Progress and Pitfalls of Indian Democracy in the last Fifty (or 64) Years

Rule of Law, enshrined in the basic philosophy of liberty, equality and fraternity and to be achieved by the government of the people, for the people and by the people, constitutes democracy in a society. After a few centuries of alien rule and subjugation, India ultimately achieved its hard-earned freedom in 1947 thanks to self-less efforts and sacrifices on the part of freedom fighters from different corners of the nation. 50 years of self-rule by 1997 (64 years by 2011) is not sufficiently a long period in the history of a gigantic sub-continent like India to feel highly jubilant about its achievements or get awe-struck at its failures, compared to other countries like U.S.A., China, U.S.S.R who were sovereign and independent for ages before the exit of English rule from India. All the same it is a fairly and substantial duration of time which can indicate the direction in which it is moving and the mid-course corrections needed to take this nation forward and to provide economic and social justice to each and every citizen atleast by the end of next 50 years.

Independent India has been immensely successful in checking large-scale famines and starvation deaths experienced in British rule from time to time. It has graduated from the nation of a major importer of food-grains to a self-sufficient economy within two decades and is now in a position to not only feed its ever-multiplying population but also export some surplus to other countries (198 million tons produced in 1994-95 and exported 10 million tons in 1995-96). Five-year plans were largely responsible for the level of industrialization it has achieved to the envy of several leading nations – establishment of large-scale and mega industries in steel, mines, petroleum, coal, power, textiles and medium and small scale industries scattered all over the country providing a strong base for the capital and consumer goods. A strong and enlightened scientific community has emerged over a period of time from the universities, I.C.A.R and C.S.I.R establishments. Umpteen number of technological institutes including I.I.Ts of international repute have sprung all over the places.

Comparatively law and order has been maintained peacefully without any major civil war as has been seen in the neighbourhood like Pakistan and Afghanistan recently. Luckily India is still one piece and in fact Sikkim has been added to its territory. And major uprising in places like J&K, Punjab and Assam has been contained and elected governments have been put on the saddle. External aggressions had been tackled satisfactorily. Elections have been held from time to time and the people had the authority to change governments at its will. A small aberration in the form of emergency in mid seventies had passed off quickly.

Freedom and democracy have been preserved, though of course at a heavy cost and slow progress in economic sphere. Probably due to its diversity and vastness of the area no authoritarian rule from any quarters could emerge so far despite several and vulnerable situations on its long journey during this period. Inspite of a few shortcomings the governments have successfully provided opportunities to the underprivileged sections of the populace with reservation in educational institutions and jobs. Many a family from these groups have come up and occupied respectable positions in politics and governments.

Political leaders and governmental authorities had however failed to appreciate the importance of controlled population growth and total literacy of its citizens. They dreamt of big things but forgot to safeguard the fundamentals of human progress with the result we are fast approaching a stage when we may touch a figure of 1000 millions by 2000 A.D (1200 millions by 2011) and overtake China within a decade or two as the most populace nation in the world. Countries who were in shambles and got freedom after us are now turning to be a model for us to follow.

What a shame! It is now all the more difficult to contain these two monsters for one or two decades. India is unable to provide safe drinking water and basic health care to its citizens even after 50 years (now 64 years). One-third of its population lives below the poverty line. Mega projects got attention whereas micro plans suffered a criminal neglect. Unemployment and underemployment of the work-force in both urban and rural areas has been the admitted defeat of successive governments both in the Centre and the states.

Standard of morality and probity in politics, education, business, bureaucracy and judiciary has touched the rock-bottom over these years and the people manning these institutions are no more able to carry conviction with the people. Every activity of theirs is taken with a pinch of salt and viewed with a bit of suspicion. God help our masters in the days to come and it would be nothing short of a miracle if the future governments really achieve any substantial progress in the short-run. Electorates are unable to decide the best rulers and now the things have come to such a pass that the minority governments are forced to rule in the Centre and in a few states. Hung Parliament and Hung Assemblies or coalition governments are going to be the order of the day hereafter.

