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.

Hyderabad is the most corrupt city in India, former director general of police T S Rao said at a seminar on `Corruption: its preventive measures’ organised by Raksha, an organisation floated to work for a corruption-free society, here on Sunday. Rao said India has two problems, one of them being terrorism and the other corruption. “We need a people’s movement to get rid of this problem and but Hyderabad is not responsive to such movements,” he said. Justice J Chalameshar of the Andhra Pradesh High Court lamented that corruption has become a way of life in the city. “Corruption is not just restricted to taking money, but even when you recommend someone, it is an act of corruption,” he said. Having stated the problem, the meeting took up solutions. “We should begin the cleansing of society from the ground level,” L V Subramanyam, vice-chairman and managing director of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, said. “When politicians are corrupt, the public punishes them by not giving them votes in the next election. But if bureaucrats and lower-rung officials are corrupt, then the people must take some action and complain to the Lok Ayukta,” Subramanyam said. B Prasad Rao, director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau and K G Shankar, law secretary of Andhra Pradesh also spoke at the function.

A truck driver apparently speeding away from bribe-hungry cops, mowed down a motorcyclist today in West Midnapore (WB), sparking mob violence that led to a youth’s death in police firing.

Around 8.30am, when Lakshmi Ari was riding down the Ramjivanpur bypass in Chandrakona on his motorbike, a paddy-laden truck crushed him. Fifty-year-old Lakshmi died on the spot.

“I saw the truck running at high speed and crushing the motorist while trying to avoid the policemen who had definitely targeted the driver to extort money. The policemen generally ask for money from drivers here,” said Samir Mondal, 40, who was in his betel leaf shop nearby.

Almost immediately, around 200 villagers gathered at the spot, about 120km from Calcutta, and started throwing stones at the truck. They then set the vehicle ablaze.

Not finding the driver, who had escaped, the mob turned on five policemen at the accident spot and started thrashing them.

All the while, Lakshmi’s bleeding body lay on the road.

The policemen, outnumbered and cornered, pleaded with the mob, saying they were only trying to stop polluting vehicles but their words fell on deaf ears.

Reinforcements from the Ramjivanpur outpost, about 1km from the trouble spot, rushed to the area but seeing the policemen, the mob turned more violent.

Some people in the crowd allegedly hurled bombs at the cops and began chasing them towards the police outpost.

The police first did a lathicharge. In retaliation, the rapidly swelling mob set five police vehicles ablaze, including the car of Ghatal sub-divisional officer Asoke Saha who had gone there with the reinforcements.

More bombs came flying at the cops in reply to which the police lobbed tear-gas shells and fired rubber bullets.

The crowd still continued to swell — by 2pm the villagers numbered around 2,000 — and chase them.

According to the police’s account, the force fired eight rounds. One bullet hit college student Soumen De, killing him on the spot.

Soumen, who hailed from Hooghly’s Arambagh, took the bullet in the head while he was throwing stones at the police.

After the firing, the mob scattered.

“At least 15 policemen were injured, four of them seriously, because of the bricks and bombs thrown by the mob. Two of them suffered head injuries, another fractured his leg. The force fired as it was our last resort in self-defence when everything else failed,” said West Midnapore police chief Manoj Verma.

SDO Saha also said the police opened fire in self-defence. “There could have been casualties had we not opened fire,” he said, adding that the mob was “violent right from the beginning”.

“The mob was only 200-strong at the beginning but swelled within hours. They chased our men towards the Ramjivanpur outpost and went on the rampage throwing bricks and bombs and setting ablaze our vehicles parked there one after another,” Saha said.

Basudeb Das, 50, a farmer who witnessed the violence, said: “The villagers who had set the killer truck ablaze would have dispersed had the police not brought in reinforcements. They got more aggressive when the police started the lathicharge.”

Fifteen people were arrested later in police raids.

Student rage

Over a hundred hotel management students went on the rampage in Durgapur this afternoon after a classmate died in a road accident.

