaking.
As in other national security challenges, the principal causes of rampant corruption are leadership deficit and governance deficit. The only way corruption can be contained is through integrity of leadership; improved governance; measures to ensure fiscal transparency; strengthened anti-bribery enforcement; government accountability; and active public involvement. The independence of investigating agencies is a prerequisite for developing an anti-corruption culture in politics and business. Yet in India, these agencies are controlled by those whom they are supposed to keep in check or investigate when a scandal unfolds. Even the vigilance system lacks autonomy and is open to manipulation. With corruption, nepotism and cronyism now endemic, Indian politics has become the safe, fast track to wealth. India freed itself from British colonialism only to come in the grip of an indigenous political class ruling the country on colonial-style principles and still functioning from colonial-era structures. It may take a second war of independence for India to gain true freedom from exploitation and pillage.
(Brahma Chellaney is the author, most recently, of Asian Juggernaut - HarperCollins USA, 2010.)
Keywords: Republic India, political scandals, 2G spectrum case, economic situation, internal security
The very fact that these are spilling out should instill confidence is us , the people , what we should strive to overcome . Let us get started .
India is on the edge of becoming a banana republic with corruption reaching the highest levels and the scams are becoming bigger with more and more money been looted. The biggest losers are the hard working sincere middle class and rural poor. From the year 148 to date, there are about 90 big scams. Please see link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notable_Scams_in_India
Can something be done,and done collectively? Can we unite against this? It is high time we do something rather than be a mute spectator to all this...
Corruption has become so much rooted it will take centuries for India to get rid of it completely. So many scandals have come to light in the past and no politician was punished. What happened to the election promise that ill gotten wealth stashed in off shore accounts will be forfeited and the guilty will be punished? HA Ha HA! The commissions instituted to probe corruption are eyewash. Politicians seeking electoral offices indulge in all kinds of corrupt practices. Votes are being purchased and after coming to power the politicians start to indulge in amassing wealth in most unscrupulous manner. There should be strict control of electoral spending and those politicians who violate the norms should be punished severely.
It is very much painful to read about the state of affairs in India. Even more so when I realize that this is probably not going to change in my generation. In Tamil there is a saying "hirudanai paarthu thirundha vittaal, thiruttai olikka mudiyathu" (roughly translates into 'unless thieves reform on their own, robbery cannot be stamped out'). While we might call for everyone to act on something or the other to better the situation, reality remains that the ones in power still have no reason to behave otherwise.
This article itself is corrupt. You have conveniently left out mentioning Karunanidhi's name (maybe your allegiance??) and yet mention Mr. Vajpayee as corrupt. How fallacious and that is indeed the state of today's fourth estate. You media have lost your moral right a long time back when you sided with criminals like Karuna and his family of goons.
Article is indeed very true and reflect the true picture of Indian political and social structure. I believe that every Indian citizen working in a government office is corrupt whether it is judiciary, police, banks, mills, RTO, or any department. Definition and meaning of corruption has changed a lot at the grass-root level, even some people don't even know when they are involved in corruption. I believe articles like these would help a lot in changing the attitude of a common man. Hence I would like to request the author to present this article in different local languages and local newspapers so that this strong message should reach to masses.
Good governance and accountability is the only answer to remove corruption.Every elected representative must be made responsible for all the wrongs in their area.
And the solution , gentlemen? Reel-life masala has the time-tested formula of an angry young man standing-up for the rights of lesser mortals, with the entire village backing him, making even a Minister eat humble pie.If only wishes had wings! But, Fairy tales aside, What if accountability started at the highest level-amongst our Judges? What if they were held to account for judgements given, were it found to be in error? Would there be a trickle-down effect, for accountability to somehow seep into public, and onwards into every Citizens', life? Utopian? There is a move, by one Thomas Easaw, to bring such a measure of judicial accountability into the form of a constitutional amendment. Whilst the proposal-called 'Justice Theory and the Ten Amendments'-was sent to, and even acknowledged by current Hon.Minister of Law & Justice, it may yet not see the light of day. The path breaking suggestions, acclaimed by the distinguished Jurist VR Iyer, is posted at scribd.com. Well, now, I wish...
There is no doubt that corruption has reached unprecedented levels and is getting practically out of control. Also that there is huge apathy from the public, who themselves are the other side of the corruption coin as bribe givers. Still there are some green shoots emerging. Recently an erstwhile chief secretary has been sentenced to prison. This would heve been unthinkable even twenty years ago. The newly emerged culture of RTI and intensive media scrutiny is also a counter-balancing force. Let us hope that these early shoots gain firm ground and grow into a people's movement against corruption. One point of contention with the author. The conversion of fixed license fee to revenue sharing in the telecom sector led to the revival of a vital sector of the economy which was facing imminent extinction, and which consequent to this move has become a runaway success. However, the NDA government had taken another decision in this sector which is a good example for this article. That was allowing fixed line players into mobility for a pittance and in contravention of the contracts with the telecom licensees. Interestingly the two prominent politicians with the cleanest images were at the helm of affairs then. Mr Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and Mr. Arun Shourie was the Telecom Minister.
I would like to take a contrarian view; instead of continuing to blame politicians, for a change we Indians should look in the mirror once in a while. It takes two to corrupt. How often do we break a rule and are too eager to bribe our way into something or out of a trouble? We as a people fully deserve the government we have. If the reasonable, honest and competent people do not enter politics, the void is going to be filled by a set of crooks that we have today in high office.
While the self-flagellation is understandable, Indians, just like the rest of human society, are not angels but merely human, subject to all the human vices including greed and corruption. Uncle Sam, despite Tamanny Halls, robber barrons and pork barrel politics, has grown to be an economic superpower. Surveying his parliamentary colleagues, His Brittanic Majesty's very first primus inter pares commented: 'Every man has his price'. After observing on television the 1997 general election battle of Tatton Common between the Hamiltons (Conservative) and Martin Bell (Independent fighting against corruption; after observing the British State conferring British citizenship on those from far-away exotic lands fleeing the long arm of the law in the Bofors scandal; after observing the recent expenses scandal of the British Parliament, it would seem that there has been precious little change in the standards of British public life since the days of Nanda Kumar, Warren Hastings and Edmund Burke. One of the reasons for petty corruption among the babus of the bureaucracy is that their labours are not adequatly compensated for. The pricing mechanism of the free market economics appears to be so sticky that the buccaneering capitalists find it expedient and profitable to bribe the important babus for a small amount rather than pay a decent living to the inevitably large government machinery.While the Congress politicians of the 1950's and 60's led by S K Patil (the Congress treasurer) funded the party machinery with improper donations for political purposes, today's politicians transfer funds from the public purse direct into their private purses including those of their extended family. It is upto the electorate to throw out the rascals instead of perpetuating democracy of the rascals, by the rascals for the rascals as we appear to be doing in Tamilnadu for the last four decades or so.