Inspite of electoral frauds being committed in several places the majority of the voters are really aware whom to vote and how to sustain a well-meaning and clean government for five years at a stretch. Disparities of income and wealth are on the rise despite solemn objectives of all our plans and budgets year after year. Expectations of the people are aroused by false and ridiculous promises in the form of manifestos on the eve of elections which create chaos and confusion for the newly elected governments and the nexus between the politicians, criminals and bureaucrats has created havoc in the economic and social life of the people.

Society is torn into pieces on account of certain ugly factors like language, religion, castes, sectional and vested interests. Agitation, bandhs, strikes, closures, violence etc. are a daily occurrence in some part or the other. Interstate disputes over river-water are an endemic and eternal issue defying solution at all levels. Insurgency and militancy have become the regular phenomenon in certain pockets of the country. Demand for separate statehood has been on the rise in several places. Urbanisation and heavy migration from the rural areas have made life miserable for those already staying there and the people living in slums are leading a life worse than that of animals. When are we going to end all these ills afflicting our society with the present Constitution, Parliamentary form of government, Judicial system and the Bureaucracy is a big and one million dollar question for every Indian citizen to ponder and act quickly and earnestly.

India is a sleeping giant and if this giant is to be shaken up from its slumber, nothing short of an earthquake in the form of a second freedom struggle or peaceful revolution can ensure a return to safe and self rule for one and all – haves and have-nots. India, ‘a very paradise on earth’ (Max Mueller) is to be preserved for our posterity in full and fertile form at any cost. We should strive for the following as desired by the 14-point historic resolution “Agenda for India” adopted by 6-day Special Session of Parliament as concluded on 1st September:

• Calling for probity and accountability in public life

• Achieving universal primary education by 2005 A.D

• Ridding the polity of criminalization,

• Enforcing radical electoral reforms,

• Prudent management of the economy and

• A vigorous national campaign to check population growth

[ This article was written in the year 1997-98]

Careless Civics - Sewage Vs Chennai Metro Water Supply & Sewerage Board

A news item (Times of India - Monday, June 27, 2011) revealed that more than 500 families in Motilal Street , T.Nagar ( the busiest business hub of Chennai City) have been suffering for over two years due to sewage overflow in the locality. The wells in the area have become polluted and the water unfit for drinking. Despite the efforts of Chennai Metroplitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board in rectifying it, there is no permanent solution to this problem as reported by the local residents.

The villain of the peace is definitely a commercial establishment situated around the corner of the street loading and unloading their materials everyday.  They happen to dump the waste into the drain which chokes the system. That means there is no civic sense on  their part and similarly no deterrent action on the part of civic authorities. That is  the reason why I suggested the following course of action in my note sent to the C. M of Tamil Nadu a few days ago.

Sanitation

Indian citizens including families located in Tamil Nadu are  forced to live in the midst of garbage and sewage. Hardly   any locality in any city or other urban centers is visible where the human settlement is totally free from garbage and sewage. There is no proper and timely-collection of accumulated garbage from the city streets and lanes. There is an immediate need to provide trashcans, storage bins and dust bins in large quantities throughout the towns and cities. The households may have to be forced to throw garbage into the dust bin systematically and regularly so that the same can be collected and taken away by the municipal authorities. The conservancy staff needs to be highly motivated and supervised by the superior authorities almost on daily basis to ensure proper sanitation.

Super Supervisor:

With a view to having perfect supervision and enforcement,  either a powerful official or a private individual is to be appointed as the Ombudsman for Sanitation who will ensure proper sanitation, timely collection and disposal of waste & sewage. He should be in a position to effectively coordinate with the municipal authorities, water supply and sewerage board authorities and electricity board authorities on the spot and ensure instant execution.

Is Satyagraha Relevant today?

Man is a social animal. If he remains alone in a forest for a few years he would either go mad or lose interest in life. It is especially so in modern days. People curse their fate and life if they don’t have a company or a thing to do even for a few hours at a stretch. The 20th Century earlier and 21st Century now have given enough to the humanity both in comforts and conveniences, thanks to the genius, scientific discoveries and technological developments. Mankind has progressed very fast in all spheres. However all societies and various sections in each society have not been so fortunate in equal degrees. The differences and the variations are so wide and explicit that the States have taken up the task of reducing them or eliminating them altogether if possible.

