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Scams Stricken Polity

God alone
God alone
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The stand of all political parties on corruption amidst scams and scandals is disappointing, avers Sanjay Gupta

It is an unprecedented Parliamentary phenomenon that the winter session of Parliament has been disrupted for 15 days in face of 2G spectrum scam. Work is almost paralyzed in both the Houses, some of the businesses were done tentatively amidst uproar. As the spectrum controversy is the biggest ever scam of the country, it should not be ignored. Avoiding it means strengthening the roots of corruption and maneuvering misgovernance. The Opposition wants the scam be probed by JPC, but the government is reluctant to form a committee. In a bid to woo the Opposition, the Central government offers them several proposals, but it does not want to disclose about its difficulty with the JPC. Sometimes the government says the CBI is capable enough for investigation, but on another it keeps hand on PAC (Public Accounts Committee). The Opposition is of the opinion that the spectrum scam could be probed by JPC only. This proposition is quite appropriate, then the ruling government should not be allowed for doing legislative work. It seems odd that the Opposition stalls the House to mount pressure on the ruling dispensation, while giving the government opportunity to do Parliamentary work. If the Opposition observers the Centre’s stand on JPC being unacceptable, why do they give the government breather to function in Parliament?

The 2G spectrum scam stands apart with its enormity. Two years ago, DMK’s Telecom Minister A Raja first made the government agree to permit that his ministry only would finish the job of allocating 2G spectrum. After that the ministry started allocating of 2G spectrum arbitrarily. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) cautioned that the process of allocation would dent exchequer, but the Centre overlooked it. More so, Raja even refuted the advice given by the Prime Minister and Law Ministry in this regard. During the Supreme Court hearing in the 2G spectrum scam, it came out how highhandedly Raja did it. According to the apex court, Raja also disregarded the Prime Minister. Raja not only changed the rule of allocation but also tinkered the receiving date of application. It is quite surprising to know that the allocating process was completed in mere 45 minutes and as many as 85 companies were benefited, which were not even eligible to apply for license. Later, these firms sold their stakes for billions of rupees. They were in win-win situation, because they took the recourse of lobbying, a new technique of the corporate world. These companies were left red with the tape publishing talks between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia, leaders, industrialists and senior journalists. It exposed the fact that how a particular coterie in our country can influence the government.

According to the CAG report, exchequer incurred the loss of 1.76 core owing to arbitrary allocation of 2G spectrum. Now even the government is not ready to accept its mistake. The reason is that the government does not want to anger its ally DMK. The government is not only facing the heat of spectrum controversy, CWG scam and Adarsh Housing Society Scam have also added to its botheration. The appointment of PJ Thomas as CVC has further added to its woe. The big problem for the government is that even the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known for his clean image, is facing the heat of scams. The Supreme Court put him in the dock, raising question over his inactiveness. The fingers of suspicion are pointed to him in the matter of Thomas’ appointment as CVC. Congress chairman Sonia Gandhi gave a clean chit to the PM, but it is ironical that now the Prime Minister needs such a certificate. Nobody could doubt his honesty, but it seems that he is paying the price for running the coalition government.

The stain on the image of Central government will not go off, until it shows its will power to get to the bottom of each controversial issue. If the government has not committed anything wrong, why does it object to JPC? The strategists of the Congress who are advising against JPC are adding to problems of the government. The Central government should realize that common people are also angry over the 2G spectrum scam. The government must know that it is debilitating the foundation of the Country by not showing its commitment to bridle corruption. Going by records, probe against leaders in the name of investigations has proved just a tokenism. It seems that no government agency is indeed autonomous. One segment of society has reached a conclusion that Netas-Babus have got liberty to work arbitrarily.

It is frustrating to see the country’s development is increasing, scams and scandals also soaring in the same pace. Both the Central and state governments are sailing in the same boat. Whether the ruling party or the Opposition, both are reluctant to frame such a system which can check scams and scandals. It is quite obvious that when leaders of a party get opportunity to rule, they behave arbitrarily. If political parties are honest in their approach to control corruption, they are required to make CBI as well as CVC autonomous and capable. At present, both these institutions are compelled to work at whims of the Centre. The ideal situation will be when the CVC should be made efficient to keep a vigil on the CBI that it investigates each issue impartially or not.

Now it is obvious that political parties themselves are the biggest reason for corruption. As fighting election is getting costlier year after year, yearning of political parties for money is also increasing. Generally, this is met with black money. Now purchasing of votes has become a new fad. If conduct of political parties and electoral process are not changed, it would be difficult to check corruption. The time has come to think over the system which provides money to fight election through government treasury. If new formula is not devised to fight against corruption, the string of scams and scandals will continue.

(An original copy of the article published in Hindi on December 5, 2010 translated by the English Editorial)

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