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India is one of the largest and most successful democracies in the world.
At present we are moving rapidly towards becoming a developed nation
with a high trajectory of economic growth. We have established our
impeccable track record in meeting all the dem ocratic credentials. But
there are some manmade obstacles within our system which are
hindering our path of development. Among such problem most important
is the prevalence of rampant corruption throughout the arteries and veins
of the whole system. ?
We have seen, through sting operations that several ministers, leaders of
political parties and many members of Parliament and State Legislature
accepting bribes red-handedly. Corruption is not confined to political circle
only. Rather it is ever vigorous in bureaucratic system now. In our
country the roots of corruption are so deep that in some government
departments it has become the order of the day. The biggest irony is that
in such departments, the bribed and corrupt people are known to be
µtalented¶, while an honest official is termed as µmoron¶. Because of this
corrupt system many honest people have been victimized. Many such
incident come to our mind be it the case of Bhagwati Prasad Dixit of
Kanpur or Satyendra Dubey, K. Manjunathan and Manoj Gupta, who
became victims of this corrupt system. ?
This prevalence of rampant corruption in public life is quite clear from our
track record in Transparency International¶s annual Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI). In the latest report published in 2008 India has
retained the position of being in the big league of the most corrupt having
placed at 85 th out of 180 countries. It is one of the bottommost amongst
55 of the 146 countries where corruption is rampant. In fact except for
some media reports and some discussions on TV and channels, nobody in
the Government, like in the past, has shown any concern or expressed
regret at the slide down. The result is that people have got to accept
corruption as a part of their lives. Even in the recently held general
elections and assembly elections in various state corruption was never an
issue of manifesto. Corruption as an issue is periodically raised invariably
by the political parties in wilderness when they run short of any other idea
or issues. ?
The report of Transparency International, indicates that Indians pay $ 5
billions or Rs. 32000 crores, as bribes e very year. This report only talks of
the money paid by the contractors to the public servants, which includes
both the political and bureaucratic executives. ?
Government rules are made, on the presumption that the general public
is corrupt. They tend to create a web of complicated procedures, which
gives birth to corrupt practices. A number of Chartered Accountants have
been arrested by the CBI for acting as conduits of the revenue officials
either for settlement of the cases or for getting them transferred to the
juiciest of the prized wet postings, where such people can line up their
pockets. ?
According to another survey, there is a price tag, which varies from
person to person as per his or her capacity to pay to get the government
services, which should be normally free. These include getting a ration
card, birth & death certificates, driving licenses, admission to schools and
colleges, bank loans, customs, excise and income tax or sales or
pollution, or tax clearance, getting insurance claims passed, a dmission to
hospitals, allotment of government or DDA built houses, escaping traffic
violation or getting married the same day in the court compromising
examination system. This list is only illustrative and not exhaustive. ?
Another reason for the diffusion and dispersal of corruption is that the
corrupt people have no apprehension forget about any fear of being
brought to the book. Public rightly questions as to why people involved in
high profile corruption cases are not only free, but are calling the sho ts
and in some places even ruling roost. The answer to this lies in the fact
that a lot of political will is required to reform the criminal justice system,
which unfortunately for one consideration or the other is lacking. ?
The corrupt on a grand scale have a habit of making life unpleasant and
often short-lived for whistle-blowers. There have been cases, where such
whistle blowers - as happened in the case of an Engineer of National High
Way Authority of India, Satendar Dubey- were killed to prevent exposure
of corruption in the system. ?
Corruption in our country is hardly a new phenomenon. Surveys after
surveys, cases after cases in CBI have documented a widespread pattern
of corruption and racketeering prevails in several departments of the
Government. Corruption has been more than a problem for India.
Recently, the Supreme Court of India had observed over how did efforts
were made, to change the prosecutor in Bihar Fodder Scam case and it
correctly found fault with how things had been done under the influence
of the powerful politicians ?
When it comes to rooting out corruption, it seems no matter how much
liberalization or progress is claimed to have been made, nothing has
really changed. It matters little to charge a few politicians with corruption
when they have learned their tactics of attacking corruption cases
launched as political vendetta. ?
Recently, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing a conference
of anti-corruption agencies, admitted that there is a perception that while
petty cases get tackled quickly, the ³big fish´ escape punishment. He said
that there is an urgent need to change this. He also said that "high level´
corruption has to be aggressively denounced. He said that all such cases
should be investigated on priority basis. Hop efully, the top level honest
officers would be encouraged with Dr. Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister
and they would be able to µtrap¶ a µbig fish¶ as early as possible. Perhaps,
then only the common people would say µJai Ho¶. ?
Corruption has neither disappeared nor reduced but has only grown more
sophisticated with the help of lawyers and accountants. The reason for all
malaises in the country is that some wrong sorts of people are always in
power. Perhaps they would not be in power, if they were not so. Many a
times, people questions that what can be done to improve the situation
and root out corruption. To this Carlyle replied; ³Make Yourself an honest
man and then you may be sure that there is one less rascal in the world´.
There is no doubt that a straight line is the shortest both in morals in
geometry. It is also important for our rulers to realize that people are
fashioned according to the examples they see. Laws, rules and edicts are
less powerful than the models, which our leaders exhibit. It is a ma tter of
dishonour, ignominy and infamy to be branded as the 85th most corrupt
country in the world. The onus for this situation as well as the
responsibility to rectify it falls on our leaders, who need not be reminded
that example is the school of mankind . Said Cicero, ³Be a pattern to
others and then all will go well, for as a whole city is infected by the
licentious passions and vices of great men so it is likewise reformed by
their moderation´ ?
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