Despite all the progress man had made, he basically still continues to be a selfish being. He tries to develop himself, his family, his community and his nation at others’ cost. Exploitation seems to be the best and the most important tool for his self-aggrandizement. He adopts all means by which he can make a gain over others in the process. For the moment he seems to be succeeding in his approach and achieving his goal by wrong means. He hardly realizes that he himself would be critical of the means he had adopted earlier. Man’s lasting happiness is earned by his own mind and heart. No other external agency would ever succeed in giving him eternal and everlasting peace and happiness.

God or Nature has proved one thing clear i.e. He / it is neither partial nor biased. Otherwise, how can we explain this phenomenon? - Good and evil, beauty and ugly, mighty and meek, bravery and cowardice, land and water, day and night, man and woman, sun and moon, north and south, east and west, high and low, fat and thin, war and peace, drought and flood, rich and poor – both existing together in our midst. In such a situation man is bound to exploit surely and effectively. Such an exploitation of man by man is to be thwarted or contained to some extent. Otherwise the result would be either a revolt or a revolution at different points of time. Revolt or revolution in modern days would mean a great loss of men and materials. If we somehow devise a method by which we can express our disagreements or disapproval, annoyance or anachronism through peaceful means we not only save life and property but also achieve our goals effectively.

Gandhiji, the advocate of truth and non-violence devised his own method called Satyagraha to fight the evil forces, evil actions, evil persons and the evil Raj. It proved so successful in his early experiments in South Africa that he perfected the system and adopted it extensively in India when he led the freedom struggle and continued the same till his last days.

Satyagraha, as explained by Gandhiji on several occasions, is not an easy thing to practice unless the person who uses it as a technique should be a strong believer in truth and non-violence. Unfortunately, there have been several unsuccessful attempts by some leaders after Gandhiji, but that should not discourage anyone from understanding its usefulness. Modern societies need it much more now than it was so some seventy or sixty years ago.

Satyagraha is a powerful weapon in the hands of a leader who wants to expose the wrong doings of a person, an authority or of the State. Evil forces are at work and socially unacceptable conduct is noticed within our family, society and the nation. They can be easily countered and corrected by Satyagraha only. In a family a particular individual may be indulging in some wrong pursuits or causing incalculable damage to the property or the prestige. The person aggrieved by such a conduct can resort to several methods of correcting that individual. It may be in the form of physical assaults, mental torture, denial of personal comforts etc. etc. Such a step will only alienate the member from the family bondage, cultivate in him a sense of insecurity, anger towards others forever and make him a liability to all. On the contrary the same individual can be made to realize his mistakes by peaceful boycott or self sacrifice on the part of others. Similarly, in a society people should always come forward to help an aggrieved individual or family wronged by another individual or family through illegal or violent means or by an authority through unlawful methods or acts. Satyagraha is the only weapon which can be used by an individual or a group of persons collectively in such situations. At the regional or the national level, different political parties or social groups may take up a good cause through Satyagraha without causing any inconvenience to or violence towards those who are participating in it. A brute minority or majority should not arrogate to itself the task of deciding better things for all. Sometimes for want of financial assistance, public interest or moral support many a group or leaders shy away from taking up good causes and preventing unwanted and unjustified steps taken by an authority or the State.

Violence bequeaths hatred and revenge. Non-violence on the other hand breeds good neighborliness, sympathy and peaceful solution to all problems. Indian society and Indian democracy should proscribe violence in any form for any problem on any occasion. Violence is nothing but man’s instant reaction to an event or happening instigated by animal instincts in him. Temperament of different individuals varies from one another. Only the peaceful and non-violent methods through Satyagraha can find amicable solutions to common issues in India as well as abroad.

Quotable Quotes

Ability

1) Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

- Theodere Roosevelt

2) Ability is poor man’s wealth

- M. Wren

Achievement

3) Life is not made for happiness but for achievement

- Will Durant

4) Good ends can be achieved only by the employment of appropriate means

- Aldous Huxley

Action / Activity

5) Think in the morning, act in the noon, eat in the evening, and sleep in the night

