Towards a Corruption Free India
Political Corruption – Some Causes & Remedies

It is beyond doubt that corruption is a cancer corroding the vitals of Indian polity, along with the erosion of the traditional value system and the spread of violence. It would seem that parents, teachers and leaders of recent generations have failed in their duty to pass on to the next generations the values that made our civilisation great in earlier times.

A former Prime Minister reminded us that corruption is a global phenomenon, implying that we need not be too concerned with corruption being prevalent in India. The present Prime Minister is hailed for having heralded the globalisation of the Indian economy Our President has shared with us his glorious vision of India as a superpower by 2020. All the same, is it necessary to let our efforts at globalisation and our race to superpower status manifest themselves first in the realm of corruption? Even with the awareness that corruption is a sociological fact, powered by natural human greed, there is no need for India to be amongst the leaders in this field.

It has to be recognised that corruption is no longer restricted to the government bureaucracy, as it was in the colonial era. It has become all-pervasive and is encountered also in the political arena (at almost all levels), public/private/co-operative sector enterprises, corporate governance, financial institutions, NGOs etc. The most unfortunate thing is that people seem to accept corruption and the lack of accountability as inescapable parts of modern life.

Causes

Greed

Gandhiji had been quoted as having said that India has adequate resources to meet everyone’s needs, but not anyone’s greed. Lord Bertrand Russel had once calculated that everyone can meet his family’s basic needs by working only two hours a day, i.e. people are working four times as much as required to meet their basic needs. In a realistic sense, these can only be taken as philosophical thoughts. It is almost impossible to quantify “basic needs”, as what is a basic need for one (like, say, an air-conditioned car for a person who is used to it and can afford it) may be beyond even the most greedy fantasy for many others. The basic fact is that most human beings are “greedy” in the sense that they want to earn (at least) marginally more than what is needed to meet their needs (by their standards). It is impractical to call for a total reformation of the human mind so as to eliminate greed. What is practicable is to try and ensure that greed is restricted to ambitions and aspirations; and does not lead to offences against society. Erosion of Values

It is disingenuous to distinguish political virtue from moral virtue. Prof. W. B. Allen, Professor of Political Science in Michigan State University (in his lecture to The Philadelphia Society in November 2000), argued that they are, in fact, inseparable if not identical. Democracy is not necessarily a compromise between merit and good faith. George Washington had been convinced that “private morality” is the “foundation of national happiness”. In a lament that applies equally to our society, Fareed Zakaria (in his book "The Future of Freedom") refers to the erosion in USA of guides and barriers, checks and balances of the now-eclipsed old structures of power and control. Some decades ago people who published books, produced news, ran law firms and headed hospitals viewed themselves as concerned partly with profit and partly with public service. Doctors have now become just business owners, lawyers cannot afford public work and professional bodies have ceased being watchdogs and have become lapdogs. Schools emphasise achievement, not necessarily character. We now expect very little of those in positions of power and they rarely disappoint us. The erosion of societal values, accompanied by an emphasis on materialism, is the malady that needs to be treated.

We see the continuing erosion of values; values like respecting the minority, serving the public good, being intellectually and financially honest etc. A successful democracy requires emphasis on genuine economic development and the building of effective political institutions. However, the mere existence of political and economic institutions that are relatively free of intense populist pressures does not guarantee a successful liberal democracy unless those manning them and those in politics practise such values. Dysfunction of democracy leads to aberrations like popular autocrats, the use of law as a political weapon (thus subverting the idea of equality under law), the skilful use of the majority to adopt wrong ways etc.

Lack of Social Stigma

When persons of my generation were in school and college nearly sixty years ago, there was a certain social stigma attached to corruption and a person merely accused of corruption faced some form of social ostracisation. Now we find that many persons making the victory sign when arrested on a charge of corruption, when released on bail, whenever attending the court and when finally acquitted!

Lack of Respect for the Law

There had been a progressive erosion in the respect and regard for the law, leading to increasingly lawless behaviour. This is often caused by discriminatory (or iniquitous) and non-enforceable laws. The enforcement of the former and non-enforcement of the latter, coupled with inefficient (and ineffective) criminal justice systems, leads to disrespect for laws and loss of faith in the lawful processes. The result is the tendency to take the law into one's own hands and to behave in one's own selfish interests without regard to the effects on the society as a whole.

