Why are we so corrupt?
Doesn’t this sound like a game of musical chair? Team Anna charges that 155 coal mines were given to the private companies without bidding when the prime minister was also holding the coal portfolio between 2006-2009. The Congress claims most of the scams including the 2G scam and the latest coal scam were originated during the NDA regime. The government slaps cases of misappropriation of funds on Kejriwal, Bedi and Ramdev. As I pose the question, I deliberately keep away Anna Hazare from the list, for the Congress MP Manish Tiwari had already publicly branded him as corrupt, albeit at his own peril.
Mark the word ‘more’ in my question. What does it mean? It means that corruption is all pervasive and the question revolves around who is ‘more’ corrupt of the lot. I beseech my question to be answered. But before we proceed, let’s first address the issue of ‘all pervasive’ corruption in our country.
Corruption is most commonly defined as the misuse or the abuse of public office for private gain (World Bank, 1997, UNDP, 1999). While corruption is commonly attributed to the public sector, it also exists in other aspects of governance, such as political parties, private business sector, and NGO (USAID, Anticorruption Strategy, 2005). UNDP classifies corruption into two types: spontaneous and institutionalized (or systemic). Spontaneous corruption is usually found in societies observing strong ethics and morals in public service. Institutionalized corruption, on the other hand, is found in societies where corrupt behaviors are perennially extensive or pervasive. In these societies, corruption has become a way of life, a goal, and an outlook towards public office.
For years our country is ranked high on corruption. (In 2011, India dropped 11 places to be ranked 95th in the Transparency International Corruption Index. A 2005 study conducted by Transparency International in India found that more than 55% of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or influence peddling to get jobs done in public offices successfully).
Why are we so corrupt?
I am immediately reminded of one of my bureaucrat friends. As a fresher on his very first assignment as in-charge of a government department, he had invited protests when his subordinates found his telephone bill to be much less than theirs. “I never required many phone calls, but had to surrender to their diktat,” he had then told me. Another bureaucrat friend of mine, who I thought to be very honest, only substantiated this point by claiming that though he never accepted any bribe or favour, there was a fixed amount (‘hafta’) as his cut that he had to accept in his office without even “demanding it”.
It is easy to understand why honest officers too become a victim of corrupt practices. “It’s simple. If you offend your colleagues, they will desert you at the time of violence and riots. So isn’t it wise to turn a blind eyes to certain things and comply in certain?” a senior IPS officer friend argued.
As I get deeper into this vexed issue of corruption, I become pessimistic. Besides greed, certain social practices, especially our dowry system, are a big contributor to our corrupt system. An officer is corrupt because his salary cannot fetch the required dowry for his marriageable daughter. Same is the case with others including businessmen, politicians and the common man, who bribe to earn a better living.
Can we curb this menace of dowry? A class mate of mine in the college wanted to qualify the UPSC exams so as to command Rs. 2 crore as dowry! If this is the mentality of the youngsters and if this type of price is attached to certain qualifications, can we escape corruption?
Another illustration – Once I asked a politician friend of mine about what brought him into electoral politics. His answer was spontaneous: “The immunity and the privileges enjoyed by an MLA or an MP.”
‘Power’ was his motivation rather than public service. And it goes without saying that “power corrupts”. (Isn’t that the reason why we have so many corrupt politicians and so many history-sheeters as politicians?).
Little doubt therefore that corruption in India is both spontaneous (at least we boast of a society with high moral values!) and institutionalized.
Now coming to my very first question on who is ‘more’ corrupt?
This is not the first time that a prime minister of this country faces a direct charge of corruption. But it is sad that someone of the stature of Dr Manmohan Singh, with an impeccable public record, now faces corruption charges. So far he was only perceived as a hapless yet honest leader of a corrupt coalition government. Whether he proves to be ‘more’ corrupt than others does not really matter here. What really matters is that it is high time that we shed the holier than thou attitude, identify our corrupt practices and quarantine them. Only then perhaps, we can shout Utopia!
PS: As children we were asked to keep distance from the wards of ‘tainted’ neighbours. It is time to rediscover these ‘tainted’ neighbours who indulged into bribery, committed fraud, asked for dowry, and misused power. Ask your children to keep away from their wards…or is this asking too much?
(The writer is a senior journalist and filmmaker)
deepakparvatiyar@gmail.com
Why are we so corrupt?
June 04, 2012 11:53 PM
By Deepak Parvatiyar
Who is ‘more’ corrupt? The prime minister and his cabinet ministers, the erstwhile NDA government, or the social activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Baba Ramdev – who alongwith Anna Hazare sat on a day long fast against corruption in New Delhi on Sunday?
