India does not need a revolution or other radical measures to subdue the monster of corruption. Even marginal changes to the existing laws can unleash lasting improvements to governance.
The recent expose of massive corruption in government has made people wonder whether crookedness is a typical Indian trait. The national mood is sullen, cynical and despondent. Are Indians are incorrigibly venal? Is dishonesty embedded in our DNA? Are our brains wired to corruption?
The all-pervasive despair is unwarranted. India is not destined to live with corruption. Indian politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats are only as honest or crooked as their counterparts across the world, including the West.
Why then is corruption rampant in India? The hullabaloo over the recent scams has diverted public attention from the causes of corruption. Let us examine one of the little talked about causes — the complexity of our laws.
Law-making is still being held hostage to the colonial mindset of command and control. Indian laws are typically known for their complexity, obtuseness and ambiguity. Lack of clarity and transparency makes our laws fertile breeding grounds for corruption because the bureaucracy has arrogated to itself the powers to interpret laws at their discretion.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that it is virtually impossible to be entirely honest to survive in business or access services from the government. We enact tough laws which everybody knows are difficult to observe in letter and in spirit.
Anybody setting up a new business or factory has to comply with a plethora of statutory requirements. It is not argued here that regulations are bad. But the rules should not be so unrealistically stringent as to make compliance impossible. It appears that the purpose of regulation is not to enforce responsible behaviour among people and protect society but to provide an avenue for corrupt officials to make easy money. It seems that strict laws are made not be observed but to be paid lip service with the connivance of corrupt officials. For instance, many cracker units are allowed to function in unsafe conditions. There is no dearth of laws to regulate these units. But who cares whether these units comply with the laws so long as money changes hands.
The statute book is littered with obsolete laws which have outlived their utility. They are allowed to continue only as a source of corruption. Road contractors have to bid at low rates because the official rates are not periodically revised in accordance with inflation. The contractor tries to make a profit by tampering with the quality and quantity of materials. All these are done with the connivance of officials.
Sometimes, absence of any law helps corrupt politicians enrich themselves at the expense of the exchequer. The absence of a transparent policy for allocating spectrum and coal blocks led to a massive loss of revenue for the government.
Drafting of laws often involves subterfuge. For instance, people with criminal backgrounds are able to contest elections and enter legislative bodies because the law states that they must have been convicted to be prevented from entering the fray. This provision has been deliberately inserted with the knowledge that criminal trials normally take a decade or two to be completed. The ostensible justification for this ridiculous law is that frivolous litigation could be used to prevent politicians from contesting. The law could have stated that any criminal case pending for more than say six years would trigger disqualification.
Our State governments continue with the old paper-based administration, leading to opaqueness in the functioning of departments. The success of the passenger reservation system of the Railways is testimony to the fact that electronic interface between the public and the government is a sure recipe for reducing corruption.
All routine decisions except those relating to national security should be put on websites on a real-time basis. A shift to total e-governance is long overdue.
India does not need a revolution or other radical measures to subdue the monster of corruption. Even marginal changes to the existing laws can catalyse and unleash lasting improvements to governance. The numerous reports of the Law Commission and the Administrative Reforms Commission gathering dust in the corridors of power should be retrieved, re-examined and their well-intentioned recommendations implemented.
The challenge before the people is how to make the political class realise that the old order must change yielding place to the new.
(The writer’s email is vnmukund@gmail.com)
Keywords: corruption, anti-corruption laws
In our society, change has to come both from the top and the bottom. It is essential to have
more people supporting Mr. Hazare and Mr. Kejriwal. We need to awaken our self-
conscience as well and try to live honestly and within our means. There needs to be a clear '
No Entry' sign for criminals in public bodies. Our media has a crucial role to play as well in
terms of educating the public, in encouraging the righteous and in exposing the wrong-doers.
There needs to be a strict implementation of the principle that no one can be above the law.
Maybe we can slowly evolve into a more fair and just society. However, the change first has
to be from within.
corruption in india is as old as the country is.it is just not about taking and giving bribes.it is the superimposition of ornate outdated laws and the made at will practice over time that perpetually releases complex loopholes to make the going fruitful for the taker or user as the case may be.
if the said railway system was fool proof why the saga and miseries of those travelling in reserved compartments of the bangalore and kovai bound day trains from chennai.
why are there unauthorised interventions in queues outside ticket counters,ration shops,bus stands,prasadam distribution in temples etc.
what is the need for middlemen everywhere.is it a cadre of employment.
can we survive without ever dealing/getting ration card,birth/death certificate,community certificate,income certificate,social status certificate etc.why is driving school the best bet for getting licence.the line of divide between subjectivity and objectivity is thin.if i am straight i am an impediment.
my survival?
Like Prasantda I am also a retired bank manager. In banks there is a
system of reimbursing a certain amount of medical expenses per year on
a declaration by the employee. Employees generally avail this facility
during the first week of the year if not on the New Year day itself.
Genuineness of the declaration is anybody’s guess.
My father late Baikadi venkatakrishna Rao(1917-1987) was a
distinguished English teacher, a well known writer in Kannada and also
a powerful orator in both English and Kannada. He was also a freedom
fighter and a principled Gandhian. Those days the salary of a teacher
was very meager and teachers believed in teaching students inside
classrooms and private tuitions were unheard of. Once during the
seventies to tide over some financial problems I offered him the
amount I received from my bank as reimbursement of medical expenses.
Though he was very happy he refused to touch the money when he came to
know that the money might be the outcome of a false declaration of ill
health on my part.
"The success of the passenger reservation system of the Railways is testimony to the fact that electronic interface between the public and the government is a sure recipe for reducing corruption."
The real reason for this success is that the prices are open and transparent. The same is the case with Postal System as well. No citizen needs to think twice as long as he/she goes to a Post Office / Railways with the money that meets the price. And if a citizen has provided the funds, the Post Office / Railways cannot deny him that service. The nature of the service (or product) is in such a way that the government representative has very less power and thus virtually zero incentive to cause a hindrance.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with other government services. If I need a no objection certificate from the Electricity Department for my house under construction, I am totally at their mercy. Lack of alternatives (and competition) provide an artificial 'power' to them.
The author has rigthly pointed that laws are not implemented properly and elected many people who do not respect them. I totally agree that additional and most needed law to implement is "criminal case pending for more than say six years would trigger disqualification" to contest in election. Totally failed to select competitive nominees to stand in elections that have proven record of effectively working for the people(even worked for the people), represent the people and respect the law.
Mr. Mukundrajan is correct in his observations as are many others who have written on the
subject of corruption. The crux of the matter lies in his last sentence, "how to make the
political class realize that the old order must change" . The answer to this question seems to
have evaded most of the thoughtful persons who have written on this subject. One can only
hope that these caring, knowledgeable and insightful writers will find some practical solutions
to this challenge. One is somewhat encouraged to see anti- corruption movements springing
all over the country.
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