There are valuable insights in this article that apply to other countries too, including USA. Although corruption is not seen in the US at government offices that a common man deals with, the top brass is not free from it. Sure, corruption is a cancer that degenerates a society and a nation as a whole, and it must be dealt with severely.
Well said and nicely articulated. But this is just a problem statement. Where is the solution? I believe we need another era of revolution which will raise India from the derth of neopotism, cronyism and corruption. We talk about revolution but this not going to happen in a day. Whole mass has to be motivated and galvanised. They need to be made aware that their cause of misery is not 'Fate' but its the government/babus who are happily channeling their hard earned money into their bulgeoning pockets.
Awareness is the key here. Education though is important but not necessary because education does not bring wisdom. Education brings a way to communicate but Awareness brings wisdom. People at the time of British Raj were happy unless they were made to realise that their happiness is not long lasting. Their future and future of their offsprings are at stake. When that awareness became a belief, we had seen a mass uproar against Foreign Rule.
Similar efforts needs to be done again. We have to learn from History. Mere celebration of Independance Day, Gandhi Jayanti does not mean that we are Independant. Its a matrix created for us; to hide us from reality. We desperatly needs a leader, a phenomenon to terminate and overpass the prevalent ill-practices.
We might suffer for a while but i believe that pain will be beneficial and fruitful for us and for future.
No doubt the article is thought-provoking and all the commentators have expressed their anguish over this national evil and have put forward remedial measures as how to treat this cancer at the citadel of power, be it at administrative machinery or judiciary.Mere change of flags of the party(ies) in power will not do any magic.Cutting across the party lines almost all the political leaders are supposedly religious and vast majority of them regularly visit various places of worship and take part in other religious ceremonies in private as well as public life.But barring a handful few none are really God fearing.Crux of the matter lies here.The feeling and fear that whatever one does even in the pitch of darkness will be seen by one and ones innermost feelings and thoughts will be known to that supreme power can and can alone prevent the rulers as well as the ruled alike from indulging in corrupt practices.Only the true religious teaching can instil this fear in human minds.
If the Supreme Court can punish these corrupt politicians and government officials on time it will definitely make some difference. Else as said in the final lines India might have to fight for its independence from these corrupt colonialism.
I feel sorry for all those who are commenting on what should be done. Everyone flaunts their "contacts" and how their uncle is this or that and can get things done. How they got their driving licences without having to appear for the test etc. There is a bomb blast outside the stadium, yet the match went on. People reply "it was just a small bomb". Such people do not need security. They have no right to complain. Post WW2 world dominated by USA and USSR, and UN mandate to end colonisation ensures India's freedom. In some unknown future, India will once again lapse back into in traditional position - slave nation. Because there will be enough to betray the nation for private gains. It is those people who betrayed Indian cause in 1857 and before, and same people who rule India today. Bofors to coffins. Scam after scam. 2G is just one more on a long list of self inflicted wounds. There is no hope. It is ingrained. It is in DNA. Stop whining.
@pradeep govindan - Please do not wait for day where politics will change due to the politicians, the day that you should expect is when the educated junta of our population become politicians and hail polity in the right spirit!
Hit the nail on the head. Might I only add, that our current power structure is truncated between the PMO and the Head of the Congress Party- ensuring that minsters in the Cabinet can constantly play off their 'political strength' via the ruling party headquarters at the expense of their duties to the Head of the Council of Ministers. In fact, one can't blame our Ministers for ever having made claims of obedience to the PMO, even at the very start of their tenure. Please recall, that all Ministers had been asked to file their assets to the PMO shortly after government formation. It is no secret they openly defied the PMO for months on end. We can debate the effectiveness of the measure of disclosure of assets, in view of sophisticated evasion, but it reveals the lack of authority of the office of the PM. Secondly, Mr. Kapil Sibal might be 'clean and professional', however I have serious reservations of his full and complete support of a 2G judicial investigation. Some describe spectrum as a 'policy domain of the executive'. In the past he has constantly berated the Higher Courts for 'interfering in executive matters'. His commitment to this line of thinking will be tested now.
A well-written and thought provoking article. Debates on TV do not serve any purpose not even make masses enlightened. It is correctly said that they are television soaps. When the most powerful person in the country i.e. is not taking any decision and than calling him honest and so on does not make any sense. Avoiding JPC is perfect example of guilt. RTI like instrument is required to handle this disease. Reforms in Administrative, police and judicial services are must. Strict and timely action is the need of hours. Who does not know of lavish living standard of the officials of some milky deptt. but has any body taken any action against them. Vigilance offcials in these deptt. are sleeping and may by sharing the booty. Since Govt. servant is the starting point of corruption, a step to stop this problem is to immediately dismiss any such person on whom a finger is pointed, without even waiting for any approval. This may look as banana republic type of action but something has to be done. Fear of loosing ones job is the most effective deterrent. Action in some cases may force the other colleague to think before following corrupt practice. But the million-doller question is who will bell the cat.
It is definitely well written article and I appreciate TheH indu for publishing it, but what is there in just agreeing with the author? How to minimize corruption and develop the country without stopping the economic growth rate? In my opinion, we need to set up a transparent private group involving local people in a locallity, and negotiate a public-private partnership with the local municipality in developing the areas with the basic amenities such as road, platforms, trade, parking and so on. If one suburb sets as an example, I am sure the other areas will follow. Basically, by doing this atleast in micro level we can bring in transparency and accountability, which in turn prevents corruption.
Just One [last] para is not enough: Most of the content talks what every one knows. Nothing new is being said. We need solutions. We agree it is not an easy solution but we all need to think about the solutions as we have been agreeing with the existence of this problem for many years. One needs to provoke everyone to think about the solutions. Many movies have been showing all theses corruptions for many years and nothing will happen byu just saying. I would stringly encourage the author to start writing the solution to this problem. One last paragraph is not enough.
As of now, everyone upto and including the Prime Minister are seen as corrupt, in one form or other. When the vigilance and supervising authorities themselves are corrupt we have no other avenue open, except to wait for Lord Mahavishnu to take the KALKI AVATAAR. The day does not seem to be too far off !
