Aam Aadmi Arvind Kejriwal has sounded the bugle to put
an end to corruption through his toll free number. A welcome step! Reminds me
of a Tamil movie called “Mudhalvan” by Director Shankar. It also reminds me of
a biblical story of “David and Goliath” Well though our David – Kejriwal is all
set to put an end to the Corruption called Goliath with his toll free number of
slingshots, but what has to be seen is that, the today’s Goliath, is too
powerful to be killed by a slingshot! All the actions of the new Aam Admi party
seem to be like a movie portrayed in reality. What really intrigues me is that
how come a former civil servant can ignore certain facts of statistics and
behave like a run of the mill politician?
A normal study of statistics (http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results on world corruption from a view point of a layman
would reveal that corruption is indirectly proportional to development.
Corruption is least in countries which are developed and is high in countries
which are under developed. That even
shows that countries with a higher GDP are less corrupt than those with lesser
ones. What is understood is that corruption can be removed only with
development. Today’s Goliath can never be killed with a slingshot alone; a
concerted effort needs to be taken from all the directions to put the demon to
rest. India is one country where there is a great gap in the salaries of the private
sector when compared to those in the Government. A person working in the IT
sector earns pay in 6 digits whereas his neighbour, a government servant earns
in 5 digits. With the upper class lifestyle creeping in to the middle class, it
becomes tempting for a government servant to make a fast buck to keep up to the
new lifestyle like sending his kids to an international school; medical treatment
in corporate hospitals; buying a car; a posh house etc. In this unfortunate
situation, it must be the work of the government to focus on a multi-pronged
development, as development is the only available antidote for the poisonous
corruption. The probable solution for a better society would be to
- decrease the parity between the pays of government and private sectors;
- focus on infrastructure;
- quality education at government schools;
- quality treatment at government hospitals like those in Singapore where Government hospitals are preferred to private ones;
- Proper work atmosphere in Government offices;
- Inclusion of Civics as one of the important subjects at school;
- Strict enforcement of rules and then
- Fitting punishment for corruption.
Punishment alone can never be a deterrent to
corruption. There will always emerge another modus operandi to take a bribe.
Without overall development, corruption can never be
wiped off this country. I can draw a
parallel to this. Recently after my visit to a host of countries - first,
second and third world, in the American continent, I promised myself not to
litter, as in all these countries I was amazed with the sense of cleanliness the
people have and also found the countryside to be spick and span. So coming back
to India with my new resolution I desisted myself from throwing rubbish and now
my car has turned out to be a dustbin, and I am still looking for a dust bin to
clear the trash. We don’t provide dustbins at regular intervals and we expect
people not to litter. This goes the same for corruption too. They don’t provide
the setting which deters a person to take bribe but expect him to be honest.
Each and every one has a share in nurturing the
Goliath of today. We talk of corruption only when a government official demands
a sum. We forget that it is we who in desperation to see our favourite actor’s
movie look around to find if any tout is there selling movie tickets in black;
it is again we who try to impress on the railway ticket examiner with cash to
secure a berth in an otherwise filled train. Our attitude has to change. This
goes a long way in killing corruption. As long as the corrupt feel it is wrong
to take a bribe but still takes it due to circumstances, we still have hope as
this situation can be changed with a focused all round development. But if a
corrupt justifies his action then what ever be the development he still stays
corrupt and there would be no recourse. We have to work towards the eradication
of this evil by providing a scenario where corruption is treated with
contempt.
The introduction of the toll free number which was
widely publicised and spoken about in the media where we were told that 4000
calls were made in 7 hours all seems to be focused in creating hype. Toll free
numbers existed even before Mr. Kejriwal entered into politics. The portal of
Central Vigilance Commission clearly provides the details. (https://portal.cvc.gov.in/portal/index.jsp). The people never took recourse to it. Those who
took were able to nab the corrupt. Now projecting this highly publicised toll
free number just shows it is a concerted effort to capture the imagination of
the common man, and that the elections are around the corner I can see that
this seems to be an effort to transform this generated hype into votes. Though
the AAP can never form the government on its own at the centre, it can play
spoilsports and try to offset the chances of a deserved person from coming to
power. I guess the AAP is really getting good at it. I hoped that Kejriwal
would be a statesman; alas he too is proving to be another Aam Admi Politician!
Grow up Kejriwal people are counting on you!!
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