- William Blake

6) Your business is with action alone not by any means with the fruit of action

- Bhagvada Gita

7) Strong reasons make strong action

- Shakespeare

8) We cannot escape from the effect of our acts

- Dr. S.Radhakrishnan

9) All good acts tend to make us pure and perfect

- Swami Vivekananda

Adversity

10) Adversity is the first path to truth

- Lord Byron

Age

11) We learn to restrain ourselves as we get older

- Eliot

Animal

12) Man is by nature a political animal

- Aristotle

 13) Man by nature is a social animal

- Raghava Raja

Appreciation

14) The very first appreciation of an accomplishment by the boss or a third party acts as the first-rate accolade to the achiever

- Raghava Raja

Atheism

15) Atheism is rather in the lip than in the heart of man

- Sri Francis Bacon

Authority

16) If you want to know what a man is, place him in authority

- Nugoslow Provosy

Beauty

17) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

- Margaret Hungerford

18) Intellectual beauty is, indeed, the highest kind of beauty.

- C.V Raman

19) Beauty is the gift of God

- Aristotle

20) True beauty consists in purity of heart

- Mohandas K. Gandhi

Belief

21) It is wrong to believe blindly

- Swami Vivekananda

22) The constant assertion of belief is an indicator of fear

- J Krishnamurthi

23) A thing that nobody believes cannot be proved too often

- George B.Shaw

24) Men willingly believe what they wish

- Julius Ceaser

Boldness

25) What greater pleasure there in life than to be bold

- C Rajagopalacheri

Book

26) I cannot live without books

- Thomas Jefferson

Childhood

27) Childhood shows the man as morning shows the day

- John Milton

Advice

28) Never give advice in a crowd

- Proverb

29) Act and then advise. Practice first Precept next

- Satyasai Baba

Abuse

30) The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse

- Edmund Burke

Ambition

31) Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven

- John Milton

32) A man without ambition is like a woman without beauty

- Frank Harris

Art

33) Art is not a handicraft. It is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced

- Leo Tolstoy

Asokan Wheel

34) The Chakra, the Asokan wheel, which is there in the flag, embodies for us a great idea

- S. Radhakrishnan

35) The Chakra, the Asokan wheel, reflects the cycle of life – ups & downs coming in a sequence

- Raghava Raja

Bird

36) One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

- Nathaniel Woods

Borrowing

37) Don’t borrow or lend, but if you must do one – lend

- Josh Billings

Bureaucracy

38) Bureaucracy is a great mechanism operated by pygmies.

- Honore de Balzac

39) The best way to kill an idea is to take it to a meeting.

- Anonymous

40) It is an inevitable defect, that bureaucrats will care more for routine than for results

- Walter Bagehot

Business

41) A merchant shall hardly keep himself from doing wrong

- Bible

42) Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails.

Oliver Goldsmith

Causes

43) Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap

- Bible

Choice

44) I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.

- The Godfather

45) To be, or not to be: that is the question.

- William Shakespeare

Citizenship

46) Socrates said that he was not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world

- Plutarch

Civil Service

47) The civil service is profoundly deferential- ‘yes, Minister! No Minister! If you wish it, Minister!”

- Richard Crossman

48) A civil servant doesn’t make jokes

- Eugene Lonesco

Committee

49) A group that takes minutes & wastes hours

- Anon

Compromise

50) Compromise is part and parcel of my nature.

- Mahatma Gandhi

Crisis

51) The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow

- H.G Wells

Criticism

52) Talking ill of the others in private is a sin

- Vivekananda

53) It is easy to find fault with others but not so easy to see one’s own fault

- The Buddha

Death

54) All that lives must die; passing through nature to eternity

- William Shakespeare

55) Death may be the greatest of all human blessings

- Socrates

56) Death is more certain than a birth in the case of every being

- Raghava Raja

Democracy

57) Ignorance reduces democracy to a Govt of the cattle, by the cattle and for the cattle

- J.B Kriplani

58) Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve

- George Bernard Shaw

Duty

59) Non- Cooperation with evil is a sacred duty

- Mahatma Gandhi

Fear

60) The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fate

61) Fate links the unlinked, unlinks link, it links the things no man thinks.

- Panchatantra

62) To eat and sleep is the fate of idlers and drones.

