| by N.S.Venkataraman
( September 10, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Nandini Voice For the Deprived , a Chennai based non profit organisation (www.nandinivoice.org) organized a brain storming meeting in Chennai on 25th August,2012 to discuss about the strategies to combat corruption in India. It appears that such strategies discussed have high level of relevance for Sri Lanka too.
The meeting was attended by large number of concerned citizens including lawyers, professors, engineers, retired government officials, bank officials, differently abled persons and anti corruption activists and general public from city and rural areas as well as representatives from “Transparency International” and “India Against Corruption”
Highlights of this brain storming meeting are given below
Anna Hazare’s Movement now lost its direction
It was observed that Anna Hazare gave great fillip to the anti corruption movement in India , but now the movement seems to have lost its sense of direction, as Anna Hazare has disbanded his team. Now, the anti corruption movement in India is back to square one.
Who is more guilty – giver or taker ?
There was lively debate as to whether the fight against corruption should be initiated at the top level of the government or should it start from the bottom.
The consensus view was that without reforming the people, reforming the political class would not be possible. The standards of the political leadership of the government and the bureauracy is a direct reflection on the attitude of the large section of people towards the prevalence of corruption in the country, which appears to be one of indifference or self centred attitude in many cases. It was pointed out that in some countries the law states that the giver of the bribe would be more guilty than the taker of the bribe and punished severely , which is not so in India.
The negative role of bureaucrats :
The major blame for corruption in the country was attributed to the bureaucracy particularly IAS and IPS officers, who have been trained at the highest level at great cost to take up the challenging administrative jobs, but have often reduced themselves to toe the lines of politicians in power . In the process, most of them play big role in the corrupt practices of the government either directly or indirectly and several of them have been caught in corrupt practices in recent times. They are no more the steel frame of Indian democracy.
India’s place in global corruption scale :
The representative of the Transparency International read the corrupt rating of countries in the world and said India has slided down from around 100 to 183 now. It was said that with the recent 2G scam and Coalgate scam, India’s ratings could go down further. While Chinese were branded as those who do not know personal freedom, Indians are now being described as those who do not know honesty in public life.
A distinction was made between the corruption in countries like USA and corruption in India. In countries like USA , there is no corruption in society unlike India , where there seem to be no activity at any level without corrupt practices.
Corruption is the mindset of youth :
It was said that the corruption as a part of life is built in the mindset of the youth even when they are in the teen age, due to the prevailing conditions in the country and the corrupt conditions to which they are constantly exposed.
The ultimate way to root out corruption is to bring revulsion in the minds of the children and youth in the formative age group about the corrupt practices. It was also said that even parents who entice the children by offering small gifts to make them study or perform well are responsible for making corruption look as normal practice in life in the minds of the children.
It was strongly advocated that anti corruption should be made a compulsory subject of study in all schools all over India , to mould the students as honest citizens of the country.
Role and image of judiciary :
The country men now appear to expect that the judiciary would be the ultimate watch dog of probity and honesty in public life and the government machinery. But, the public are dismayed that even judges are sometimes caught in corrupt practices and the appointment of the judges are carried out on the recommendations of the politicians.
The judges are increasingly not observing the code of conduct, as we often see judges participating in the private and public functions with the politicians and bureaucrats , while some of them are involved in court cases.
Whither RTI (Right to Information)Act ?
While RTI rules and similar other regulations are there , the common man often is afraid to send complaints about corrupt practices in view of the threat of violence. Many cases were cited , where those who have sent complaints about corruption have been intimidated and families threatened. To overcome this situation, it was suggested that “Coalition against corruption” should be formed as an organization in all cities, towns and villages by anti corruption activists, who should take up such cases as an organization so that individuals will not be exposed .
Unholy alliance between officials and NGOs (non government organizations)
It was pointed out that of late, unholy alliance between some NGOs and government officials are increasingly seen in implementation of the welfare measures of the government in rural areas. Several instances were pointed out. The corruption is not only in the government departments but also now in private sector and in some NGOs , which is a very disturbing sign.
Create confidence is the mind of citizens
While there are news about huge corruption at the top level of the government, the cancer of corruption is affecting the people severely at the lower level in their day today life , particularly in the small towns and rural areas, where the media presence is not high.
It was stressed that the anti corruption activists should go to the rural areas and villages and create confidence in the minds of the citizens about the feasibility of fighting against corruption and provide them the necessary support.
Resist corruption at individual level:
Finally, the meeting concluded that there must be resistance for corruption at individual level which call for sacrifices for the sake of the nation. This attitude of resistance at individual level would spread as chain reaction and create fear in the minds of the corrupt persons whether in the government or in the private sector or NGOs.
The corrupt persons should be viewed disapprovingly everywhere in the same way as we see drunkards and molestors.
The thoughts and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi should help the citizens in a big way in strengthening their mindset to fight against corruption and nepotism.
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