Today, no matter where you go, or what you do, you are sure to hear two terms: 1) Anna Hazare and 2) Jan Lokpal Bill.
My friends have asked me to do a lot of things to show my support for this bill against “corruption”. I have been asked to wear black, go to Azaad Maidan and scream my lungs out, wear a white cap stating “ I am Anna”, etc etc etc.
I have avoided all this, because I have not been able to make up my mind as to what does all this mean. As per Dictionary.com, the definition of the word corrupt is: someone who is guilty of dishonest practices (bribery, lacking integrity, breaking the law, etc). If so, doesn’t this term describe around 90% of India? If so, is this bill against India?
Indians across all levels exploit an illegal opportunity for personal gain, aided and abetted by institutional practices and procedures. We feel free to exploit such opportunities due to little or nil accountability and low transparency. Over a period of all these years, an eco-system has evolved in these illegal opportunities, which has become very vital to our economic functioning.
In fact, I’m afraid, if corruption is totally eradicated tomorrow by a magic wand, our economy may come to a stand-still as no decisions will be taken anywhere and many people will not know how to do their regular work! Today, every Indian will turn corrupt or blind to corruption to survive the system. Don’t believe me? Let’s take an example:
Its 8:00 AM, you are on your way to office and you have stopped at a traffic signal. The signal is red, there is no oncoming traffic and no car or pedestrian blocking your way. Suddenly a biker zooms ahead breaking the signal. Seeing this, all the cars beside you start moving. You are still wondering what to do, when the cars behind you start honking incessantly. Except for you, everyone is now moving, in effect breaking the law. You have now two choices. You can wait another 10-15 seconds, looking like a fool who plays by the rules, or you can be like everyone else and go with the flow and the crowd. You will not lose anything if you wait for those 10 seconds. You will not gain anything breaking the red signal. What do you do? We all know the answer. The vast majority of us will go with the flow, because, everyone does it. The same applies to pedestrians crossing the road. Almost all of us cross the road and jump a red light.
We are who we are. We love bending rules and stretching them. We may be fed up with concept of corruption, but we live the lie every single day and moment of our lives.
And then, when someone promises us a law against corruption, we jump on the bandwagon, unquestioning. As if a new law will change anything, while we continue to be who we are!
Can corruption be eradicated by enacting laws or creating more institutions?
In a system where 10-20% of the total lot is corrupt, a more rigorous monitoring of corruption complaints may be a good idea. But, in a system where 90% are corrupt and other 10% look the other way, institutional monitoring of complaints and new laws does not seem to be a good idea.
Let’s assume that everyone agrees on the Lokpal Bill and create more institutions and authorities to combat corruption. Yes, we will have a place to store all the complaints against the corrupt. But will it solve the problem of corruption? No way. After initial euphoria, the institutions created under Lokpal will either get submerged under the large volumes of complaints or choose to operate with poor quality by throwing off most cases.
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. It has the status of an autonomous body, free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India.
Does the CVC sound familiar to the Lokpal Bill? What has happened to it? What will stop the Lokpal from going down the same route as CVC? Who will stop the authorities in these institutions from becoming corrupt. Will it add to a long list of corrupt Indian institutions ranging from Army to Judiciary?
Its my opinion that creating another institution would not address the corruption issue. We already have many institutions for addressing corruption. The fact is that they are not functioning effectively. So the issue is to make them work effectively.
Corruption is an institutional issue and an issue of transparency. Unless the issue of transparency is addressed, corruption cannot be solved. Transparency of Governance operations and decisions is the only way out for fighting corruption. It will not eliminate corruption. It will enable public monitoring of Governance.
Today Ministries in State and Central Governments operate almost ‘clandestinely’ without the knowledge of the people. People should know where their hard earned tax money is being invested in. People should know the projects executed, decisions taken, reasons for those decisions. The common man does not get to know, even if he wants to know. This situation should change.
Ministries should list each and every activity of theirs on the web. Every project, every decision taken, every reason for the decision should be on the web, visible to everyone. Today, if we break a traffic rule, there is a 50-50 chance of us getting caught by the cops. If we get caught, we would rather pay a bribe, because the official process is lengthy and time consuming.
Ministries should as a matter of process involve people at grassroots level in big and small policy making by direct contact with people and soliciting online feedback. If you think this is a farfetched idea, Iceland has implemented this idea and now have a rewritten “crowdsourced constitution”. After such decisions are taken, atleast they should propagate it and inform them widely.
Why can’t the ministries publish their income/expenditure statements on the web with specific information about the volume of transactions carried out with different business houses?
These are just some measures. Bringing in more transparency in our governance is the only solution to the problem of corruption. With more transparency media and opposition can serve responsibly highlighting the corrupt deeds. They can serve as watchdogs.
In every dark corner some shady deals are bound to happen. Appointing a policeman to monitor every dark corner is impossible and cannot to solve the problem. Throwing light on these corners and making them visible will help solve the problem.
Hope, Anna Hazare who is fasting unto death to bring a new institution (policeman) to life realizes this.
As a Corrupt Indian, I make this request to Anna Hazare. Sir, Look around you. Everyone around you is corrupt or have been tolerant of corrupton in their own way. Don't fast unto death for creating one more institution, one more policeman. We cannot keep monitoring ourselves.
Our institutions need to be transparent and people need to be honest to some extent. That's the only way we can fight corruption. Hence quick fixes and solutions aimed at “others” is not the solution, when the problem really is within us. And a thousand Anna Hazares and Lokpal Bills will not be able to fix that.