        Fate leads him who follows it and drags him who resists

- Plutarch

63) Let us fear God and we shall cease to fear man

- Mahatma Gandhi

64) We cannot succeed in anything if we act in fear of other people’s opinions

- C. Rajagopalachari

Flattery

65) Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver

- Edmund Burke

Food

66) Light food gives a quiet sleep

- Shri Aurobindo

Fool

67) A fool thinks that wealth is the only way to happiness

- The Ramayana

Forgive

68) The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong

- Mahatma Gandhi

Freedom

 

69) If your freedom hurts others, you are not free

- Swami Vivekananda

Future

70) I never think of the future. It comes soon enough

- Albert Einstein

PITFALLS IN POWER GENERATION

Ministry of Power in Government of India has reported that cumulative addition to generation capacity for the 11th plan period has been 34,462 against the target of 62,347 MW (reduced from the original target of 78000 MW). The tardy progress being registered in Power Generation has forced the Government to revise downward the target for 2011-12 and this may also impact the 12th five year plan period starting April 2012. India’s power crisis thus appears to be getting bigger and bigger. It is reported that the Government as usual missed the target for additional generation capacity, meeting only 36% of the goal set for the quarterly ended March 31, 2011. As pointed out by the Power Secretary, Mr. Uma Shankar before a Review meeting held recently by Planning Commission, only 2430 MW generation capacity was added in the 4th quarter of 2010 – 11 against a target of 6691 MW.

Contrast this to the Chinese performance of 10% growth in generation capacity in 2010 – 2011 to 962,190 MW and it plans to add 100,000 MW every year for the next five years.

Where do we lag and why should we be in such a hopeless condition is a question everyone in the government should be capable of answering if they are serious and meticulous in their planning at every stage and period of time. As an insider in the government of Madhya Pradesh I used to read quite a bit about the M.O.Us being signed for power generation during 1990s in the Patwa Government and subsequently in Digvijay Singh Government. Many chief Secretaries and power secretaries were participating as dignitaries and signatories to such documentation with a lot of fanfare and promises to the public. Many bureaucrats got good A.C.Rs and got promoted to higher positions and some managed to get post-retirement assignments too. But on the ground everything was a non-starter, thanks to the paucity of realistic assessment with regard to the economic parameters as was obtaining at that time. But for one or two exceptions here and there, almost all the state governments and the central government miserably failed to utilize the installed capacity fully and add additional capacity as per the needs and their plans.

Graft in Conflict Zone

Supriya Sharma has reported in the Times Of India (dated June 12, 2011) that corruption feeds on Public Distribution System (PDS) grain as poor go hungry in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh State. The joint visit of Harsh Mander, the Supreme Court's emissary and Vivek Dhand, the food Secretary of Chattisgarh followed by the enquiry of Rajiv Jaiswal, the joint Director of the state food corporation have proved this fact beyond any doubt. By the way the state government has earned copious praise from every corner for the best practices put in place in PDS of the state. I have the feeling that the system has evolved its own notorious ways of swindling the public resources to benefit a few influential individuals both in the ruling party and bureacracy. Under the banner of panchayats and the cooperatives and self-helf groups the system takes care of those day-time robbers in a perfect manner. While in the country-side the quotas lifted are scientifically and systematically siphoned off easily and sold in the black market straigtaway, the black money creation and distribution in the urban centers is done with thousands and thousands of bogus ration cards in circulation without any checks. Once the author as the Food Secretary of the department earned the ire of the chief minister for having revealed this fact to the press in Bilaspur in 2006.

Unable to Digest Unending Untouchability?

Superintendent of Police’s car is attacked by a mob in the village called Villoor in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. It has happened in the first week of May, 2011 when he visited the area to enquire about the immediate cause of a quarrel between two communities of which one happened to be untouchables in the area. The fight arose on account of a higher community people objecting to the entry of ‘dalits’ (S.C people) into the temple. When the dispute became serious the police had to open firing to control the crowd. Some 50 and odd persons were arrested for the purpose. The intervention from the side of an Additional Director General of Police too was required in the matter. After the visit to the site he too confirmed the prevalence of untouchability and violation of human rights in the area.