This article is great in articulating what is well known, as some other commentators have also suggested. Is this the doom of democracy or is there solution? That lower judiciary is extremely corrupt has been wellknown to people that live in rural areas, and in smaller cities for last five decades. Root of the evil in India is nature of its politics. Politics in india is not war by other means, it is treachery against the nation by all means, and for those who dont care about nation, it is treachery against all the people - poor and rich alike. I think we need a new political party with simple manifesto, and first thing that this party should have it a constitution where key fundamental components are never diluted - audit of party funds, and annual audit of every member's financial records. The funding of party should be limited to donations by people but only upto a certain amount - say Rs 100,000 - no company or corporation should be allowed to donate. There must be a mechanism in party where a leader does not create hereditary power. This party will not be against business, but it will be for people, and againt corruption. Is there a way this kind of organization can take root in India where political parties are known to indulge in extremely violent coercion against organizations or people whose sole purpose to take their bread (actually butter) away from them. Is this dream something we can dream about?
Great article. What else is new! India has been corrupt from time immemorial. One only has to read Mahabhata or Ramayana to see those corruptions, and justifying their corrupt actions - whether Dasharatha's promise or the deceit of Shakuni, Krishna, and the rest. The corruption is in human DNA. It reflects in every walk of life - whether it is in politics, or business, or the military or religion or families, or even the justice system. An ordinary man in India today cannot be pure and honest. He or she has to deal with the system. Is there a choice? No!, if one wants to escape it is impossible. Every system in the world is corrupt - Capitalism, Communism, or Socialism, or Dictatorship. One can only ask for a true liberation in the spiritual sense to get away from all these corrupt systems that have grown over the centuries.
Excellent article. Corruption is now the MAINSTREAM of India. Pathetic, from birth certificate to death certificate, every where we go corruption is at its highest order.Be it hospital, school, defense ,tnusami,etc., Govt officials, politicians, and the so called business tycoons rob this country and poor people . Everything is purchased now a days, be it police,Investigating Agencies, media or judiciary. This country in its present form( claim what ever your GDP be)do not have any future. Let us pray God for his new avataar to cleanse this country. Let Mr clean step down, it will be Good for the country , rather heading a corrupt gang and doing nothing.Every Citizen should fight corruption for the well being of the country and its future generations. Nature is Master of Man kind. Nature will take is course, when natural justice is at stake.( not as Politicians say Law will take its course). .
Blaming the political class is a favorite past-time of these columnists. But politicians don't fall from the sky, do they ? They are elected by the people and have the support of the people, and these days, most of them come from among ordinary people. If there is something wrong with the politicians, then there is something wrong with the people who vote for them, or to be precise: there is something wrong with the constitutional system that allows ignorant and unlettered people to vote. Pointing this out may be politically incorrect. But that does not mean that it is not the truth.
Great article. I wish the effect of reading an article like this will open eyes of many.Instead crying we need to use our brain. We are the most intelligent people on earth to swindle money from India. Let us build a system in such a way that no Indian national or political or religious entity could take money outside India without the knowledge of Indian financial system.Make sure that no entity in India can accept money without goverment permission also. This strategy will help greatly to reduce corruption. In US, this strategy is already deployed and why cann't we do the same.First thing is first.
After reading Chelleney's article, I was reminded of the movie we recently saw -- Rang De Basanti. The young people of India have to rise up and destroy these corrupt politicians and their ilk. In spite of a few honest people like Manmohan Singh and Abdul Kalam, they are not able to put a dent on the corrupt political system. The only possible alternative is a rebellion to root out corruption at all levels of Government. And that has to come from young people of India.
A well written article but its unfortunate that this article will remain just that -- "A well written article". It won't have an iota of effect on the corruption levels prevalent in our Country. Its just not possible to eradicate corruption .It's a deadly virus that just spreads and there is no antidote. The root of the problem is us -- "we the people of India". Every one of us have succumbed to this pressure of corruption by paying our way to get our job done but we still talk about the rampant corruption. We Indians bask in our self proclaimed glory "Incredible India" but its sad and true that India is in fact "Uncredible (Not Credible/Trustworthy)". If we need to eradicate this problem then it should start from us but can anyone take a pledge not to give bribes ?
The article speaks and reflects the conscience and the far cry of the common man(the helpless).The facts stated by the author clearly shows how the law became a scarecrow-as far as politicians are concerned.They are actually looting the public exchequre in a regular and consistent pattern.We are concerned with our permanent seat in UN Security Council and least concerned with the corruption and promoting it in a large scale shameless manner.I wish to add a point(actually my concern),we are celeberating every day in news paper, the nuke-deal signing and establishing the nuclear plants all over the country.The corruption in Our Country as stated by the author "national threat" is not contained-better keep away from the construction of nuke-plants or the basic component going to use in the construction will be "corruption" and guess what will happen? it will not be as good as 2G spectrum scam,Insurance scam etc.Every day we are saying that the largest democracy in the world is ours.But the intresting fact is the basic elements of democracy in our country is corruption,which is unknown to the politcal philosophies of democracy.Every day one scandal is coming to the lime light and the players in corruption are politicians(same old players-only changed the areas.Eg;earlier it was conventional fields-fodder,share,arms deal etc.The present areas became high tech like 2G Spectrum and so on).The only solution which can be suggested is the inculcation of constitutional and the cultural values of our country and not the market values-which is followed and still following by the politicians.The theme of the article constantly remembering us the lessons of history"No system in the world can continue peacefully without satisfying the basic needs of people".
Here is a small 'snack' for thought. Several months ago, in the context of an opinion article related to corruption and CBI, as an avid reader of this paper ( I still am), I posted a comment that what one may have to unfortunately witness before India truly emerges with her inner strength restored, is something of the scale of the American civil war where lakhs of people had to give up their lives, even if such a war was apparently waged for a non-pragmatic reason of just proving a principle i.e. slavery is inhuman and should be abolished. I mentioned that, though unpalatable it is, one cannot envisage a clean up of this mess in India without a blood ridden path like that one. Guess what, the moderator of this august paper simply rejected the post ! So, here is another example of how open our 'watch dog media' is, right now and I thought it was unfortunate that even this exalted body is in a state of denial. But, reading this article, I do feel vindicated that at least when a cerebral columnist utters similar words, the media is yet willing to air his opinion, unlike an ordinary citizen's words. That gives some hope.
You forgot the terror attacks made to divert people's attention from all the corruption. I am pretty sure IM is Congress sponsored because they always blast the country whenever Congress is in trouble.
I will write in simple words. I have seen many movies on corruption, I have seen many shows in TV on corruption, I have seen many news papers and magazines writing about Indian Corruption. Do you all think that corruption can be stopped by politicians? Will government will bring any law to abolish corruption? that is wrong thinking, every Indian has to step forward to give or take corruption. Then only we can abolish. Its not in politicians hands or Government Agencies. It is in Indian citizens hands. We need to sit together and have to come forward to stop this. All the best to all. Stop corruption and India will become a developed nation soon with all the rich and educated India we have all the resources, we have knowledge but there is no discipline and determination to stop. Everyone has to work towards better society.
