Corruption in India: Neither Systemic Reforms nor Surgical Strikes would End it

Madhav is a bright school going boy. He comes from a lower middle class family. His mother is a primary school teacher. His parents have high aspirations and hopes from him. They want to see him settled well with a dignified job in his life. His parents make every possible effort so that Madhav's studies are not affected because of any financial ups and downs. Just to lend him support, his mother gets pens, rulers and notebooks from her school. Of course, she does not pay for it.

What does this tale highlight? Supporting the child in attaining education smoothly is a lovely act, but the means by which the support is given is not right. The stationery that came for school's official purpose was used by Madhav. This small act is a form of corruption as well. Corruption is nothing but an unethical act where moral integrity is undermined, and honesty and loyalty are put at stake. (Madhav's mother put her moral integrity, honesty and loyalty as a teacher in general and a human in particular, at stake when she got school's stationery for Madhav without paying for the items.) Corruption is the misuse of office, both public and private, and the resources for fulfilling personal interests.

Kautilya in his classic work, Arthashastra wrote that there were forty ways of embezzlement (misapplication and misappropriation of funds) and then went on to enumerate the ways. This highlights that corruption firmly existed in ancient times too. Kautilya was a sagacious minister in the Mauryan Kingdom. He believed that men were naturally fickle minded, that their honesty was not a virtue that would remain consistent lifelong. The temptations to make easy gains could override the traits of honesty and integrity. One thing that he observed in Mauryan administration was that too much personal interaction led to the compromise in departmental goals, which led to corruption.

A study conducted by Transparency International in 2005 stated that more than 62% of Indians had at some point paid a bribe to get their work done in a public office. In it's later studies it stated that Indians often use their contacts in getting their services performed in public offices. Corruption and unethical practices have fixed their roots in almost every sector today, be it public organization or private institution. The notorious example of Commonwealth Games Scam that happened in 2010 presents a major blot in the nation's reputation where public accountability was undermined to meet personal financial gains.

But what encourages someone or a group of people, to dive into the ugly pool of corruption? The reasons can be broadly studied under three heads. Firstly, personal reasons. The anecdote that was presented in the start depicted a mother walking on the path of corruption for her son. Usually, it is for the family and the relatives that people misuse the resources that are made available to them with a responsibility. Then, because of low pay scale, employees resort to corruption, bribery and red tapism. The lure of gaining maximum in minimum time frame pushes people to compromise with their duty and integrity. Because of this, Gandhiji aptly said, "The world has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed." Secondly, institutional reasons. Lack of stringent laws against corruption, lenient punishments to the ones who're found guilty, lack of control and proper monitoring. The absence of transparency in the organization and departments, have strengthened the spirits of corrupt officials. 

Thirdly, other reasons. Usually, we find Indians condemning and criticizing corruption on various occasions. Corruption is usually labeled as a reason that could block India's progress in the path of development. One thing that's amusing enough is that if everyone finds corruption to be an ill-practice, then why percentage of people who resort to bribery and misuse of resources is ever increasing? There's lack of unity among the public that actually weakens the fight against corruption. Moreover, there's no independent detecting agency that could investigate and expose corrupt officials.

It is believed that, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." This has become a general perception in today's era. That's because humans are power hungry by nature. The hunger for power could be sensed in ancient rulers and monarchs as well as in today's politicians who aspire to come into power. But, it is the purpose for which the power would be used, makes the difference. Great men like Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, APJ Abdul Kalam, didn't compromise on their morals and principles. They were placed in high pedestals by common people. In return, they used their power and authority to maximize public interests and serve the people. The contemporary examples of honest officials like TN Seshan, Ashok Khemkha give us hopes that great men with high morality exist, power does not tend to corrupt always and corruption can be fought too.

So, what are the ways by which the menace of corruption can be ended? Administrative Reform Commission came up with suggestions to tackle corruption, systemic reforms were one of them. Use of ICT, JAM Trinity, e-governance, social auditing, Right to Information Act are some of the measures taken in this regard. Another significant attempt that was recently made to fight corruption was capping the funding to political parties. However it can be evidently seen that systemic reforms have not been successful in curbing corruption. The infamous VYAPAM (Vyavasayik Pariksha Mandal) scam is a case in point, which was a recruitment scam, highlighted in 2013, that involved politicians, elite groups, business houses in Madhya Pradesh. The direct benefit transfer scheme is an effort to eliminate corruption from social welfare schemes, but the existence of fake beneficiaries is still a hurdle.

One path breaking step that was made to tackle corruption was the surgical strike in the form of banning higher denomination currency notes. The surgical strike was attempted to bring the black money hoarded in the form of cash, earned by illegal means, in the mainstream economy. Though the Indian Government succeeded to a large extent in fulfilling their objective, still corrupt people found ways by which they got their black money converted into white. And the culprits who were caught in this malpractice were later released after minimal fine.

Thus, along with systemic reforms and surgical strikes, some other reforms and ways are to be brought to eliminate corruption from the face of the nation. The primary reform that is to be brought is the reforms in mindset. Through moral and value education, people can be diverted from corrupt behavior. Though humans are greedy by nature, they must be taught the importance of an honest character. School education must focus on creating a culture of integrity. Along with this, parents and family have got a key role to play. One must realize that corruption can only bring momentary gains, along with mental stress and guilt. And when found guilty, it brings shame not only to the concerned person but to the entire family.

Along with moral education, the requirement is of digital and financial literacy, so that a person with power cannot bluff the inferior. Initiatives like Digital India (for making Indians digital friendly) and Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyan (financial literary) are laudable efforts. The need is to provide more independence to posts of CAG and Central Vigilance Commission, so that they can expose corruption at institutional level. The non state actors, i.e media, civil society, and NGOs should expand their work sphere and actively keep an eye on government functioning and educate the common people on the same.

As its said, "where there's a will, there's a way" , if we all have the will to curb corruption, we'll find the ways to achieve the objective too. Corruption has fixed its root in every sphere, it is not the responsibility just of the Government, judiciary, or the media to eliminate corruption. The common man too has a prominent role to play in it. The small and simple efforts of saying no to bribe, reporting the cases of malpractices, using social media for highlighting such instances, can bring significant changes, which would help in creating an honest, just and equitable society.