A study made by an organization called ‘Satchiyam’ indicated, in its report sent to the state government, that the scourge of untouchability is still showing it ugly head in full swing without any let-up in as many as twelve districts of Tamil Nadu. Several instances have been quoted in the said report to drive home the point vividly and forcefully. Satchiyam’s Director of Planning Ms. Tilagam revealed that the study covered 213 villages in districts of Madurai, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Siva Gangai, Tanjore, Nagapatinam, Selam, Namakkal, Guddalore, Villupuram, Kovai and Tiruppore. She had informed that in 104 villages the tea shop owners keep two sets of glasses or cups – one for the dalits and the other for the rest in the locality. In 211 villages untouchability prevails against the dalits while getting entry into the places of worship. Untouchability exists in the fair price shops of 70 villages. Differences exist in 208 villages as far as the usage of grave-yards is concerned. Dalits can’t cut their hair in the village saloons in 142 villages. They can’t fetch water from general water source in 145 villages. Even dalit doctors and other medical staff are not spared from this ill-treatment. The worst part is that the educated and well-placed individuals from the dalit community are not prepared to mingle with them freely; rather they avoid mixing probably by cursing their own fate.

The author was the District Magistrate and Collector in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh during 1979-82. Sagar was notorious for untouchability in the country-side. When it came to his notice during his tent-touring as a part of ‘Collector's Mobile Court in Rural Areas’, he made it a point to visit the locality of the dalits along with his subordinate officials including the Superintendent of Police, Sub-divisional Officer / Sub-collector, Tahsildar, Block Development Officer, the Patel, the Sar Panch (Panchayat President), Village Patwari / Karnam etc. in the early morning and spent sometime with the dalits and insisted on sipping of tea in their tea-cups while sitting on their wooden benches or cots made of ropes. The collector of the district sitting in their hutments and enquiring about their problems for an hour or so while making rounds of the village had a salutary effect on the minds of the entire village community. The author too derived immense job satisfaction that he could use his legitimate and constitutional authority in the interest of the dalits in interior pockets of the district where normally the district head had not visited and stayed there for the night (in the tents pitched specially for the purpose by the author) and solving many problems of the villagers on the spot.

I wish my younger colleagues in the Indian Administrative Service now serving as the district collectors make it a point to visit such pockets in their jurisdiction at regular intervals and extend moral and legal support to those mentally-suffering apart from physical hardships and discriminations on account of accidental births in a particular dalit community. That is the only way one can express our empathy and sympathy towards these people who are also the children of the same Gods and Goddesses you and I worship after all!

Seniority Rules at Last

It is heartening to note that the Indian Prime Minister ultimately had to choose the senior-most bureacrats Ajit Seth as the cabinet Cecretary and Sunil Mitra as the Finance Secretary of the government of India in recent days when the posts were falling vacant. Earlier he had resorted to choose arbitrarily and wantonly some officials overlooking their inter-se seniority mainly to oblige his friends and mentors. After all, the officials who had reached the top level in three decades or so of their career were normally on the right side of the system prevalent  in the country. So the seniority should be given weightage so that the hierarchy in the governemntal set-up preserves the integrity and the honesty needed for the benefit of the country and the constitution.

Corruption – Where and When?

Who is corrupt and who is not is a million-dollar question that needs to be thoroughly probed before somebody can be dubbed so in the modern day context due to the machination of some really corrupt, who normally and cleverly escape the notice of others in the society. Oxford’s English Dictionary defines ‘corruption’ as ‘use of corrupt practices especially, bribery or fraud’. ‘Corrupt practices’ mean ‘fraudulent activity especially, at elections’. ‘Fraud’ means ‘use of false representation to gain an unjust advantage’. ‘Honesty’ means ‘truthfulness’. Honest’ means ‘fair and just in character of behaviour’. So an honest individual, not being corrupt is expected to be fair and just in his thought and action. Similarly, a public servant in a governmental set-up or somebody occupying or about to occupy a public office is expected to avoid bribery or stop the practice of false representation before the powers that-be, to gain promotions and postings for oneself at the cost of better serving and more committed (to the public cause) individuals. Plainly and honestly speaking, I am afraid; more than 90% of those in such positions and professions at the moment in the country would not qualify the aforesaid litmus test of honesty.