Have a small Government. Fewer controls in Government hands. Privatize major functionality which will provide accountability and transparency.
Let's acknowledge that our Country has arrived: -Politics, and successful trumpeting of democratic processes are upheld on the basis of the amount of money in benami accounts. -Administrative services have morphed to fleece Taxpayers, and to help the political classes make mega deals at National/State level. -Research & Development is an attractive career as it has no targets,no excellence to strain for,no scrutiny. -Police service is meant to serve oneself, cut small deals at state level -Military service helps make money through foreign postings,crony deals on hardware tie-ups through retired chums, representing foreigners -Business executives/Corporates flourish, having learnt to snuggle up to Politicians/bureaucrats, to effectively and efficiently tap their individual weaknesses,for policy largesses that will follow -Media has its own attractions-to peddle influence, and tamper with truthful reporting. I could go on. The discussions here are so tame, almost as if this were an essay aimed on the possibilities, or otherwise!The 'C' word has become a toothless, voyeuristic discussion-point over coffee,at the canteen, and at kitty-parties around our country!Who is your article aimed at,Mr Chellany? We as a nation ARE a Banana Republic already, and it took 60-something years to arrive here!In fact,'India Shining' takes on a whole new meaning!!I strongly suggest that we quit whining.
If some of the current allegations are true, these senior officials have plundered away more money than the total out lay of the first five year plan (which was Rs.5000 crore), which was responsible for the India&rsquo's green revolution itself! We did not have money in those days. In fact, you could not find a job even if you were a university rank holder. Today India has money. But it has lost everything else we had before. Violence and contract killings are everywhere. Contract killings were not even heard of in those days. Corruption scandals of astronomical scale involving senior government officials are comparable only to the sex scandals of Italian politics. Where are we headed as a nation? International respectability of the nation comes from within. It comes from the strength of a nation, including its cultural, moral, political and of course financial character and the strength. What we are faced with today are the social evils and symptoms of an unorganized society. We can talk about evils in the society all we want; it is not going to change anything. I have not heard any one discussing the under lining issues and the solutions. How many enquiry commissions can you appoint? There are innumerable governmental corruption scandals from different parts of the country. Did we ever convict a single top political leader for any crime in modern India? Commissions do not work. It is an exercise to deceive common man for political gains. In my opinion, there are two fundamental issues involved: 1)The presence of criminal elements in elected offices. 2)The absence of respected nation moral icons with universal acceptance. This is how to get results: Indian election laws need to be changed. 1)If you are implicated in a criminal case, you should not be able to contest an election for any public office until the court clears you. 2)If you are convicted, you should be bared from contesting an election for a public office for life. In a country of 1.2 billion people, you should be able to find enough people with clean records to run the country.
You cannot create national icons. If we did, they wouldn’t be any different from our current leaders. How do you ensure a minimum moral leadership? I have some thoughts:
1) Dismantle Raja Saba. It does not serve any purpose today. Make it a real upper house on the similar lines as the American Senate electing two “Rajas” from each state.
2) Put them in charge of various powerful judicial committees overseeing various aspects of the governmental functions. Such portfolios should be allocated without political consideration based strictly on seniority in Raja Samba.
3) These committees should have the right to investigate any thing and any one in the country with out the consent of anyone holding an elected office.
If we can get these done, India will be a different pace.
Whilst I agree with the author that the malaise of corruption is spreading head down, what is the vision to treat it. I dont think the treatment would be head down. I quite agree with one of the readers (Shriram) who says 'We could not have been colonized by the East India Company and England but for the ingrained corruption within us, the kings, queens and the rest of the population.' Hence if corruption is within us, it would explain why are politicians are corrupt. After all is democracy not of the people, by the people. Each one of us has to do some soul searching, develop better ethics and morals, otherwise blaming the politicians would become a past time and that is not going to root out the problem.
Indian Judicial system is based on British Rule of Law. Just cut and pasted. So the Indian Criminal laws only protected the British in the past and now protects the political criminals. Our Political masters are the neo British and they would not change the current laws. So the current Indian criminal laws favours the criminals only and victimise the general Public. Unless we change the laws in line with American system of justice, only the poor and the weak would suffer.that's the way the laws were designed and used.And will be used in the future forever.We need a strong leader..who could stand against the corrupt business houses....someone is needed to change the laws into bottom-up approach as in US..instead of the current approach to protect the criminals.
India's image is continuously degraded by league of scandals leading the country into complete turmoil. It is just like 'bleeding ulcer' .The Frankenstein monster of corruption is engulfing the country and puts its reputation at high risk, its incompetent babus and politicians are main culprits who drafted flawed policies and show high degree of insouciance. The big fish always escape. There is no formula to clip its wings in Indian democracy. Thanks to RTI and its activists but little is known about this act to masses due to illiteracy.
Good article,well synthesis of the rampant corruption story in India from politics to media to armed forces and second tier officers.To check such heinous crime personal commitment and public scrutiny of important issues are only way out .Transparent policy,stricter laws,accountable government,active citizen can only stop such corrupt practices.RTI and Citizen charter were some strong step in direction to bring transparency but they are still in nascent stage and are unable to shake this kind of deep rooted tendencies in our country.Education level has to be increased to handle this problem. the
This article is essentially a restatement of what we have known all along and have heard several times before. We are only examining the prognosis for the disease and not the cause. These so called corrupt politicians wont have a job if we did not elect them in the first place. What makes us elect them is in itself a form of corruption. Some do it for free televisions, personal gains, some form of promised concession while others just don't vote out of apathy or lethargy. Independence movement was a success solely because we believed in collective good and not personal gain.
Writing about this won't achieve much. Something needs to be done. I don't purport to know what that might be, but if someone does have a workable idea, I don't mind joining them.
Dr. Chellaney has long been a profound thinker and analyst. His message needs to reach the grassroots level to enlighten the voters. On a positive note, I wonder whether we need to get really pessimistic about India even though Dr. Chellaney is right on target about everything he says. Isn't it a good sign that India is basically on the right track because all these scandals are coming out? As things get really out of kilter, a balance is bound to be found (the natural cleansing that a democracy is best suited to provide, sooner or later). I look at the health of American democracy 60 or even 100 years into its independence and come to the conclusion that any democratic system will need time to rid itself of the evils like rampant corruption. Wasn't corruption a very serious issue in America even as late as the early part of the 20th century? So I remain upbeat about India, especially as long as the likes of Dr. Chellaney continue to be the conscience of India.
