The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the society at every level.

As the practice of corruption is a dishonest act, one has to think that most of the Indians are dishonest, which could be different only in degree between the individuals. As the reason for the dishonesty is greediness and the desire to get things done at any cost one can think that most of the country men are greedy and do not anymore think that the means should justify the ends. This is not a flattering statement and many readers would desire that it would not be so and such statement could have been avoided. But, the fact is that most of the Indians are involved in corrupt practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called compulsion. In any case, the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of not getting involved in corrupt dealings is conspicuous by its absence amongst the most.

Today, if one would say that any particular Indian is honest to the core, it could only be a case of exception rather than a rule.

The study of world phenomenon on corruption has repeatedly branded India as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Unfortunately, this view has not disturbed most of the Indians at all and they do not seem to care as to what others think of them; so long as the existing systems and practices would allow them to make money and get things done in one way or the other.

The irony is that India is still considered to be a very religious country and it is still widely believed that the religion is the basis of Indian life, thoughts and actions. This is obviously true, considering the fact that there are hundreds of temples, churches and mosques spread all over the country and they are all densely visited day in and day out by the feverishly praying Indians.

Is not religious ethos contrary to corruption and dishonest practices ?The unfortunate situation in India is that those who call themselves most religious are often found to have indulged themselves in dishonest practices on many occasions. Several of the religious centres, of all religions, are suspected to be steeped in nepotism, as such incidents have been repeatedly published in the press.

It does not shock Indians anymore to know that not only the politicians, ministers and IAS & IPS officers are corrupt but even the judges, professors, doctors and NGO organisations are.

Corruption is not only prevalent amongst rich who are greedy in spite of possessing enough but also prevalent amongst poor.

Now, what can be the future of the Indian society in such conditions? It can be only frustration, chaos, unrest and even bloodshed in the not too distant future. This kind of corruption in the national polity and public and private life cannot go on for ever, without disturbing the overall peace in the society. It is sad that those who are in charge of the nation today do not appear to realise this and still are merrily going ahead with their dealings unconcerned about the harm that it would inevitably do to the larger national cause.

What is very sad and extremely disquieting about this country is that Ministers suspected to be involved in murder. Chief ministers of swindling crores of public money, senior police officers of molestation charges are all living in comforts and enjoying positions, thus effectively exposing the fact that the crusade against corruption has finally failed in India.

Even as the vicious cycle of corruption would continue with one swindling the other, there could be a number of persons who would be left out of this cycle due to inefficiency or commitment to the cause of truth and such persons would be driven down to despair.

The incidents of history indicate that some of such persons who are out of the corruption loop could take up the war against corruption at one time or the other. But, they would find that in a corruption entrenched system, they would not be able to improve the conditions and therefore, a few of them may finally take to physical attack on corrupt and dishonest persons, leading to violence and bloodshed. Security, dogs and mere police rifles will not be able to beat down such determined crusaders.

The politicians and bureaucrats would call such crusaders as arsonists or terrorists. But, history would judge them differently. There are a number of determined isolated war groups already existing in the country and they are generally branded as terrorist groups and treated brutally by the state machinery, without investigating the reasons for their existence. One would shudder to think as what would happen to the peace of the society, if such groups would enlarge in size and number.

Those holding the positions of President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of this country and Chief Ministers of the states should have the wisdom to realise the potential dangers facing this corrupt ridden Indian society. They should not remain as small people who would compromise with the aspects of good governance for the sake of remaining in power for a few number of days more.

The lack of anti-graft laws makes Pakistan one of the most corrupt nations in the world and is coming in the way of foreign investments in the country, global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) says.

‘How can one expect from any donor to come forward to assist Pakistan from its current financial crisis, when there exists no law against corruption?’ TI said in its 2009 Global Corruption Report released Wednesday.

 Unveiling the report here, TI Pakistan chief Adeel Gilani said anti-corruption efforts in the country had taken a 180 degree turn since then president Pervez Musharraf issued the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) Oct 5, 2007 granting immunity to politicians, army officers, bureaucrats and others charged with graft.

 Among those who benefited from the NRO, issued 56 days after the ratification of the UN Convention against Corruption, were former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her widower Asif Ali Zardari, now the president of Pakistan.

 ‘The timing for the release of the TI report would be embarrassing for Zardari, whose government’s credibility is already seriously questioned internationally because of (his) own as well as many of his government’s key players’ past plagued by serious corruption charges,’ The News daily noted Thursday.

 Quoting from a joint World Bank-Planning Commission of Pakistan study on the country’s infrastructure implementation capacity, the TI report says 15 percent of corruption occurs at the procurement stage, costing the exchequer over Rs.150 billion.

 This apart, the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Indicator in 2007 ranked Pakistan a lowly 21.3 out of 100.

 Then, the Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 ranked Pakistan 101 out of 130 countries and found that respondents pointed to corruption as the second most problematic factor for doing business in the country, after government instability.

‘The instability of the political situation in Pakistan cannot be underestimated as a factor in permitting corruption in the private sector to flourish. Despite Musharraf’s claim to be committed to fighting corruption, little headway has been made, and it is still considered to be pervasive and deeply entrenched,’ The News said.