Corruption can also be of different types; corruption in monetary terms, corruption in terms of goods and services, corruption in terms of moral turpitude associated with the physical body of an opposite sex or a group of such individuals, corruption in terms of present positions and future prospects etc. etc. All these forms of corruption are being practiced in full measure and at almost all levels; at all work places and at all economic, social and cultural spheres. Similarly, sometimes the self styled honest souls send out signals that they are above board whereas the inner truth would be that their association or proximity to the power-centers enables them to entertain such ideas and impressions or cultivate covertly among their colleagues and subordinates, the media and the people in general. Some of the so-called honest persons do surely indulge in such extremely inexplicable idiosyncrasies morally and monetarily behind the doors and windows. Their insulation from outside influence and attack is so well-managed and cleverly protected that they end up successfully till they reach their graves. At the same time some well intentioned and well-trenched in ideals and principles throughout their career get sidelined, ridiculed and made redundant in their avocations and professions and almost get beaten up mentally and socially till they succeed in proving their rivals wrong and heave a sigh of relief.

Satan corrupted Eve in the Garden of Eden. All her descendants are no doubt corrupt in some way or other. Corrupt and self-seeking Viswamitra successfully ensured the intolerable and nerve-breaking hardships to truth-speaking King Harischandra. Similarly, the legendary Socrates had to swallow poison for telling the truth. Kings of yester years and Rulers of the modern states do indulge in high-handed actions / omissions in the name of public safety and public welfare. Put on a test of individual’s integrity, they might tumble miserably and without any convincing explanation. But what to do! Kings can do no wrong and hence his henchmen enjoy the perks of highest order without any shame or qualm. Much water flows steadily in the Ganges before it is checked, regulated and thrown into the common ‘chaks’ (paddy fields). Nature takes its toll and corrects the imbalance and aberrations but takes time in the duration of which crocodiles and whales get away joyously and jokingly.

Modern Rulers many a time manipulate and seize the seats of power by hook or crook. Once entrenched / seated on the pedestal they get away easily with all sorts of corrupt deals unless some El Nino type of disaster topple these devils and draw them into the deep waters. All sorts of excuses and explanations are advanced in justifying their amazing means to achieve the top posts / positions. In most of the cases they steamroller their views and make attempts to define and deal differently with the so-called corrupt deeds of others and in particular their opponents. Heads of Governments both at central and provincial levels manage their affairs by picking up individuals – both officials and non-officials, for various positions who had successfully maintained or manipulated a so-called good track record on paper and pencil in the system.

When the top becomes corrupt and all its deals are dealt on the basis of currency accruals, the middle tier and the last tier in administrative hierarchy definitely adopt corrupt means to enter the system, meddle in corrupt muddles and practice corruption without any fear of persecution or prosecution. Matters get so much messed up that projects and schemes are over-billed and extra money pocketed by mediators and individuals-in-charge. Hardly any perceptible percentage of project cost gets spent and project execution ensured in a given time-frame. Time and cost over-runs are invariably the end-result – putting extra burden over the state exchequer. Many a time in the very interior places schemes are executed on paper and not on the ground or sometimes in every plan period the same schemes get repeated or taken up as new works or renovation / expansion, modification or strengthening. Good God! – No salvation or compunction, it seems. When the character of a whole nation or a society is such, then who is to blame? Transparency International can only keep publishing figures every year and complaining that India is highly qualified in corruption index (C.I). There is nobody to take notice of and no agency to ponder and provide solutions. C.I further talks of interdepartmental position in the scale of ten. Police Department takes the top spot although very few officials and the staff from the said department are caught in the net of anti-corruption campaign and cases. Departments vitally want to vie with each other to capture the top position in this index. Politicians as a class are the most–visible corrupt class as per its assessment reported of late. How to set right this class of unorganized and highly heterogeneous group while the organized government sector is still out of control all over India?

Soon after Independence, corruption was at low ebb but now it has reached the edge of the cup and it is about to spill over and turn topsy turvy in the whole system of governance in the country. It will be a free for all with no controls whatsoever at any level. Can anyone think of a solution in the long run at least even if not in the short-run?

