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India: A synonym of corruption

God alone
God alone
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A need for investigating agencies insulated from the government interference in order to rein in corruption is emphasized by
Sanjay Gupta

It sounds bizarre that the winter session of Parliament continuously remained stalled for 21 days owing to uproar the 2G spectrum scam. Earlier, Parliament was in logjam for 19 days in the wake of the Bofors Gun deal scandal. It is likely that the complete winter session will be sacrificed to hue and cry, because only one session is remaining and war of words between the ruling party and the opposition is getting intensified. The opposition has cautioned the ruling dispensation that they would raise JPC probe in the Budget session too. It means that the Budget session could also witness the same impasse. The Opposition, especially BJP, is terming the disruption of Parliament as their victory, but the fact remains that some legislative work did take place and they could not mount a pressure on the government to stop it. On the contrary, the Centre had created pressure on the BJP to form a committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge to probe into irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum during the NDA regime. It is not clear whether the BJP will come under pressure or not, but it is obvious that there was no serious discussion on corruption. In the past, the ruling and its opposition in similar situation had sought a way out after some time to overcome logjam in Parliament, but this time around nothing such is likely to happen. The way political parties blaming each other on corruption, indicates that they are not serious to eradicate it. The UPA government and the opposition are engaged in replying each other through media and raking up the past. In the light of blame game on corruption between the ruling government and opposition, Transparency International Organization again pointed out, India is on the top of corrupt nations. Regarding corruption, India ranks in race with the countries including Afghanistan, Nigeria, Uganda which are infamous for their undemocratic rulings. It is but natural that Indians hung their heads in shame. According to this Organization, every second person is compelled to bribe in order to get his work done. It is shameful that India is continuously pegged with those countries which are known for corruption. India now seems to be sinking in corruption instead of getting out of it. Although everyone knows that corruption, rampant everywhere, is the serious hindrance to development, nobody is perhaps showing any effort to overcome it. The UPA-government made a rule, Right to Information Act, which proved to be ineffective. Through this act, only petty irregularities are being unearthed. It seems that the corrupt persons sitting on top are least bothered about this Act or they do not come under this purview.

The spectrum scam is shocking because leaders, bureaucrats and industrialists collectively architected it. When the tapping records of corporate lobbyist Nira Radia went public, the images of many top brass got tainted and even Ratan Tata had to clarify his stand. Rajiv Chandrashekhar, an MP and businessman, refuted Tata’s clarification and put serious allegations on him. Tata rebutted the allegations by making the spectrum issue more complex. In shade of the blame-game between these two industrialists, it has been proved that unfair advantage was taken for long by means of lobbying. However Ratan Tata raised question over the allotment of 2G spectrum during the NDA regime, which was taken cognizance by the Supreme Court. Right now it is difficult to say that the irregularities found in the allocation of 2G spectrum will be exposed, because the government does not look serious on this account. Instead of finding out truth, the government is trying to put curtain on it.

In the given situation, it is now clear that corruption could not be stopped easily. Corruption could be contained only when such an investigating agency is constituted that is free from any government pressure. At present both CBI and CVC are under purview of the Centre. The CBI raided at the residences of A Raja and his aides 13 months after an FIR was lodged. This delay proves that the government was not giving green signal to the CBI for the same. It is just a tokenism that the CBI carried out raids at residences of suspected people after 13-long months. It is very surprising, the government is not keen to make CBI and CVC autonomous even after getting embarrassed in the spectrum scam. Moreover, the ruling party and opposition are not ready to think over why political parties are not getting rid of scams and scandals. Ironically, political parties do not introspect on why they fulfill their needs by unfair means. If the political parties become capable of putting an end to rampant extraction of money in lieu of work, corruption can be controlled to a great extent.

When a section of leaders sitting on high positions are extracting money from the corporate world in the name of political compulsion, selfish bureaucrats are also capitalizing on it. When corruption is rampant at the top level, it is obvious that common people will get affected and they are compelled to give bribes. Today hobnobbing among political parties and breaking law and order have become a common feature. Giving and taking bribe has become integral phenomenon in life of people. Interestingly, people are now skeptical about situation when any work is done in a proper fashion. In order to change this awful situation, people will have to amend their habits also. If leaders, bureaucrats and public in general do not take initiative, the soaring corruption will demean India further.
(An original copy of the article published in Hindi on December 12, 2010 translated by the English Editorial)

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