India
Today: EDITOR'S NOTE: Tuesday, 29 September 2015.
Corruption in
India never ceases to amaze me. We routinely read about civil servants in minor
postings amassing huge fortunes through their devilish ingenuity to somehow
extract money from every nook and cranny. In the years before liberalisation,
this was possible because of the shortage of basic civic amenities such as gas,
phone and electricity connections. Back then, nepotism, influence and bribery
were the most efficient ways to bypass the queue. Today, when basic facilities
are easily available, bureaucrats have created Byzantine rules and countless
procedures that allow them to squeeze the common citizen. On a bigger scale,
quiet land-use changes, which can affect the value of property by hundreds of
crores with a stroke of the pen, and dubious tendering processes that led to
the coal scam and the 2G scam during the previous UPA regime, are examples of
the opaqueness that allows officials to exploit the system.
It's true
that several measures have been taken to create an environment of transparency.
The Right to Information Act, 2005, has played a big role by allowing common
citizens to inquire about government spending and filing cases against their
elected representatives. Our courts have supported this move, and often upheld
such petitions by ordering CBI probes and passing judgments against influential
politicians and bureaucrats. A vibrant media, too, has been vigilant to
corruption, and has been willing to go the extra mile to expose wrongdoing. The
Anna Hazare-led Lokayukta movement in 2011 was built solely on an
anti-corruption plank and eventually led to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party
storming into power in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha campaign
in 2014 made corruption an important election issue, raising UPA's scams and
promising to bring back black money hoarded in overseas tax havens. This is all
very well but the malaise of corruption is so deeply ingrained in our culture
and our system that it is an extraordinary task to eliminate it. Fortunately,
so far the Modi government seems to have flushed out corruption at the top,
which was an established practice of previous governments. Paradoxically, when
the government makes a noise about attacking corruption, the price for illicit
"services" only goes up.
However, when
there are a few good men and women in the right place, there is hope. Luckily,
such individuals exist, and are trying desperately to fight this curse. Armed
with RTI replies, court petitions and an unbending conscience, these
whistle-blowers are putting their jobs, their safety and even their lives on
the line to campaign against corruption at various levels. They may be a blind
village sarpanch in Gujarat, a top bureaucrat in Haryana, a retired Army
officer in Mumbai, or a medical officer in Bhopal. Although their causes may
vary-from illegal mining to transport scams, from the disproportionate wealth
of politicians to education scandals-the larger goal is the same. To rid India
from the yoke of corruption and to herald a culture where the smallest
facilities are dispensed and the biggest deals are struck without fear or
favour. These people are more than just crusaders or agitators. We have chosen
to call them the "new freedom fighters".
Our cover
story, written by Deputy Editor Kunal Pradhan with inputs from our
correspondents across India, celebrates some of these whistle-blowers by
documenting their struggles. They stand out because their minor rebellions
reveal a bigger truth. They prove that the system can be cleansed using
legitimate means if a person is determined to go the extra mile.
To beat
corruption, more of us need to stand up against it. As people who are willing
to risk everything to combat this malaise, the whistle-blowers are shining
examples. Each bribe given, each "connection" made, adds to the
over-arching narrative of corruption in India. It's time to say, "No".
Remember, the best way to effect change is to help create it.
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