Long-term solution demands that a system should be developed appropriate and adequate to meet the challenges in spheres like politics, economics, trade, business, finance, banking, manufacturing, primary sector etc. A clean and comparative system suitable to our national interest in India at the moment will be the presidential form of government in which the Head of the State viz. the President should get elected for a fixed tenure of six years with a scope for two terms only as a rule and similarly the head of the govt. at the state level, the governor also to get elected for a tenure of six years with the scope for repetition once more. It would go a long way in controlling the top-level corruption to a large extent. Elected head should be free to choose and appoint his ministers on the basis of their knowledge and experience in the field. Advice and suggestion can come from elected representatives in the form of committees attached to various ministries / departments. The so-called demand for party fund at the time of general election can be kept very minimum by choosing the elected executives and representatives on the basis, in turn, of their election from primary Panchayats and Municipal wards directly and selected on merit and experience to middle tiers like District Panchayats, the State Assemblies and finally to the Parliament – not by lung and money power but by their ability to win the hearts and votes of elected and selected people in a pyramidal hierarchy on the basis of knowledge, talent and experience to govern the state and the country.

In terms of top civil service in departments like general administration, police, judiciary, forest, revenue, accounts and audit should get the services of those individuals who are prepared to commit their lives for the nation with a spouse and a child at the cost of state exchequer with no scope – real or ‘benami’ – for additional comforts, facilities or properties more than what is provided by the state. Service should be the motto and no other consideration for supervising and controlling the lower levels of government and administration as well as the local politicians of any party. Postings and promotions of officials should not take place on the sweet will or whims and fancies of political executives with an over-riding self-interest but on the strong basis of well laid-out and transparent policies and cleared by powerful and independent Boards. Posting would always be for a fixed tenure for achieving certain indentified and quantified goals in real and measurable terms.

Recruitment to almost all the positions, with a few exceptions here and there, in the Government and government-aided institutions is mostly subject to payment of bribes at some level or other so far but invariably so of late. A very powerful, independent and transparent recruiting agency has to be set up at national, state and district levels to curb corruption ab initio in the career of a new entrant. Frauds in business, trade, banking, insurance and industry are to be taken up seriously with fast-track courts to decide and dispose of those cases on time so that they prove deterrent to others and reduce the possibility of corruption including frauds and forgery to a very large extent. Properties accumulated more than declared in returns or found disproportionate to known sources of income by any individual – be it a politician, a government servant, a business man, an artist or an industrialist – should be investigated promptly and regularly at random to register fear and awe in such anti-social and self-seekers in the society.

Development minus discipline is no guarantee for growth with equity in the shortest possible span of time of a nation. Malaysia and Singapore are the best examples of development with discipline in major fields. Freedom of speech is no substitute for a starving and neglected citizen. Growth with no equal opportunity is no growth at all. Billionaires and Millionaires in the Forbes’ list grant very little inspiration to men and women in the lower-middle class category and those millions of people living below the poverty line with US $ 1.25 a day according to the latest definition of World Bank. How to ensure discipline and thereby control corruption? Absence of principles and lack of discipline in the minds of public servants lead to corrupt behavior in all walks of life. Majority of the people in this country would expect to live like human beings. It hardly matters whether they have time or will to talk ill of a corrupt system. All that they want is an equal opportunity to come up in life with no price-tag attached. There is no doubt that many thousands of families have achieved a tolerable standard of living in a few pockets of this country but what needs to be done in its major parts is much more and that too in a shorter duration without waiting for ten more Five-year Plans from the Planning Commission of India.

Reforms in an existing system should ensure that the humble and straightforward do not suffer and the real culprits do not escape from the intended prosecution and punishment. Sometimes, the decent ones get demoralized, prosecuted and punished for want of peer support and the most corrupt ones escape easily and neatly without prosecution and punishment. System is so hopeless at times that a country like Italy has to pass a legislation in its Parliament to protect some four top public servants including Prime Minister Berlusconi from frivolous prosecutions (about 2500 hearings in different courts of law and spending a sum of Euro 174 million in legal fees). Despite several alleged scandals Berlusconi got elected as Prime minister for the third term in his political career of 14 years. Either he is highly corrupt or totally and unnecessarily being tortured by the prosecutors. As a matter of fact he has not been convicted by any court in any case so far. Is the system at fault or not? I do sincerely believe and swear that the system is certainly at fault. All those who tried to prosecute this billionaire need to be prosecuted and put behind the bars so that the real rascals roam never around Rome like Angels in that country.

(Writer wrote this article in 2006 as the Principal Secretary to Govt. of Chhattisgarh State)