Neta’s of India – The most corrupt lot!

Transparency International recently released the Global corruption barometer for 2009 – it reveals that our Indian Neta’s for whom we cast our all important votes are the MOST corrupt lot, even more than Police and law officials !

Here are some of the findings of the survey

58% of the respondents in India singled out politicians as the most corrupt individuals.
13% of the respondents rated government officials as the second most corrupt.
10% of the respondents felt that Parliament and other law making bodies are corrupt.
9% of the respondents felt that the private sector – which was included in the survey for the first time – are corrupt.
Media and judiciary are corrupt in the view of 8% and 3% respondents respectively.
45% of people surveyed in India said the government is ineffective in addressing corruption.
I actually do not understand the last finding “45% of people surveyed in India said the government is ineffective in addressing corruption”.

Tell me, if the people who run the government are the most corrupt, then how in the hell can they do anything about corruption!!

Here is another interesting finding of the survey- Poorest families continue to be punished by petty bribe demands. Across the board, low-income people were more likely to be met with bribe demands than high-income ones.
http://trak.in/tags/business/2009/06/04/india…

India 5th most corrupt Asian economy: Survey

The Philippines is perceived as Asia’s most corrupt, while India as fifth corrupt economy by foreign businessmen according to a survey that also found countries were failing properly to tackle corruption.

Singapore (1.20) and Hong Kong (1.87) were seen as the cleanest economies, among the 13 Asian economies while China, Indonesia and Vietnam posted improvements, the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said on Tuesday in a summary made available to AFP.

In a grading system with zero as the best possible score and 10 the worst. The Phillipines got 9.40, worsening sharply from its grade of 7.8 last year. India, though improved its score from 6.76 last year to 6.67 this year, was in the fifth in the ranking among 13 Asian economies.

PERC said the Indian government must accelerate reforms, warning that corruption can limit companies’ expansion plans.
http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.ph…

Criminalization of politics in India is a growing problem, despite legal attempts to address it. In 2003 a law was introduced to prohibit the election of criminals or alleged criminals to state or central legislature. However, persons with criminal or alleged criminal backgrounds continue to hold seats in parliaments all over the country. In fact, current statistics show that some 23.2 percent of members of parliaments in India have criminal investigations or cases pending against them. The forthcoming state election in Uttar Pradesh is a case in point. An estimated 35 percent of candidates have trials and cases pending against them. The charges include rape, armed robbery and murder.

The primary reason for criminal elements gaining political power is the failure of rule of law. When justice becomes distant and elusive, alternative platforms surface to deliver so-called justice through muscle power. Criminals protect the illegitimate interests of politicians and in turn obtain protection from them and their parties. This mutually beneficial relationship works against the establishment of the rule of law. As a consequence, the criminal justice system is increasingly corrupted and manipulated. This decrepit state of affairs is essential to the continued criminal hold on parliaments across the country, as reasonably well-functioning police, prosecutors and courts would be a death blow to those in control.

The election commission and parts of government have set down norms and appointed committees, with little effect. The Vohra Committee report paints a grim picture of criminal elements in politics and has made various suggestions, as has the National Committee on the Review of the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC). Based on this information, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has filed a number of proposals for the consideration of the Government.

The judiciary has also made directives concerning the writ petitions filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in May 2002. The central government failed to take any legislative initiatives to bring greater transparency to elections in response. However, the Election Commission of India the following month mandated disclosure of criminal records of electoral candidates – including convictions, charges pending, cases initiated, financial records, and assets & liabilities of a candidate, their spouse and other close relatives.

To circumvent this order, the government drafted an ordinance with provisions expressly in violation of the Supreme Court’s directives and Article 19 (1) of the Constitution of India. On 16 August 2002, the government sent the ordinance for the President’s approval. However, concerned citizens and activists got together under the banner of the National Campaign for Electoral Reforms (NCER) and pressured the President to refer the matter under Article 143 of the Constitution to the Supreme Court. The President returned the ordinance to the Indian Parliament for reconsideration on 23 August 2002. But the Cabinet reiterated its position against disclosure of details of the candidates for election and simply returned the ordinance to the President, who had no other option by law but to promulgate it.

The Lok Satta, PUCL and ADR challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance in the Supreme Court, which on 13 March 2003 struck down the amendment brought in by the ordinance by holding that Section 33B of the Representation of People’s Act of India is unconstitutional. It also held that the Parliament cannot abridge the right of the citizens to know about the candidates and for all practical purposes declared that the notification issued by the Election Commission of India must be made law.

As of now candidates to an election are obliged to submit an affidavit in a prescribed form declaring assets, liabilities and criminal antecedents. Furnishing of wrong information is an offence and on proof the election of the candidate is invalid.

To exercise freedom of speech and expression, there must be freedom of choice which depends upon the right to be informed. Citizens have every right to know about the persons whom they prefer as their representatives. This is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) of the Constitution of India. The guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India mandate the presiding officer of a district to provide information about the candidate to anyone who claims and denial of such data is illegal.

