WHY NOT GREASE THE PALM? Dr C.V ANANDA BOSE

 

10. WHY NOT GREASE THE PALM?

It is something that is often heard. Why not grease the plan? It will speed up things.

The attitude of the society towards corruption is somewhat like this. There are even people who think that bribing is not a sin, but in a way a virtue. There are some others who think bribing is simply the transfer of money from one person’s hand to another one’s pocket. But is the path of corruption as simple as that?

A customs official in Mumbai suddenly had a desire to make money. He demanded bribe and got it. We may ask why bother if his pocket is bulging or not? But what did he do after making a fast buck? Helped someone to bring in a consignment of the highly dangerous explosive, RDX. And the result. The serial bomb blasts that shocked Mumbai. In the savage attack in which three precious lives were lost and several people were injured. Now, is bribing a simple transfer of money from one man’s pocket to another man’s?

Corruption is an enemy of national security.

Rajiv Gandhi, when he was Prime Minister, said that from every rupee spent on poverty eradication programmes, only fifteen paise went to the poor. The remaining 85 paise was lost on the way, half of it as wages and the other half as grease money. Now can we say that corruption is a simple transfer of money from one pocket to another?

Corruption is an enemy of the poor man.

It is the responsibility of the government to feed the poor. That is why the public distribution network was put into shape. Listen to the news about the PDS. Thirty-five per cent of ration rice and 36 per cent of ration sugar usually go to the black market. One may dismiss this, asking what harm is there if someone makes an added buck. But can it be dismissed like that? The subsidy given by the government for providing ration for the poor amount to a whopping Rs 10,000 crore. A substantial portion of this goes to the pockets of the black marketers. This is more than the plan outlay for many states. Is it not akin to picking the pocket of the poor?

Now is corruption a simple procedure of transfer of one man’s money to the pocket of another?

Corruption is the enemy of planning.

There is a story about a former Chief Minister. When he was in power, his brother-in-law met him one day with a complaint . He had to shell out Rs 300 to obtain a certificate from a Village Officer. ‘When you are ruling, how dare a village officer seek money from me,’ he asked. The Chief Minister did not say anything. He went inside and came back with a hundred rupee note. He gave it his brother-in-law and said: This is my share. Since you are my brother-in-law I do not want this. ’ The equations of corruption are by and large clear now, it seems.

Only when corruption explodes do the people take note of it. Remember Tehelka. What Tehelka had brought out was the fact that defence procurement was steeped in corruption. Here again can it be said that corruption is a simple transfer of money from one pocket to another?

Corruption is the enemy of national defence.

One small corruption story, from the capital itself. The police and Delhi municipal administration officials use to regularly collect bribes from petty shop owners and cycle rockshaw drivers. There was no one in Delhi who did not know this. An organisation named Manasi conducted a study on it. Their finding was unbelievable. One month’s collection in this regard totalled Rs 40 crore. The matter was brought to the notice of the Prime Minister. He intervened in the matter and cancelled the system of licensing for petty shop owners and cycle rickshaws.

Black money in India was said to be far in excess of the combined revenue of central and state goivernments by Rs 700,000 crore.

Indira Gandhi once said corruption is a global phenomenon. The statement sparked criticism that she was justifying corruption. Cartoonists went to town with it. Yet we cannot ignore the truth contained in it.

Much before globalisation came in the economic sector, corruption had been globalised. The flow of corruption had always been from top to bottom. National leaders in many countries served as models for this. Don’t you want to know who all were the world leaders who were the most corrupt ? Here is the table. Suharto, Indonesia- 35,000 million dollar, Ferdinand Marcos, Pohilippines – Rs 10,000 million dollar, Gen Sani Abacha, Nigeria- 500,000 million dollar, Slobodan Milosevic, Serbia- 100,000 million dollar, Duvalier, Haiti- 30,000 million dollar. We may feel relieved to find no one from India in this list.

Relieved, all right, but don’t brag or bluster. Transparency International has found that in the matter of corruption India occupies a pride of place. The nation with the least corruption is Finland, followwed up by Denmark, New Zealand, Iceland and Singapore. Our consolation is that Pakistan is a more corrupt than us. Is it a fair consolation?

What is the way to prevent corruption? From K Santhanam Committee onwards, many have opened up many paths in front of us. But we could not go along those paths, or we did not try to go.

Once the Central Vigilance Commission was set up, it was felt a thunderbolt would hit cortruption on its head. But what is born in fire is unlikely to fade in sunlight. Corruption is continuing as such. And growing too. But there is an easy way to prevent corruption. The only way.

Do not give bribe. Do not accept bribe.