Lack of Effective Deterrence

Many offences against society can and are controlled/reduced by the existence of effective deterrence. I believe that corruption is one such. In the prevailing situation in India, most current forms of corruption are not defined as substantive offences and the offenders have to be proceeded against under different sections of laws dealing with amassing disproportionate wealth, misappropriation, breach of trust etc. and some may even escape criminal prosecution and face only a civil suit. Further, our criminal justice system, which is heavily biased in favour of the accused persons, is almost customised for the influential person accused of corruption to escape punishment during his/her lifetime. As if to add insult to injury, most of them get to keep a major part of the ill-gotten wealth. In effect, most forms of corruption enjoy considerable immunity under our present legal framework, criminal investigation and judicial processes..

Willingness to Pay

As a corollary or as an adjunct to the lack of social stigma, there is willingness and readiness on the part of large sections of our society (not just the business people) to pay bribes to get speedy service or some “special treatment” in discretionary matters. It is well to remember that corruption (like clapping) needs two hands to materialise. In reality, we have developed a society that not only tolerates corruption but also actively engages in it. How often does one hear an otherwise law abiding citizen “boast” about how he got a job done by paying a bribe, because that was the only way to get it done? Bureaucrats, business executives and politicians are all products of this society and they reflect this trend.

Inadequate Remuneration

One of the justifications often heard for routine bureaucratic corruption (whether in the government or elsewhere) is “inadequate remuneration”. This was to a large extent valid in an era when the ruler expected his viceroys, governors and other representatives (and every major non-governmental employer expected his procurement agents and other employees) to “live off the land”; and paid them a salary only as if to “certify” their employment – as an integral part of the feudal system. The role of the government has changed from an absolute ruler to a representative of the people entrusted with the responsibility for ensuring an orderly society. Government servants are now called “public servants”. They are paid a better-than-living wage. However, the mind-set of many in and outside the government is such that they still think that routine corruption is a rightful supplement to the salaries.

Lack of Civic Interest in Politics

Michael Schudson, author of 'A History of American Civic Life' (published by Harvard University Press) and 'The Good Citizen', has said that when the USA reached the point of having a well-organised party system and high voter turnout (after the Civil War of 1861-65), the character of American politics was overwhelmingly that of a battle over money, jobs, and power, with little or no public-interest component. High-minded and educated people hated politics and fought to limit the power of politicians through means like the establishment of the civil service. An honest, efficient and depoliticised government, in which experts had disproportionate influence, became triumphant in the late 19th century; but as the government got depoliticised, politics mattered less and the natural outcome was that most people became less interested and involved in it. The basic set of present day civic ideals - like good governance, an objective and reform-oriented press, a powerful and benevolent government, and an idealistically engaged citizenry - originated with reformers who thought of them as antidotes to the then current ills of politics. Ironically, the growth of mass engagement in American politics and public affairs in the twentieth century has led the public to become apathetic and cynical about politics. Conventional wisdom holds that if people do not vote or otherwise engage themselves in public affairs, it is because they have become disgusted with politics; and that if we could only eliminate the money and the spoils and create a political system based on calm reason, they would come back. I am in agreement with Schudson’s argument that good citizenship is fundamentally an act of politics. Hence the best way to promote it is to make politics as broad, open, responsive and consequential as possible.

High Cost of Politics

When we look at the political scene, we see that the cost of acquiring and retaining power has escalated exponentially in the last six decades. Naturally, exact figures are not available, but it would not be wrong to say that the election expenses of a party in an assembly constituency now is far in excess of what that party would have spent in an entire province or even in the entire country in 1937 or 1946. There have, of course, been expensive technological “developments” in campaigning techniques. Beyond these, there are much higher “anticipated returns” and the emergence of previously-unknown items of significant expenditure by individual candidates and political parties. Some of these are :

• General contributions to the party’s finances.
• Payments to other contenders within the party, to persuade them not to contest.
• Payments to the party (and its leadership, in some cases) for being nominated.
• Payments to valid candidates to persuade them to withdraw.
• Payments to elements providing the “muscle power”.
• Payments to “professional” campaigners.
• Payments to “helpful officials” during elections.
• Illegal payments to entice voters.
• Payments for the “purchase” of legislators, to put together a majority.
• Payments for the retention of loyalties of wavering supporters.