Who is ‘more’ corrupt? The prime minister and his cabinet ministers, the erstwhile NDA government, or the social activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Baba Ramdev – who alongwith Anna Hazare sat on a day long fast against corruption in New Delhi on Sunday?
Mark the word ‘more’ in my question. What does it mean? It means that corruption is all pervasive and the question revolves around who is ‘more’ corrupt of the lot. I beseech my question to be answered. But before we proceed, let’s first address the issue of ‘all pervasive’ corruption in our country.
Doesn’t this sound like a game of musical chair? Team Anna charges that 155 coal mines were given to the private companies without bidding when the prime minister was also holding the coal portfolio between 2006-2009. The Congress claims most of the scams including the 2G scam and the latest coal scam were originated during the NDA regime. The government slaps cases of misappropriation of funds on Kejriwal, Bedi and Ramdev. As I pose the question, I deliberately keep away Anna Hazare from the list, for the Congress MP Manish Tiwari had already publicly branded him as corrupt, albeit at his own peril.
Mark the word ‘more’ in my question. What does it mean? It means that corruption is all pervasive and the question revolves around who is ‘more’ corrupt of the lot. I beseech my question to be answered. But before we proceed, let’s first address the issue of ‘all pervasive’ corruption in our country.
Corruption is most commonly defined as the misuse or the abuse of public office for private gain (World Bank, 1997, UNDP, 1999). While corruption is commonly attributed to the public sector, it also exists in other aspects of governance, such as political parties, private business sector, and NGO (USAID, Anticorruption Strategy, 2005). UNDP classifies corruption into two types: spontaneous and institutionalized (or systemic). Spontaneous corruption is usually found in societies observing strong ethics and morals in public service. Institutionalized corruption, on the other hand, is found in societies where corrupt behaviors are perennially extensive or pervasive. In these societies, corruption has become a way of life, a goal, and an outlook towards public office.
For years our country is ranked high on corruption. (In 2011, India dropped 11 places to be ranked 95th in the Transparency International Corruption Index. A 2005 study conducted by Transparency International in India found that more than 55% of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or influence peddling to get jobs done in public offices successfully).
Why are we so corrupt?
I am immediately reminded of one of my bureaucrat friends. As a fresher on his very first assignment as in-charge of a government department, he had invited protests when his subordinates found his telephone bill to be much less than theirs. “I never required many phone calls, but had to surrender to their diktat,” he had then told me. Another bureaucrat friend of mine, who I thought to be very honest, only substantiated this point by claiming that though he never accepted any bribe or favour, there was a fixed amount (‘hafta’) as his cut that he had to accept in his office without even “demanding it”.
It is easy to understand why honest officers too become a victim of corrupt practices. “It’s simple. If you offend your colleagues, they will desert you at the time of violence and riots. So isn’t it wise to turn a blind eyes to certain things and comply in certain?” a senior IPS officer friend argued.
As I get deeper into this vexed issue of corruption, I become pessimistic. Besides greed, certain social practices, especially our dowry system, are a big contributor to our corrupt system. An officer is corrupt because his salary cannot fetch the required dowry for his marriageable daughter. Same is the case with others including businessmen, politicians and the common man, who bribe to earn a better living.
Can we curb this menace of dowry? A class mate of mine in the college wanted to qualify the UPSC exams so as to command Rs. 2 crore as dowry! If this is the mentality of the youngsters and if this type of price is attached to certain qualifications, can we escape corruption?
Another illustration – Once I asked a politician friend of mine about what brought him into electoral politics. His answer was spontaneous: “The immunity and the privileges enjoyed by an MLA or an MP.”
‘Power’ was his motivation rather than public service. And it goes without saying that “power corrupts”. (Isn’t that the reason why we have so many corrupt politicians and so many history-sheeters as politicians?).
Little doubt therefore that corruption in India is both spontaneous (at least we boast of a society with high moral values!) and institutionalized.
Now coming to my very first question on who is ‘more’ corrupt?
This is not the first time that a prime minister of this country faces a direct charge of corruption. But it is sad that someone of the stature of Dr Manmohan Singh, with an impeccable public record, now faces corruption charges. So far he was only perceived as a hapless yet honest leader of a corrupt coalition government. Whether he proves to be ‘more’ corrupt than others does not really matter here. What really matters is that it is high time that we shed the holier than thou attitude, identify our corrupt practices and quarantine them. Only then perhaps, we can shout Utopia!
PS: As children we were asked to keep distance from the wards of ‘tainted’ neighbours. It is time to rediscover these ‘tainted’ neighbours who indulged into bribery, committed fraud, asked for dowry, and misused power. Ask your children to keep away from their wards…or is this asking too much?
(The writer is a senior journalist and filmmaker)
deepakparvatiyar@gmail.com
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