Excellent and appropriate article. There are many things which we all know but never articulated. Corruption in India has become very passe. It's gone to a stage where equating it with morality has no effect whatsoever. But the real danger is, a country as big as India where a high percentage of the "earned income" is from dubious sources, it could well become the first country in history which could collapse. We only tend to equate corruption with morals. For a moment think about what would happen if corruption ( unaccounted money transfers)reached a stage where it starts ruling the legal monetary system of the republic. The whole system can implode on itself with serious consequences.
I personally feel that letting such corruptions to go on and on displays the state of our crippled judiciary in India. On an average it takes atleast 15 years to produce a judgement on any coruption cases if at all it is properly enquired and the period unfortunately increases with increase in the scandal size. Hence a citizen of India will rarely see the politician or government official who has stolen his bread getting the least punishment. I strongly believe instead of putting the blame all the time on the politics it is high time to give those corrupt what they deserve at the right time and it will pave way for a clean leaders come up to lead India.
The author has written the right thing, stating it is quite easy, but doing something about it is completely different. I also like to say a couple of things in this regard. First, changing the system by being a part of it, is very difficult as the system is overwhelming when one gets absorbed into it. Its very difficult to resist it, and more often than not one gets into the flow, others get out of it. Secondly, private and public enterprises are almost equally corrupt, the basic difference is that the public wing is dipped into the soup of corruption from head to tail and the private counterpart is corrupted only at the top.
Lets look inwards, why corruption has become unchecked. As a nation we scarcely beleive in the virtue of sustained hardwork. Nietzche said "Strength is the only virtue and Weakness the only vice". Our psyche has to change. We accept almost everything that comes our way, may be the "karma siddhanta" weighs us down onerously. We extoll false merits and revel in fleeting false privileges. Charity begins at home. Let's research our value system. Satyameva jayate, Gandhiji said, should adorn our coinage. The same martyr, once when asked by Sir Richard Attenborough,as to what single human quality he admired and valued most, Gandhiji instantly said "courage". We do great disservice to ourselves and our society if we cannot use all possible courage to restrain our fellow countrymen from a seething prpensity for over indulgence. Please somewhere it should be made known that undue reverence paid to positions of power should be weiged down. The rampant articulation of "swamy-bhakti" in our scriptures and thence by the preachers of that gospel have over the epochs resulted in blind acceptance of authority, without ever questioning the righteousness of the authority. this is exploitation of the highest order. Unless we curb this cravenness for sanctification by the authoritative we remain a nation and a people mired in abject surrender. Lets not make true the assertion of Mr Churchill in the British parliament on the occasion of Indian Independence.
I completely agree with your views. And I think there is a strong possibility of a civil war if we are not freed from the bond-ages of corruption. I think we need a radical struggle . We must involve the poorer section. and if our governmental policies continue to appease pakis there is an impending possibility of a nuclear war.
I am afraid our politicians have replaced British Imperialists. We need to start a freedom movement against corruption, which is stinking in all corners of our country. The Raja of Tamil nadu, Raju of Andhra Pradesh, Yeddy of Karnataka, Kalmadi of Pune, food scam across the country clearly indicate that our politicians are united in corruption deeds.
Good article which highlights much of what we already know. I agree with another commentator that we really do need to discuss what the possible remedies for the Nation's greatest malady could be. We may expect all our politicians to be inherently upright, serving the public interest which is their mandate, but we must accept that that's unlikely to be the norm. The reason is very simple. Those who do wrong can get away with their misdeeds. We as the public cannot let them get away with it. Let us protest in various ways. We must demand stern punishment for all those found guilty, we must recover state funds, and we must not rest until we get what we demand. Perhaps this is what Mr. Chellaney means by a second war of independence. One incorruptible Indian leader said "be the change you wish to see" . Let us not lay to waste what our founding fathers strived and suffered to achieve. Let us fight for justice, in the short term, by picketing in Delhi, by organising nation-wide bandhs, and in the long term by educating all our youth. We owe this effort to our past, present and future. The vigilance of our public institutions must never end for temptation almost inevitably leads to sin. Remove the temptation and many of our woes may disappear.
State should treat terrorist and corrupt politician who looted the country's wealth same way.
Political cronyism and nepotism are something like the 250 years of british rule in India. There we had a Gandhiji to loosen the entangled shackles of servitude but the same eludes the era of today. Corruption to my belief starts from every individual in the society. Today if an officer is seeking bribe people are blatantly offering it instead of protesting. To my belief these small protests would have enough sting in it for catapulting the freedom like movement to uproot the issues of depravity from the society.
After knowing it, how can people let the corrupt politician win in elections, why cant the people in corrupted politician's constituency start protest against his representation from their constituency, the people who made him representative are responsible for this act. If they havent voted for him, he wouldnt have come to this corrupted power, we who blame the system are the main reason for the corruption, no one of us dare to vote during election. Though we vote, we vote for caste, region, relegion but for the candidate. There lies the reason, dont stop after commenting here, discuss this with your friends, coleagues, neighbours, let them know that they are responsible for this corruption, let them feel guilt and take the action to minimise future corruption.
The basic thrust of this article on corruption in public life is timely and every patriotic Indian will endorse the effects of Dr. Challeney's arguments. It has been distressing reading newspapers these last few months. It is rightly taking priority in our national media. Murky as a few politicians and bureaucrats have been, it still difficult to accept the core logic of the article that all persons holding public office are corrupt ["A fish rots from the head down." When the head is putrid, the body politic cannot be healthy], or for that matter, Indians take kindly to corruption. We should take pride that our democracy is mature enough to re-elect leaders who are clean in public perception. It is also a fact that if there is a viable "clean" alternative to a corrupt party / leader, [s]he gets a chance. Examples of recent past include Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik, Shivaraj Chouhan, Raman Singh, Nitish Kumar and Jyothi Basu. In places like Karnataka, the voters cast aside corrupt politicians like Kumaraswamy, but it is sad that Yedyurappa was found no better than the persons who he replaced. The citizens in most other states have a Hobson's choice. They do not have a viable alternative to choose. The situation is actually not hopeless. We may disagree with their views and policy, but luckily the top leadership of most national parties have no reputation for sleaze. If a few individual leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi & Dr. Manmohan Singh [Congress], Prakash Karat and his influential comrades in CPM & LK Advani and RSS Top Brass [BJP] can stand up and push clean leaders in the states, we may as well see a sea change in our polity. Though Leaders like Dr. Challeney can definitely contribute to that process very effectively.