Politician-Bureaucrat Nexus

Politicians and bureaucrats have to work in close collaboration for the benefit of the public, but when such collaboration extends to corrupt practices, the society suffers. The fact is that high politicisation is by far the most damaging of all the adverse images of the bureaucracy. It is a chicken-and egg situation as to whether the bureaucracy taught corruption to the politicians or the latter compels the former to be corrupt in certain ways. I have spoken to many bureaucrats and politicians over the last fifty years and each class blames the other. By the very nature of their work, many influential government officials come in close contact with political personalities and, because of their all-pervasive presence and intrusive capacity in society, they are often “used” by the political parties. While all “help” sought by the political parties are not necessarily illegal or against public interest, there is a widely held view that many bureaucrats volunteer to be helpful (not always by lawful means) to different political parties in their quest for personal benefits and career advancement. A very senior political leader told me nearly fifty years ago that if even one-third of the bureaucrats would insist on being correct and not succumb to the blandishments and threats of politicians, they would be beyond being “used”. In another interesting conversation about forty years ago, a senior politician, who was well-known for his corrupt-but-efficient administration, claimed that the wide-spread corruption of his government was in the nature of the “usual 15% administrative charge levied by prime contractors in major projects”, and that the bureaucrats who were the collecting agents got their fair commission.

Politician-Criminal Nexus

A lot has been said and written about the unholy nexus between some politicians and criminal elements, but very little has been done to tackle this. It may be because such combinations are found by different political parties to be useful at different times. The need for “muscle power” and unaccounted money could be more easily met by friendly criminals. In due course, as we have already seen in many instances, criminals may become politicians and start “using“ other politicians.

Remedies

In mathematics, there is no figure as infinity; it is a concept and a figure can only “tend towards infinity”. Similarly, it would be unrealistic to expect that we can completely eradicate corruption from India or any other country, but we can and should strive to proceed towards a corruption-free India. The remedies we seek have to be at many levels, because of the varied causes for and varied forms of corruption. We need to look for long-term social engineering and also immediate measures; and we may one’s have to devise methods separately to tackle routine and specific forms of corruption. We should treat the symptoms immediately and the root causes with more patience. In effect, we should be prepared for drastic surgery, judiciously mixed with slow homeopathic treatment.

Long Term Measures

History teaches us that we cannot bring about changes in human behaviour by legislation or in a short period; it has to be done in a gradual and non-disruptive manner. We have to sensitise children and students in schools/colleges to values like honesty, goodwill and consideration for others, tolerance, harmony and non-violence. From as early a stage as possible in their upbringing, they should be goaded into developing a loathing for disruptive and destructive tendencies; and to realise the importance of playing their role as responsible citizens. We should try and restore to corruption the social stigma that it deserves and it once had. Even while the civil society continues its efforts to make the ruling elite more accountable and more responsive, we can and should try to educate and train the children in schools and colleges to demand, when they grow up, that the elite should recognise and accept that with their privileges come certain responsibilities. The efforts to restore honesty, transparency and equity in public life should be made from the ground up. The provision of good and correct inputs in their formative years should be the primary aim of value based education. A scheme envisaged by the Gandhi Smriti of Delhi, for the establishment of Gandhi Kendras in schools, could be one of the models that could be studied.

Role of Media

It is the duty of the media to inform, educate and entertain the public. Yet, how many episodes are we able to see on TV without scenes of domestic or mass violence or corruption or fraud or other kinds of mindless criminality? It is difficult to say whether media items spawn misdemeanours and felonies or if the media only represent what is actually happening in the society. Many sociological studies have clearly brought out that fact does imitate fiction and that youth tend to learn criminal ways from media items. How many crimes do we have to prove as directly copying movies or TV shows before the media would exercise their social responsibility and stop glorifying violence and other lawless behaviour, type-casting corrupt politicians and officials etc. One oft-repeated plea is that the viewers like such content and that their preference is what determines the advertisement revenue, the staple of commercial media activities. It would therefore seem essential to convince the media and the public that, even while looking for escapist entertainment, they should provide a value base in social dramas and in the reporting, if the efforts at the gradual and necessary social engineering are to meet with any success.