Abhishek Roy, 22, a final-year student of hotel management at the NSHM Academy, was knocked down by a truck while he was coming to the institute on his bike. The truck hit him when he was taking a turn near the college in Arah, on the outskirts of the steel town.

College officials and police patrolling the area rushed him to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

Students of the private institute blocked the Muchipara-Shibpur Road. They ransacked the truck and were about to set the vehicle on fire when policemen stopped them. The driver had fled.

The students also threw stones at the policemen, injuring three of them.

Durgapur circle inspector Sumit Chatterjee said: “We are going to start a case against the students on the charges of attacking policemen and ransacking the truck.”

The college authorities have declared a holiday on Monday to mourn the death of Abhishek.

Here is an attempt to
go behind the scenes to trace how a police officer of the rank of
sub-inspector functions in Goa, a western state of India, from his recruitment to becoming part of the well-oiled bribery system, which is the legacy of every police installation.
“Encounter Specialist” Daya Nayak, of the Mumbai
police, was suspended after a probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)
into his allegedly disproportionate assets revealed they exceeded his
known sources of revenue.
Raids on the house of someone like him, who has been the inspiration for many a Bollywood
flick, revealed that he and his wife had acquired assets worth INR
41.75 lakh (US$94,671). As a sub-inspector at Charkop police station,
Nayak drew a salary of only INR 9,000 (US$204 /per month).
In
2003, an independent crime branch inquiry into Nayak’’s assets
concluded that he is involved in film financing. Further, he owned
hotels in Switzerland, Dubai and Goa. That wasn”t all; he also owned at least three flats in Mumbai.

Nayak hails from Mangalore, and made it big in Mumbai, gaining fame
between 1998 and 2001 in gunning down 83 gangsters in allegedly staged
“encounters,” which inspired the Hindi film “Ab Tak Chhappan.”

Mario is a physical education teacher at a Catholic school in the State
of Goa. As a youth he was a champion athlete at university and won many
awards.
After graduation he had his sights set on entering the
police force as a police cadet. He had all the sports certificates and
the physical attributes to back him up, along with his academic
qualifications. Also, his father had been a freedom fighter against
Portuguese colonialism.
That was some twenty years ago. Mario
never made it into the police force, not passing the vision
requirements. It turns out that was just a pretext for the
powers-that-be to get him off the list.
He was competing in a field of over 50 graduates, all of whom were vying for the 15-odd posts of sub-inspector in the Goa
police force. The fifteen vacancies all went to candidates who could
shell out INR 1.5 lakh (US$3,400) for the posts. Mario failed to
qualify as he was not ready to pay the bribe. He wanted to be a genuine
police officer without paying bribes and strike at the evils in
society.
Instead of combating illegal
activities as a police officer he ended up by lecturing kids in the
classroom and passing on the skills he had learned in sports.
In
the last two decades a lot has changed, including the police forces.
The price a new recruit into the force has to pay corrupt politicians
has shot up to INR 5 lakh (US$11,338).
Paresh is one such new entrant, who has just finished his two-year probation period – one year
at the Nashik training academy in the western state of Maharashtra and
the remaining year getting practical training at five different police
stations in Goa.
He is now looking for a posting at one of Goa’’s
numerous police precincts. His first assignment would be to work as a
sub-inspector (PSI) under a police inspector (PI), who is in turn responsible to the deputy superintendent of police (DYSP).

Goa has a DYSP and SP in each of the eleven talukas . Goa, in addition,
has a narcotics bureau, a tourist and traffic department and now the
marine police.
Paresh’’s parents have invested half a million
rupees (US$11,338) in him in the hope that he will work it off over
time. Tot hope to recover the amount through his salary, which would
take some ten years.
So, what is the course that Paresh could
follow to recover the money his parents have invested in him to get the
post? He cannot be in a hurry, needing to learn the ropes of how to
extort a bribe.
His first posting is in the coastal area of
Colva, one of the famous beaches of Goa with a very “hectic” police
station, meaning a “lucrative” posting in police parlance, in fact, the
most sought-after posting in terms of potential revenue from extortion.