How Dr Manmohan Singh is called a clean man is wonder of miracles. During his first tenure, his Government survived by placating BSP and SP. There were some allegations of money being given to some BJP MPs for abstaining etc. Does these mean that they were all done without his knowledge. It was misuse of official position. Mr Raja was asked to resign - not sacked - when things were going out of control. Do we have to belive that Dr Singh is unable to have any control over things surrounding him. Impossible! His inaction on many things actually amount to USING his position to influence matters, which a man of integrity is not supposed to tolerate. Then the episode about CVC. All these indicate that he is part and parcel of the murkey dealings going on in the country.
The article is a realistic exposition. The ordinary people have lost their faith on the rulers. The poor save some victuals by fasting themselves to feed their children. When they are coerced to pay bribe to get their ration card or such civic amenities, one can gauge the abyss the governance has fallen. If one takes the trouble of feeling the pulse of these people, they may be welcomed with a shower of unprintable epithets they attribute to our so called leaders. Every thing is rotten in our States. If our Union government continues unrelnted to the call of real reforms, the second war of freedom is not far off.
The article is very well written. It looks gloomy because the author very accurately, one by one, narrates all the grave realities facing the country. No point raised is wrong or exaggerated. It is always "yatha raja,tatha praja". I do not see any "second war of independence" coming in near future as we have forgotten to fight and over the years have gone used to settling down with the so called "reality". Just like a sword lying used gets bucolic, the fighting spirit of the county which brought us independence has gathered dust and we have painted the rust with attractive colors of "shining" performance of the economy in past few years making us believe that this is the only reality.
It is well understood that the politics and Bureaucrats are corrupt. But what every Indian fails to acknowledge is that corruption has penetrated each of us. And if corruption is so prevalent in India it is not because of those few top officicals but because each of us. Though correcting ourself seems utopian, that is what every developed nation has done to itself(atleast within itself) at some point in its history. There is no use in pointing fingers at others if we don't change our attitude towards it. And history has consistently proven that "No evil can exist in society unless the society allows it to". The actual change and solution for this issue lies inside each of us..Lets just get it out...things will change for sure!!
The Supreme Court should bar criminals and those tainted politicans from contesting the elections.
I don't agree with the author when he says the way to fix corruption is to increase anti-bribery laws, or provide teeth to anti-corruption agencies. We have too many laws in place now - even then people manage to evade all of them to indulge in corrupt activities. Unless the very root of corruption is cut - we cannot aim or hope to stop it. The root of corruption is in the insatiable greed evident in modern times due to the capitalistic mindsets, and the way wealthy are glorified and respected in society. We have to reverse this perverted mindset by strong value education in schools, and investing in them so that they can turn into leaders(not those corporate ones, who only look at profits) who can inspire and lead the masses by their own example. Today, our society looks upto those who hold vast sums of cash in their hands - we have to become a nation which can honour ideals and values - not just money. Unless primacy is given to system of values over and above money and hedonism, we will continue to encounter such decadent behaviour by all classes of men.
Realy a beautiful article to read but at the same time sours ones heart seeing the situation in the country. One of the largest democracies in the country and the epoch of corruption, disgusting. It is just like one scam folowing the other 'you go, I am coming' situation in the country.One fears in the situations like these, where will a common man put his trust?.Be it politicians,bureacrats, or the 'fourth wing' of democracy i.e media, everybody,from top to bottom is painted in one or the other form of corruption. And dear Prime Minster 'aise khamoshi ka kya kehna'. It is definitely the time for the people to rise and protect their country, and, remember no body from outside will come to save us.It is we who give power to government and it will be definitely we who will take away their power.
Very insightful article on current national predicament, particularly the part where writer has pointed out that India has freed itself from British rule only to have been held hostage by 'political enterprise'. Gandhi eradicated Englishmen, but who will be the saviour of India Inc. in twenty-first century?
Media and people raise their voices whenever such mega scandals get exposed. But slowly the news goes from headlines in first page to the inner pages of the newspaper and finally disappears and people are no more bothered about it! Again after few months the same cycle repeats..The corrupt political class and the Ministers, more than resigning from their ministerial posts, have never suffered and are always out of punishments. The committees setup to probe these scandals are just an eye-wash and no high level politicians were convicted in the past and will never be in the future too. Only when people are more aware, this situation may change.
The gloomy picture painted by the author is only one side of the story. A huge democracy with its unique set of problems, in terms of its lingual, cultural and religious diversities has grown this far, thanks to free and informative media, a strong religious culture which preaches simple living and high thinking and an increasing percentage of educated voters. All these give us hope for the future. The next two years are going to be crucial for our country. With an impeccable and ethical Chief Justice of India at the helm and the explosion of scams one after the other augurs well for the future of this country. (Maturing of the wounds in the right time, when a competent surgeon is available.) In spite of the vested interests of the ruling political parties and a silent spectator like Prime Minister, the country is in for a promising future, due to individuals who are willing to take up issues affecting the body polity of this country, like Prashant Bhushan.
Really it will be second war of independence to get rid of corruption. Amagingly, entire body politic of the country has been polluted by the drama of corruption by politicians, government servants and corporates, enacted by them after liberalisation of so called economy in India. It is really time to cleanse the pollution through agitations, dharna and gherao of corrupts . Maoists must channelise their energy to contain corruption in cooperation with general public and poor of the country. If not violent revolution must take place to curb the menace- only to save the country and generations of countrymen. thanx.
Absolutely spot on. Corruption in India has always been from the top, right from Independence. While the British could easily be blamed for creating a Civil Administrator class whose biggest task was to tax the locals and send the money over to England (e.g. creating posts such as District Collector, Tahsildar etc.) the fact is that we've always been corrupt. We could not have been colonized by the East India Company and England but for the ingrained corruption within us, the kings, queens and the rest of the population. Of course now it's on a bigger scale. We lost the sub-continent once, we're going to lose it again - economically and politically. The poor and the weak are the easiest to blame, to file charges, and to victimize. How many sitting MPs, MLAs, High court judges and even PMs been prosecuted and thrown into jails? Will it ever happen in India? Ask the Indian population and it'll be resounding NO. The reason is we have no self-respect except to talk in podiums and to the rest of the world - to talk at length about 5000 years of civilization and how wonderful we are, our achievements technologically speaking. But collectively speaking, deep within us we've always been (5000 years notwithstanding) corrupt and have no self-respect. Thus leaders in the sub-continent (and post-1947 India in particular) that evolved over the course of time are simply products of this corruption. Biologically speaking, these leaders continue to carry the same "genes" that express themselves so openly and shamelessly. They have simply led the masses on a downhill ski slope, to the gutters lurking at the bottom. Ah! proclaim the magic words Satyameva Jayathe, Work is worship and throw in a Gandhi cap, clang a few bells in a temple and these leaders morph into a saint. This is Incredible India. It's hopeless because there is no will at the top to cleanse itself.