Civic Society

It is impractical to expect voluntary or total conversion of the power elite. The vested interests in the political and bureaucratic establishments have shown that they will not voluntarily deliver good governance unless demanded and insisted upon. After all, the basics of good governance, i.e. transparency, right to information, absence (or minimal level) of corruption, responsiveness and accountability are against the entrenched personal stakes of those establishments. However, good citizens can demand and get good governance. Good governance would have to be earned by good and well-informed citizens, before unruly elements seek the change through not-necessarily-legal means.

Changes in Law & Judicial Process

The harm caused by corruption to the national economy, pride and welfare is not any less than the harm caused to national security and well-being by terrorism. There is not much doubt or difference of opinion about the need for new definitions and procedures to tackle terrorism. Similarly, significant changes in the law and the judicial process are required to deal with corruption.

All persons in authority (in government, business or politics) should be covered by anti-corruption legislation. Demand, offer, acceptance and payment of bribe should all be made substantive and cognisable offences. The definition of bribe should include all unauthorised payments for performing one’s duty in the prescribed manner or for using one’s official discretion in a specified manner.

There must be a mandate for timely investigations and speedy trials (as in the military court-martials), so that the benefits of repeated adjournments and appeals at every step are not available to the accused. The present provisions for the denial of access to ill-gotten wealth during the trial process and for the ultimate confiscation of such wealth should be strengthened in favour of the society, probably by making them mandatory (or possible) even in cases where the accused is acquitted on “technical” grounds. The deterrent effect would be felt only if there is a reasonable fear that the trial would be quick (while being fair), sentence would be prompt and that the proceeds of corruption would be forfeited.

A special constitutional provision needs to be considered for corrupt officials, similar to that enabling the summary dismissal of officials in the interest of national security.

Government and corporate entities should actively engage themselves in open campaigns to discourage the public from offering or paying “routine” bribes, with the co-operation of civic-minded NGOs. Protection should be provided, through appropriate internal mechanisms, from retributary vengeance by those in authority.

These and other similar measures could reduce the incidence of routine corruption to the level of rarity (as in many other societies) from the present “fact of life” levels. Investigative and judicial agencies could then stop spending disproportionate efforts and time on routine cases and concentrate on the more pernicious cases of specific corruption.

Gudelines for Discretion

Efficient administration requires the delegation of considerable discretion to the authorities at different levels. At the same time, unfettered discretion can (and is often) misused to foster corruption. A delicate balance has to be achieved between the needs of efficiency and of honesty. Efforts need to be made to prescribe guidelines about how discretion should be exercised in various predictable situations; and a requirement should be mandated that the reasons for exercising the discretion in a certain manner should be recorded.

The best guarantee of the honest (even if occasionally wrong) exercise of discretion is to make the decision-making process totally transparent and accessible to all interested parties, as far as possible. This should always be so in purchase and contracting procedures.

Election Laws

The Election Commission of India, in informal consultation with many NGOs, has made many salutary recommendations to the government. The government, presumably because of pressure from many political parties, has not yet taken many decisions. In particular, the temporary disqualification of persons against whom charges (relating to specified types of offences carrying imprisonment for specified periods) are framed in a competent court needs to be acted upon quickly, to strike at the politician-criminal nexus. The list of “heinous” offences should include all corruption-related offences. Such a person, if already a member of a legislature/cabinet, should also be subject to suspension till the case is finally decided. This would transfer the onus for a speedy disposal onto the accused persons.

Regulation of Political Parties

Political parties have become arguably the most unaccountable bodies in Indian public life. Most of them do not practise any real form of inner party democracy and do not open their finances to any kind of public scrutiny. Often, their methods of selecting candidates for contesting in various elections are non-transparent. The government and the Election Commission should exercise their existing powers (and seek additional powers, if necessary) to make the political parties more accountable to the public and to their own membership. The parties would also find it in their long-term interests to co-operate in such efforts to improve their credibility.