After three months at Colva, the tourist season has just began.
Paresh is on his beat, answerable to his superior, Nelson.  The station
officer in charge is the person who answers to his superiors whenever
anything adverse occurs in his jurisdiction, so everything must be
under control.
That does not mean, however, that Paresh has to come down hard on the illegal activities that take place in his beat area, which would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

The only choice for Paresh then is to monitor violations on his beat
using the feedback from his beat constables, who are acquainted with
all the persons who do illegal business on the beach. Continuity is
maintained even when constables and police officers are transferred,
the outgoing ones introducing their replacements to the persons
involved in the illegal trade.  His mission is to get acquainted with
all the persons who bring in the moolah for the Colva police station,
which is then shared out according to rank.
Head constable
Anthony Gomes has prepared a list of contacts in the area for Paresh,
names of new “friends,” starting with the gamblers. Pedro runs a dice
game (”goddgodo”) at each of the football tournaments and tiatrs (folk
dramas-ed.) in the Colva police station jurisdiction. Then comes
Inacio, he is the agent for an illegal lottery known as “matka.” Then
there’’s John, who supplies call girls to foreign and Indian tourists.
Paul is a small-time drug dealer and also runs water sports activities on the beach illegally, without permission from the Tourism Department.

John is an ex-fisherman who now ferries foreign tourists to Bat Island.
He does not have permission to ferry tourists nor does he adhere to
safety regulations, all reasons for his name turning up on Paresh’’s
list. Then there’’s Shiva, a hawker on the beach, speaking 15 foreign
languages. But the only language police know is the language of money.

Hirappa is the unofficial leader of the hawkers on the beach. For years
he has been collecting bribes from them and handing it over to the beat
constable concerned.  Each hawker had to pay INR 100 or US$2.27 per
week to the precinct and 75 INR or US$1.70 to the tourist police every
day.
Then there was Dominic, a teenage boy who rented scooters to
tourists. Next on the list is Anthony, a partner in a beachside shack
restaurant, a hot spot for late night beach parties.
With late
night music having to come to an end at 11 p.m., restaurant owners pay
the police to keep the music and their business going without any
hassles.
Then there was the beach masseur, Linappa Malappa,
originally from Karnataka, but for the last ten years doing business on
the beach.
These persons would contribute a regular stream of
income to the police station during the tourist season from October to
February every year. The beat constable who welcomes them also collects
the take.
The average monthly collection, normally around INR 2
lakh (US$4,542), has to be split with the DYSP and SP of the taluka. As
for Paresh, his share would be some INR 10,000 (US$227), in addition to
his regular salary.
Tyson is just shy of 22 but has been
innumerable times in and out of prison cells. His is a familiar face to
the police, but the last time he went behind bars is now a year ago.
From a juvenile to a seasoned criminal, he is now a police informant.
It’’s snitches like Tyson who keep Paresh happy.

In a move that will shame corrupt babus and make ministries and government departments lose face for misdemeanours by their employees, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has started putting up on its website names of those officials against whom it has advised sanction for prosecution or imposition of penalty.

The first such list of officials, against whom the CVC has advised various actions for alleged corruption, include names of 258 officials, with the Ministries of Railways and Home, public sector banks, insurance companies, ONGC, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Delhi Development Authority and Municipal Corporation of Delhi leading the list of infamy.

The names have been put up by the CVC as part of its activities in July this year, making it imperative that it would put up such lists on the public domain every month, making life difficult for errant babus. In July, the Commission disposed off 522 cases referred to it for advice. Also, recoveries to the tune of Rs 90 lakh were effected after it conducted technical examination of some departments.

According to the data, during July itself, the CVC advised imposition of major penalty against 101 officers, including 17 from public sector banks, 16 from insurance companies, 13 from DDA, 11 each from ONGC and MCD, nine from Ministry of Railways, seven from Central Coalfields Ltd, five from Department of Coal, and two each from Department of Posts, CBDT and CBEC.