I always wondered why media did not report this the way it should have been -- but now it is clear that their bosses too are involved in it. Good to see Mr.Brahma Chellaney's article in The Hindu.
What more should it take for the PM and Home Minister to concede that corruption is India's gravest security challenge ? When a nation's bureaucrats, ministers and even the fourth estate is neck deep involved in corruption, can the citizens ever trust the state and its collusion with markets ? When public funds are looted with impunity, won't this give rise to any internal security challenges ?
The corruption level in the country has risen alarmingly high. It is not only marring the growth of the country bit also the rural flagship progrms like MNREGA has also lost its credibility because the purpose and the object is defeated due to continued lacunae, the non-implementation of programs and lack of credibility on the part of officials. It should be the prerogative of the govt. to check and contain and bring down the level of corruption. The time is ripe and the time is right and this is the high time. Even the sanctum sanctorum i.e the Judiciary which was mounted on a higher citadel and which till now was held in high esteem by the general public at large has also come under scanner. Much to owe to the Dinakarans and Sethnas. The vision 2020 is clearly not achievable in time if we are to be governed by these corrupt Netas.
Democracy arrived too early in India.Corruption is everywhere in India. But whom to blame? Can you blame a poor guy to vote for a corrupt politician who promises to improve his living condition in the short term (that's what corrupt people do)? I cannot. I also don't blame a policemen to take bribe because he cannot expect any help from the system if he needs it (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6qH9zjOsEY) and the list goes on and on...The main problem of India is short term thinking on all levels of society. But can you blame anybody to think about his/her family first and then about others or even society which also might benefit him in the long term? I cannot. A change can only happen through education but that will take time and at least one or two generations. But who wants to invest money into an area that gives you the returns in sixty years when we all are dead? Winning elections with this will be difficult. . Probably opening all spheres of society to full market competition (full competition!!!) is the only realistic solution that might improve the overall situation. And yes in this scenario there will be lots of loosers, too. But at least you know how to handle your counterpart in this kind of system because profit is all that counts. And even in this scenario government corruption will probably persist because there are services that the market cannot provide. Democracy arrived too early in India.
It is surprising from Mr Chellaney to write the matter so explicitly.His articles and faith as evinced through various articles penned by him show him to be a supporter of procurement of sophisticated arms by whatever means for so called defence of our nation.It is all the more surprising that now he has touched upon a topic,which is of prime relevance to the nation.At least on this issue I have to agree with him.
Scandals have become the order of the day. We have to sure wage a second war of independence for India to gain the true freedom from exploitation and pilferage. We lack a true leader in the status of Gandhi now to wage the second war. So a group needs to be formed with philanthrophists, intellectuals, jurists, and journalists so that the fight against corruption becomes a reality.
An excellent essay, the more insidious effects we are all witness to is the younger generation's willingness to maintain the status quo. Are we destined to rival Somalia and Nigeria on the corruption scale? Is this what we traded for, in independence from the British? Slavery and bondage to the most corrupt political parties and corporations in the world.
A fish rots from the head down as the proverb quoted by the author goes. However If Indian media can be believed, this does not apply to India's government machinery at the Centre and the ruling party since the rot is always at their lower levels with the top remaining miraculously immune to such degradation!
This article is a must read item for our top leaders especially the ruling party high command and prime minister. If the prime minister has any integrity he should resign from the post due to these 2G spectram corruptions. It is normal that Common man feels Mr. Manmohan Singh has lost his moral right to continue. Nobody should compromise with corruption for chair.
It seems a joke that the monumental scandal is fought over just on constituting a JPC, not on quickly identifying the culprits or recovering the loot. With the CBI being the hand-maiden of the party in power, what else can be expected? Secondly, the corrupt political system swallows even a few honest leaders. The likes of PM Singh who should wield real power can at best be silent spectators only. What a fall for the largest democracy in the world! The media is controlled by corporates with the result it never dishes out any neutral news. The only remedy now is the Supreme Court - but even they only lament on the goings-on, and obviously, they can't be expected to exercise executive power. As the author Brahma Chellaney states, a second war of independence is needed to clean up the mess, starting from the top. Common man's vote has no effect, as he is always forced to choose the best among the worst. Clean politicians have no mass base. The independent Election Commission's work is so voluminous that it becomes impossible for them to control each and every fraud in thousands of constituencies. Under the circumstances, I'd say that writers like Brahma Chellaney and P. Sainath are really doing a great job at least to awaken the common Indian's consciousness.
Nice article, but I wonder if its new. Most people are aware or a part of corruption. Good governance and transparency have not happened in India over the last century and would be naive to assume that it will happen soon. It is better to have a short term memory in this scenario. It would take at least another century for literacy levels to go up, poverty levels to improve and only then we can expect a cultural change in the way we elect 'babus'. Until then we got to live with it.
Well written article that hits the nail in its head. With so much of national power we are having, if only corruption is stopped ,we can become a developed country. Otherwise we will remain developing country for another 100 years with only developed rich individuals. I am in USA now in Job Visa and the efficiency here and process being followed with total transparency, which makes them a developed country,society, I hope we too attain it and our society becomes all around developed.
It has now become an era of scandals. Corruption stalls development, undermines social progress, undercuts the confidence of citizens in the fairness and impartiality of public administration, impedes good governance, erodes the rule of law, distorts competitive conditions in business transactions, discourages domestic and foreign investment, fosters a black market economy, and raises new security threats. In sum, corruption obstructs a country from realising its goals and undercuts national security, said by the author in the article is correct. We have laws that are not deterrent. We have independent bodies like CEC, CVC etc., which does not act on its own. We have a system wherein power is concentrated on certain pockets of the population. Laws in its present form holds no terror. This cries out for immediate correction. Laws needs to be overhauled adding more teeth to it. The CVC, CEC., etc., should be allowed to function Independently without any political interference under the direct supervision to the President. The Supreme Court should have a say in law making while the people too have certain control over their elected representatives. Laws should bar criminals and others against whom there are pending should be barred from contesting in he elections. Unless and until drastic measures are not taken politicians will continue to drain our treasury and resources.
This is a simple and thought provoking article. Unless, leaders and public read this article and comprehend the gravity of the situation and switches to result oriented actions, I would say this grand state called "Incredible India" is doomed. It pains me a lot!
As far as the new Telecom Minister is called a clean professional, that is fine for the time being as he does not seem to have any mud on him as of now. But how is it a good news? The current government is running short of clean and capable people to take charge of ministries and more than one ministers are holding multiple portfolios. I request the author to take a wider view of a situation before classifying it as good or bad because this syndrome induces complacency.