Conclusion

A liberal democracy would be effective in serving the people only if traditional values of public service are restored, if there is a conscious effort to inform and educate the people about important issues and there is transparency in decision-making to make it more difficult to be corrupt. Modernity and scientific and economic progress need not be at the cost of established values that have sustained our society for millennia. There should be no embarrassment in restating good societal values. They do not flow from any one religion, as most religions praise and teach them. The acceptance and practice of these values by increasingly large numbers of young people could not but lead to the development of a secular and vibrant civil society that is not a votary of violence or a supporter of corruption. Such a society will have less criminality and fewer causes for violent mass action. To paraphrase what our President has said in his book "India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium", our country needs punyatmas (those who sacrifice their own comforts to pursue nation-building activities), punyadhikaris (able persons in administration who facilitate this process) and punyanetas (who will provide self-less and honest leadership). This may just be a dream, but some dreams materialise some times. Let this be one of those times.

[The author, R.Swaminathan, is a retired member of the Indian Police Service
and a former Secretary, DG (Security), Government of India.]

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War on Terror Spawns fresh Terrorism

Despite statements issued by the London-Washington duo, in the real world, their war on terror is spawning more terrorists, in Arabia, the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, this fact has been kept secret. National leaders in the South Asian region are either in a state of denial, or are finding it difficult to contradict what London and Washington are aggressively stating. In this context, it is important to note that the South Asian terrorists are not only Muslims; a large number of them are Hindus, and there is a smattering of Christians in India’s northeast. In other words, terrorists in South Asia come in all colours, races, and creeds. But the level of denial goes even deeper. While New Delhi accuses Pakistani infiltrators of terrorist activities, and has a lot of evidence to establish that, it does not explain why the Hindu, tribal, and Christian-dominated northeast has remained in flames for at least four decades. It does not explain either why the Hindu-dominated Maoists in Nepal and the Indian Maoists in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnatka carry on terrorist activities, and why their terrorism is dealt with less stridently. It is likely that the Indian authorities are less concerned about Maoist terrorists than they are about their Islamic counterparts. According to the intelligence reports, the financial resources at the disposal of the militants are huge and still growing. Reports indicate one of the larger extremist groups, Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) spends roughly $100,000 a year to maintain its full-time leaders and cadres, and close to $800,000 for buying explosives, firearms and for meeting its operational costs. In India, a series of bombs exploded in Delhi on October 29 and killed dozens and injured many others. According to the Indian intelligence agencies, at least five instructors from the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen, and two from the Lashkar-e-Toiba had planned the Delhi bomb blasts with the help of eleven others who provided logistics, or carried out the explosions. The agencies also said that all the instructors were form across the border in Pakistan, while some of their helpers were from the Indian-part of Jammu and Kashmir. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland, Isaac-Muivah (NSCN-IM), could break down before the end of January 2006. The other concern of New Delhi centers around the information that seven Chinese arms suppliers, from Hong Kong and Macau, have made contact with the leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in Bangladesh. Reports indicate that large caches of arms have come to the ULFA groups through northern Myanmar to reach Bangladesh. The Indian Maoists are not only working hand-in-glove with their Nepali counterparts, but have developed a close business relationship with Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka. According to intelligence reports, which are vehemently denied by the Bangladeshi authorities, Osama’s number-two Ayman al-Zawahiri, visited Bangladesh in 2000, hoisted by the orthodox Salafist Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islam (JI). There are also reports that beside Ayman al-Zawahiri and his al-Qaeda associates, terrorists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Chechenya, and Myanmar have made Bangladesh their meeting ground. Myanmar holds more thank 100,000 Muslim refugees from Myanmar’s Arakan state who are known as Rohingyas. They have been blamed for being the carriers of arms and perpetuators of crime in that area. Some observers believe the Rohingyas are an important link between various Islamic terrorist groups operating inside, and outside Bangladesh. During the four years since 9/11, terrorism in Sri Lanka remained under control, which was due to the fact that the Tamil Tigers showed signs of battle fatigue, and were negotiating a political settlement of their dispute with Colombo. Reports of fund-raising have been received from Australia where, on Nov.34, 2005, Federal Police officials arrested several alleged LTTE agents in Melbourne for fund-raising and money laundering activities. This means that the next wave of terrorism in Sri Lanka may not be too far down the line.

Ramtanu Maitra
US EIR December 16, 2005.

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