Corruption is a evil that perpetuates through the veins of the government, the private organisations, the media and almost all of us. From the street police charging Rs 1 from a flower vendor to multi billion dollar scams, corruption is present in all forms and sizes. Over the years it has adapted to the changing environment. From the era of welfarism and licence raj to the era of liberalisation and arbitrary environment clearances and stoppages, corruption charts its own way. Today corruption has become an accepted reality. But isn't it we who have accepted this reality.
The impact of corruption is huge. It stalls inclusive development, undermines social progress, undercuts the confidence of citizens in fairness of the government institutions, erodes rule of law, distort competitive conditions, discourages investment, fosters black market economy, raises new security threats(and this is not an end to it). It sucks through the nation's wealth and values thereby destroying the socio-economic fabric facilitating the powerful and rich to become more and more rich and the poor and marginalized more poor. What is more alarming today in the context of India today is corruption has spread through the judiciary, armed forces and media as well. Even the top corruption watchdog of India - the central vigilance commission is not free from it.
What are the reasons for corruption ? The obvious blame is on the system, isn't it ? The dark reality is that the real cause of corruption lies within us. It is we the people who either out of fear or out of greed act in a manner that leads to corruption. We take unfair advantage over the weaker others, it is we who butter the managers for promotions, it is we who avoid the tax by bribing the IT official, it is we who buy from the black market, it is we who pay the bribes, moreover it is we who form the system. The value system of the society is continuously getting eroded and this acts as a catalyst in the spread of corruption.
The only way corruption can be contained is through integrity of leadership, improved governance, government accountability and most of all active public involvement. It is we who make the system, it is we who elect the system, it is people from among us who give and take bribes. The power lies with us. We can make a hundred anti-corruption laws but corruption obeys the Darwin's theory of evolution. It adapts and finds a way out. Before independence we had the British, after independence we had the licence raj and after liberalisation we have the regulatory bodies. The membrane has never been impermeable.
It is the spirit of law that matters and it is we the people who can make or degrade our own society, our own country. We are lucky to be in a democratic country that gives us the freedom to discuss these issues openly, otherwise who would have thought of a mega billion dollar scam coming to the fore in China ? We need to appreciate the basic human rights that we enjoy, at the same time we should also respect rights of the marginalized. We must not use our relative economic supremacy to gain an unfair advantage over others.
Few of us know that the Indian constitution provides a strong ammunition to the Indian people to fight corruption - The Right to Information Act. It takes Rs. 30 to file an RTI application and find out the details of the money being spent by the MP of your city. Aren't we lucky. It's time the gen-next realizes its responsibility. We have the ballot, we have the RTI, we make the government and we can chose to hold them accountable. All we need to do is to re imbibe the lost values. Its high time we the educated and we the advantageous realized - "Yes, we can"
On a lighter note, here are the three laws of Incorruptibility:
1. Incorruptibility index = f(distraction coefficient), where distraction coefficient is directly proportional to progress.
2. Batman's incorruptibility index is 0.
3. Incorruptibility index of any person is always greater than that of a Batman.
What's your Corruptibility Index ? I am the Batman :P