The political parties of India have a moral and legal responsibility to weed persons with criminal records or pending allegations out of their ranks. Their minimum duty is to provide citizens with a genuine choice for representatives, not persons seeking to use state resources to defend themselves and their cronies. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls on them to start in Uttar Pradesh, where the present dismal choice of candidates leaves little hope for the future of India’s claim to be the world’s largest democracy.

Chief Minister Kumari Mayawati Das of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, reportedly paid around 260 million rupees (US$5.2 million) in income tax for the fiscal year 2007-08, making her the highest taxpayer among India’s politicians. However, she is no businesswoman. She is a politician, and her capricious rise from rags to riches speaks for the kind of democracy and politics practiced in India.

Since assuming the chief minister’s post on May 13, 2007, Mayawati and her Bahujan Samaj Party have come a long way from humble beginnings. The daughter of a clerk in the telecommunications department, she now aspires to be India’s next prime minister.

The BSP contested state elections by harnessing the votes of Dalits – people traditionally regarded as untouchables, outcastes or of low caste. Mayawati, a Dalit herself, has been claiming that her party and the Uttar Pradesh state government she leads are actively involved in meliorating the living conditions of the Dalit community.

The BSP, which claims to be working for revolutionary social and economic change to realize “the supreme principles of universal justice, liberty, equality and fraternity enunciated in the Constitution of India,” has, however, achieved nothing much on these fronts. Like most of its counterparts in the country, the party is preoccupied more with the welfare of the people who control the party than the welfare of ordinary people.

Uttar Pradesh, which covers around 243,286 square kilometers, occupies one-third of India’s highly fertile Gangetic plain. Yet it is one of the most backward states of India and home to an estimated 190 million people. The backwardness of the state owes much to its elected representatives. Individuals having criminal antecedents ranging from charges of corruption, murder, rape and robbery, occupy 100 out of the 403 seats in the state assembly.

Mayawati herself is accused of corruption involving US$40 million, in the infamous Taj Corridor case – a scam project undertaken during her tenure as chief minister to upgrade tourist facilities near the Taj Mahal.

The state underperforms on various fronts below the national average. For example, the literacy rate is 57 percent for the state, as opposed to the national average of 65 percent. India’s population stabilization solely rests on two states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Yet, Uttar Pradesh has a population growth rate of 25.8 percent against the national average of 23.8 percent.

Even according to the state government, in terms of social development indicators like medical facilities,teacher-student ratio in primary schools, death rate, infant mortality rate, literacy, per capita income, electrification of villages and per capita power consumption, the state currently lags behind other parts of the country. Nothing tangible was achieved in the state to change the status quo after Mayawati formed the current government in May 2007.

What is visible, however, is the omnipresence of statues and decorations in urban areas, particularly in cities, where huge statues of Mayawati are erected. Criticisms against her or a member of her government is responded to with stiff resentment, claiming them to be rumors spread by the upper caste or the opposition.

It is however true that the current administration will have a tough way forward if the government is at all serious about addressing the people’s needs. The state bureaucracy has a few decades of corruption, nepotism and criminality to shed. To remove this will take time, as it is deeply rooted in the system. Of particular importance is the rampant practice of corruption. Every aspect of public life in the state is under the influence of corruption.

The BSP, like many other political parties in the country, is known to demand “donations” from the rich and the poor alike. Those who pay big amounts expect to receive favors from the government.

Corruption percolates from the top to the lowest levels of the administration. For example, it is common for the government licensees like Public Distribution System agents to sell food grains on the black market. So food grains supplied to PDS shops by the government for distribution to the poor never reach the intended population.

The effect of this form of corruption is devastating, particularly in rural areas where the poor live. The state police, an agency mandated to take action against this, are equally or even more corrupt. It is public knowledge that recruitment and promotion in the state police, particularly for the lower and middle ranks, is made after paying huge amounts in bribes. It is equally known that the majority of officers soon start recouping the money by demanding and accepting bribes.

A similar state of apathy exists in state-run health centers. Government hospitals are understaffed and ill equipped. In rural areas, public health service centers remain closed mostly throughout the year, denying health services to poor villagers. Schools are also equally understaffed. Some government schools remain closed or remain in a nonfunctional state, as the infrastructure is not safe to house children.

The poor in villages mostly face the brunt of this administrative neglect. The state has a predominantly rural population, of which an estimated 11 percent is unaccounted due to caste prejudices and errors in census data. The state is home to malnutrition, starvation and high mortality rates. A high percentage of those who face this harsh reality are members of the Dalit community.

Almost 90 percent of Dalits work as landless agricultural laborers. Yet when the central government initiated discussions on a national land reform policy and law, Mayawati’s BSP was in the forefront to oppose the move. A national land reform law with statutory limitations on individual and collective land holdings would help to improve the living conditions of the poor.

A state like Kerala, where such policies have long been in force, has proved that land reforms not only reduce poverty, but also have the potential to end caste-based discrimination.

Against this backdrop, Mayawati and her government are preparing for a statewide celebration of the government’s third year in office. An estimated 1 billion rupees (US$19.9 million) will be spent for building monuments by the state administration in the coming years. The question is whether the monuments will be remembered as the glory of a Dalit leader or as ghosts of her reckless administration?