'We plan to meet people outside the BBMP office'

DNA; Vidya Iyengar; Saturday, December 11, 2010,

It is five years since Coalition Against Corruption (CAC), started fighting corrupt practices in government departments andassisting citizens with their Right to Information (RTI).

Ravindranath Guru, secretary, Consumer Care Society, and co-coordinator of Coalition against Corruption, talked of the workshop held on the eve of International Corruption Day in an interview with DNA.

Tell us a little about the workshop you held.

We held the workshop tospread awareness about corruption. There is widespread corruption in several sectors, especially in public departments. In the rural employment scheme, less than 11% of the allocated funds reach the right people. If the agencies or people monitoring such schemes are themselves corrupt, how will they make sure that the funds reach the right people? It is not to say that we can eradicate corruption completely. The least we can do is try, and we can do it by raising the awareness of the common people.

Were you happy with the response to the workshop ?

Many people were actually interested in being a part of the cause. Out of 200 people who attended the workshop, about 15-20 came to us after the programme. This might be a small number, but it is progress, as people are more receptive to such ideas, which, in itself, is heartening. We have come up with guidelines, so that our future endeavours can be channelled effectively.

Do you believe that corruption is the biggest impediment to growth ?

How will our country ever command respect internationally? This year, Transparency International ranked India 85th out of 178 countries, in terms of corruption. In 2006, we were at 74th position, of the 163 countries. This is a huge shame. And not only that, corruption hinders the growth of our nation.

Tell us about the other initiatives your organisation has taken up.

Beginning this month, on the 9th of every month, we will be going to offices like the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike sub-registrar’s office, and tahasildar’s office, where we will talk to the people outside. Most of the time, it is people themselves who succumb to the temptation of bribing individuals, to get their work done faster. Then why blame government servants?

In a society like ours, with huge disparity, it is so easy for the rich to get their work done, just by paying money. This makes the poor helpless. It is for them that we run our organisation, to tell them that they are not alone, and we will help them in fighting corrupt practices.