Essay: Corruption In Public Life

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.

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 134^th 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.

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.

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.