What a brilliant piece of writing, Thank you Mr Chellaney. To gain Independence, Indians had to fight for so many years, I dont think we have time on our hand, may the battle begins soon. The first and foremost should be for the President to declare Emergency and let Army control the Country with best minds in Politics and Industries and get all the wealth back from Swiss Banks, hang those politicians who had amassed huge ill gotten wealth and finally pass a law, that if you are caught accepting bribes, 5 years minimum rigorous imprisonment.
As a citizen of India I feel helpless when I think of how this nation will begin to throw off this black cloak of corruption. Praise be to people like Brahma Chellany and Gurumurthy and others and shame on the politicians and their minions and the likes of the NDTV journalists. What do we tell our children ?
The article is one of the most forthright essay on corruption as it exists and is practised in India today.This must be read by all citizens of the country.It is ironical that under the very nose of an honest prime minister so many wrong doings go on and he comes out as a helpless spectator. Obviously he is fully cognizant of the fact that his writ does not run. The problem is of course aggravated by the compulsions of coalition politics and PM not able to bring his full force at his command on important issues. The entire blame for the present state of affairs should be squarely laid on the present system of forming governaments both at centre and states. the present system solely on the basis of the party gaining a majority in the house and elections that are swayed by divisive considerations. The candidates are selected on the sole basis of winnability which in turn leads the polatical parties to grant premium on caste ,religion and other divisive forces.This system that has proven in the last 60 years to be fundamentaly flawed and ill suited to us and is not conducive to attract high quality persons into public life. there is need for a thorough overhaul. It is idle to hope that the present setup who are beneficiaries of the present corrupt sysyem is capable of usherig radical changes. at the same time we cannot rest by saying a krishna will be born to lift the country from present "glani". The intellegensia should form a core group to draw up a new constitution to the country that is designed to bring to fore high quality and proven persons in key positions in the govt and launch a vigorius campaign.
It is indeed a thought provoking article on the current state of affairs of the world's largest democracy. The makers of modern India would have least expected that such a farce of democracy was awaiting for the Republic that they founded. The article triggers an important question that has become even more pertinent in current times - Why economic liberalization in our country has failed to produce an administrative machinery that is fair and efficient whereas this is not the case in the developed countries ? Is it because there is too little intervention of the state in the West ? Or is it because the policies in the Western countries are subject to continuous amendment to suit the social and economic needs of time ? It is high time that we make iron fists and demand capital punishment for high-handed miscreants who threaten democracy, internal security and equality of opportunity.
It is high time that we had a revolution so that criminals are rooted out of politics. The Law has no respect in this country and only a bloody revolution like the Naxalite movement will bring the country around.The shameless politicians are looting the country at every opportunity and any amount of laws does not help.Parliament has become a wrestling arena where fists are used instead of words. ALL political parties are to be blamed for this sad state of affairs. The only way out is a total revolution where the politicians are the targets of violence so that the criminals will not join politics.The naxalites should change their targets and switch to politicians instead of tribals and policemen.Their movement will then make a lot of sense in this country. No wonder a thinker like Arundhati Roy is supporting the naxalites. More and more intellectuals will soon join the movement.
Dr.Chellaney's article is a valuable contribution. One wonders whether such courageous and insightful analyses have much effect on the situation.The elite classes as well as bureaucrats enjoy the fruits of corruption.What is the solution? Are we any where near a political solution? Looks unlikely.
Excellent article. I sincerely hope that articles like these appear more often and on more outlets. Let there be another war to free ourselves from this cancer called corruption.
A well written article covering all the facets of corruption in today's India. I fully agree with the prognosis that only a mass upsurge as in a war of independence can usher in the elemental change required to bring about a new culture of governance. Corruption has existed in one form or another from British rule through Independence and the various regimes under Congress and non-Congress governments in the centre and the states. The rotting fish is an apt analogy here. What has changed is the enormously grown larger national output and with it the expanded scope for pilferage and pillage, coupled with the moral corruption of the entire system. A new renaissance has to usher in the separation of powers between the executive, judiciary and the legislature each with their own independent power and authority, thereby decentralizing the power at the top of the pyramid.
Yet again a great article highlighting rampant corruption in India. Since a decade every profession from media to Bollywood has showed its concern about corruption. But want we need at this point of time is not definitions or examples of corruption and scams, but a debate on how to handle this threat that our country faces which is more lethal than any terrorist attack. We push Pakistan to get the master minds of 26/11 to books, but what did we do internally? Why were cops not trained to handle this kind of situation? What was coast guard doing when the terrorists sneaked in to the country? Why don't we invest our energies in educating public and use this vast population as our intelligence source? In my opinion, there has been enough discussion on the issue, now it is time to find some solutions. The political and business elite pointed out in the article will never change and it would be foolish to expect that they will. The more proper response would be to create a anti corruption unit directly under control of president at central level and under governor at state level and set the priorities to clean up the mess starting from most important departments like military and police. While working on a solution we have to consider the fact that most of the common people are forced into corruption. If we can make law of this country stronger and get confidence in general public that they are not helpless, corruption will die eventually. The notion that India shinning is a mere propaganda spread by developed nations to tap Indian markets. Even if American leaders call us developed country, the common American public sees us as a third world country and in fact we are. Its not a double digit growth that defines development of a country, but how well a common man is doing is a true measure for development. Finally, no political party would have spend a single Rupee on canvasing for election if it shows that it has a potential to eradicate corruption and if it does eliminate successfully, Indian public will reward them for decades as we did for congress.
So true and so well put. This essay deserves to be translated in every major Indian language for only the masses with roots and future in India and not the elite with one foot abroad will effect serious departure from the present morass.
What difficulty is there in agreeing for a JPC as demanded by all opposition parties? If any political party or leader is for the welfare of the public and state, then one should not hesitate to cleanse the doubts in public interest. By opposing this, suspicion grows more and also it gives encouragement for wrong doers.
I absolutely agree with your views. The most classical example of our narrow minded politicians are surprisingly,still they have not graduated from the 1940's mantra of 'roti, kapada, makan'. With an impressive economic growth, availability of talented youth, and with awesome manpower the script of this great nation could have been writted in golden letters, provided our politicians had a vision. Ironically we as citizens are the one who have elected these people.I am waiting for a day when every citizen of this country will righty be able to analyse the strengths and weakness of each one these politicians, and this will only be possible by enhansing the educational standards of our country. This is also one reason why our political leaders are still echoing 'roti , kapda, makan ' and not focussing on education.
Please Email the Editor