I wrote this essay last year as a part of my preparation. I have written this essay with minimum of information and a fair amount of analysis.
There is also a need to strengthen various
vigilance agencies. CVC, CAG, CBI and ED are either ineffective to control
corruption or depend upon the government. There is a need to make them
independent of political interference. Today, Supreme Court is burdened with
extra work and is supervising various investigations.
Corruption is the buzz word today. Right from
the local government to national government to international practices
corruption is rampant in public life. The recent economic crisis is a good
example of the corrupt practices and their impact on international arena.
In India, the corruption is there in
bureaucracy, political parties, media and even NGOs. Although, it’s not a new
phenomenon but its character has changed. Before liberalization it was retail
in nature but now it has increased in both spread and amount. Earlier it was
confined to lower bureaucracy but now it has reached to the level of ministers.
Corruption is no longer practiced quietly. It is
directly impacting the policy making. For example – In 2G case, the licenses
were not auctioned but given at throwaway prices and the difference was
pocketed by a few politicians. It has become the part of our system. People are
accepting it as a routine affair.
Some economists see corruption as “Speed Money”
i.e. price needed to be paid for faster and efficient work. But, this is a
faulty way to look at the corruption. It accentuates the inequity present in
the system. Those who are rich can buy the services of public officials and
poor can’t. Therefore, for corrupt officials money becomes more important than
their duty.
But, then maintenance and breeding of corruption
is not easy. For this, the officials have to become inefficient in a
sustainable manner. Once they become inefficient they are paid to become
efficient. More the efficiency greater will be the earning. Hence, all the
energy is wasted in devising innovative ways to become inefficient. The duties
attached with the post become secondary. This also gives rise to the culture of
middlemen who work as shield for officials and, thus, adds to the cost.
Corruption is a very simple way to curb
competition. To illustrate, those who bribe more will get government contracts
easily than others. Corruption makes the mockery of merit and brings in
inefficient players. Recently concluded CWG games validates this assertion
where the contracts were given to the ineligible companies in lieu of petty
individual gains.
It seems that national interests are no match to
individual interests. Greed is given more prominent place than ethics. The
democratic ideals are absent from societal values. There exists no place for an
honest person to perform his duties. For example- In the election process the
expenses are so high that an honest and poor candidate can’t afford to contest
elections. The election commission requires all candidates to file their assets
but nobody asks them how their assets got doubled between two elections. Tax
authorities and ED work only when government asks them. Clearly the
transparency and accountability is missing from public sphere.
Media, which acts as a medium of communication
between politicians and public, is also tainted with corruption. The role of
media is to educate people on various political issues and to expose the
corruption taking place in society. But, the practice of paid news is becoming
a normal phenomenon today. Many new agencies earn their profits from
politicians.
Clearly, there is no political will to put an
end to corruption. It is mainly because the government thrives on corruption. Be
it the BJP or the Congress or any other political party all are accused of some
sort of corruption scandal. The fact that Lokpal bill is pending from the last
30 years and now also is taken up by the civil society supports this assertion.
Then the next question that arises is “Where the corrupt money goes?”
It gets accumulated as black money. It gets
deposited in tax haven countries such as Switzerland. This black money then
generates employment in Switzerland and helps in improving its economy. Here,
in India, we face price rise, unemployment and many other social problems such
as Naxalism. The rising inflation, which even RBI is unable to handle, is the
direct consequence of black money. Few studies have shown the amount of black
money as comparable to India’s GDP. If it continues it may take centuries for
India to become a developed country.
There is an urgent need to understand the
seriousness of situation. It is true that corruption can’t be tackled
overnight. Long term measures with full dedication needs to be taken by all
stakeholders to tackle corruption. One of the reasons of corruption is scarcity
of resources in the light of growing population. Therefore, it is important
that proper population control measures should be undertaken by both the civil
society and government.
Red-Tapism should be taken care of immediately.
The ‘ease of doing business index’developed by the World Bank places India at
134th position out of 183 countries. The bureaucratic procedures are
so length and time consuming that companies think twice before investing in
India. This is the era of globalization and we should project ourselves as more
friendly in terms of foreign investment. If not our growth is bound to suffer.
Above all, there is a need for more public
awareness. The public acceptance of corruption must go down. If there is nobody
to offer bribe then automatically it will go down. People should make full use
of democracy to check corruption. Democracy demand accountability, transparency
and gives voice to all sections of society. Therefore, faster we understand and
use democracy better it will be for the society.