It also advised initiation of major penalty proceedings against 135 officers, which include 31 from public sector banks, 29 from Ministry of Railways, 13 from MCD, seven each from DDA, CBDT and FCI, five from CBEC, four each from Department of Telecommunications, Central Coalfields Ltd and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, three from New Mangalore Port Trust, and two each from NHAI, ICAR, Department of Atomic Energy, and Ministry of External Affairs.

It also advised the administrative authorities of various ministries to launch prosecution against 22 officers, including seven each from CBDT and Ministry of Home Affairs and two each from Ministry of Environment & Forests and MCD.

During the month, competent administrative authorities issued sanctions for prosecution against 26 officers coming under CVC jurisdiction, imposed major penalty on 65 officers, and “stiff major penalty” was imposed on seven officers.

The list includes six senior officers of the rank of joint secretary or equivalent and above. The CVC sometime back instructed all the government departments to put in place a mechanism to ensure that all complaints received in by them against any of their employees being involved in alleged corruption, malpractices or misconduct would “necessarily” be sent to their respective central vigilance officer for scrutiny and action.
This measure is aimed at making it sure that no such complaint escapes scrutiny of the CVOs.

An Indian-American friend of mine was grumbling about
corruption in India, blaming it for the country’s slow
development and the reluctance of NRIs to invest in the
economy. “Everyone in India accepts bribes,” he complained.

I asked him about his sister in Bangalore. He said she’s
still waiting for her green card, though he sponsored her 15
years ago. “No one in America accepts bribes,” he
complained.

Of course, he was exaggerating — on both counts. Not
everyone in India accepts bribes. In fact, the National
Anti-Corruption Committee (NACC) has compiled a list of
government officials who have never accepted bribes and
hopes to give awards — perhaps even gold watches — to
both of them.

If you want to know the names of these honest officials,
just send a self-addressed stamped envelope to NACC — and
don’t forget to include a token of your appreciation,
preferably in the form of cash. The more you pay, the more
likely the response.

Truth be told, there are hundreds of millions of people who
have never accepted bribes. They are known as THE POOR.
Though they have little money, some have to pay off others
just to maintain their basic needs, such as a good spot on
the pavement.

Corruption, unfortunately, extends into every sphere of life
and is almost unavoidable. Money can get you just about
anything: a good job, a good education, a good Internet
connection.

From the lofty chief ministers to the lowly street sweepers,
everyone has a price. And being caught on tape accepting a
bribe won’t necessarily jeopardize your career, especially
if you can find someone else to bribe.

Even if you’ve just stuffed thousands of rupees into your
pockets, you can plead your innocence. “This is not a bribe.
This is a donation. I am a very honest person. As a wise man
once said, it pays to be honest.”

Yes, corruption is a serious problem, but despite what some
believe, India is not the most corrupt country in the world.
That distinction belongs to Bangladesh, which finished dead
last among 91 countries surveyed for the 2002 Corruption
Perceptions Index of Transparency International. India
ranked 71st, while Pakistan was 79th, allowing Indian
politicians to brag that they’re more honest than their
neighbors. “If you want to see real corruption, just cross
the border. Even husbands have to bribe wives just to have
children.”

Finland was the least corrupt country, while the U.S.
finished 16th. America was ranked high partly because its
politicians don’t accept bribes. They accept “campaign
contributions.”

Whether or not we want to admit it, some of us wish we could
get away with more “contributions” in America.

Immigration officer: “Welcome to America, Mr. Gopal. Do you
have a visa?”

Gopal: “No, sir, but I have a MasterCard. What can I buy for
you?”

Officer: “Just leave the card with me, Mr. Gopal. I like to
do my own shopping. It will save you some trouble.”

Gopal: “That is very kind of you, sir. And I’m sure you will
also be kind to the next 200 people in line. They are my
relatives. I’m sponsoring them – with that MasterCard.”