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Matter of concern
As we look ahead, the question before us is will corruption continue to plague the country?
Corruption is anti-poor. In a country, where 26 per cent of the population is below the poverty
line, corruption hits the poor very badly. Many of the development schemes meant for the
weaker sections do not benefit them at all. Rajiv Gandhi remarked that only 15 paisa out of every
rupee meant for the anti-poverty programme reaches the beneficiaries. In fact, the major point of
criticism about the Government of India's Employment Guarantee Act, which visualizes a Rs
1,50,000-crore scheme - to ensure that all citizens in the rural areas are assured of a minimum
100 days of work with a daily wage of Rs 60 - is seen as a tremendous opportunity for corrupt
elements among the bureaucracy and politicians to siphon off huge funds. Even the Maharashtra
Employment Guarantee Scheme, on which the Central Government's scheme has been modeled,
also offers no hope. Even in that scheme, there are false muster rolls. Aruna Roy through her
Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti brought home in Rajasthan the extent of leakage in
development funds. As we look ahead to the next 10 to 15 years, what is it that we can hope for
on the corruption front? It is very easy to be pessimistic. The pessimist can always argue that
corruption has always been with us like the poor and it is a global phenomenon. Nevertheless,
the fact is that while corruption is a global phenomenon, we have seen countries which were
corrupt, reforming themselves and getting the benefits of corruption-free, good governance in
our own lifetime. Singapore is a classic example. Botswana has also been quoted by the World
Bank as a good African country, which has done well on the issue of fighting corruption. If we
look at history, thanks to the highly ethical William Gladstone, four times Prime Minister of
Britain, the UK which was a corrupt country in the 19th century became a well-governed country
by the be-ginning of the 20th century.
Begin with schools
In India, this whole concept of good behaviour got crystallised in dharma, or the set of duties
every person has to perform. In the Bhagvadagita, Lord Krishna says in Chapter 3 "swadharme
nidhanamshreya paradharmo bhayapaha". Doing one's own duty is the most desirable and if one
cannot perform duty, death is a better option. This inculcation of values in the educational
system is possible. This, in turn, would mean referring to the sources of tradition which will
involve a reference to some religion. Today, for example, these values of good conduct, based on
Hindu traditions, are taught in the DAV and the Ramakrishna Mission schools. In Christian
missionary schools, the moral lessons are drawn on the basis of Christian teachings. But our
government having been secular, it has been remarkably successful in totally eliminating any
induction of values in our educational system. We have, there-fore, a whole lot of students
coming through the schools where they do not learn any values. This big defect has to be
rectified. I am happy that this seems to have been realized especially after the scams of 1997 and
2000 in global business. In the institutions like Anna University, engineering ethics has been
introduced as a separate subject. But what about other streams of education? If we want India to
become less corrupt, if not corruption-free, we must start with the educational system and ensure
that moral values are inducted.
Role models
The second factor which decides the level of corruption is a set of social values. Here, opinion
makers in society have to become role models. Unfortunately, our politics has become
criminalized. Law-breakers are lawmakers today. The only people the youth probably look upon
as role models are politicians and media stars who collectively represent what is called the Page
Three culture. So far as professions are concerned, every professional association can uphold
ethics and codes of conduct, and thereby build role models and benchmarks for guiding society.
The third important factor is the system. In any society, from the ethics point of view, 10 per cent
may, by nature, be ethical and 10 per cent will, by nature, be corrupt, and 80 per cent will modify
their behavior depending on the system. One simple example of this is how, while an Indian may
throw rubbish on the streets without batting an eyelid, the same Indian, when he reaches
Singapore, is on guard and may not commit nuisance or throw rubbish on the streets. We must
redesign our system of governance to check corruption. Corruption today is a game in which five
major players are involved. They are the corrupt neta, the babu, lala, jhola and dada-the corrupt
politicians, the corrupt bureaucrats, the corrupt businessmen, the corrupt NGOs and criminals.
For tackling each of them, I would suggest the following: Political corruption is at the root of all
corruption in our country. Our politics is corrupt because it is based on black money. Every
political party collects cash, which is black money. Black money is oxygen for corruption and
corruption is oxygen for black money. Therefore, we must focus on electoral reform and
reducing black money. Simultaneously, we must also bring greater transparency in the raising of
funds by the political parties. Some steps have been taken for removing restrictions on political
contributions. We should try to create a situation similar to that of the United States or Britain in
PRAVIN KAUSHAL
Ref: The Hindu, ET, HT, CNN-IBN, Lok Sabha Channel
Choice: aptitude>polity>disaster