RESPONSIBILITY OF COMMON PEOPLE IN ANTI-CORRUPTION MOVEMENT

In India, corruption is something we all learn to live with. Hear 'corruption' and we either become extremely moral, lambasting all those who indulge in it, or we are resigned to it being a part of life. But wait! We need not be resigned to it or cynical. Instead of breast-beating over the sorry state of affairs, we need to explore the solutions. So, what is corruption? Corruption that is all around us, omnipresent, almost like a distorted, antithetical version of God for the New Millennium. The legal definition of corruption is an act done with an intent to give some advantage inconsistent with official duty and the rights of others. It includes bribery, but is more comprehensive; because an act may be corruptly done, though the advantage to be derived from it may not be offered by another. If there is corruption in society, each one of us is responsible. It is wrong to blame the system. The fact remains that the individual can certainly not shrink responsibility. For the individual is the smallest unit in this complex web of interrelationships we call society. If we are all interconnected, how can a minority(or a majority, as the case might be) only be responsible for a phenomenon as widespread as corruption? While culpability might be a debatable issue, what causes corruption to spread its tentacles in society is not. Corruption is the symptom of a disease that has as its progenitors like over-centralization of power, non-transparency in all government functions and lack of accountability. Lack of transparency gets majority votes for being the single largest factor that provides an ideal breeding ground for corruption. Crores from development projects are siphoned off annually to Swiss bank accounts before anybody notices anything amiss. One of the reasons of increasing corruption in our society is economic privatization that has engendered a materialistic lifestyle. Today, the reality is that there is mass unemployment and voluntary retirement schemes. The Americans are sending our professionals back. It is a situation eminently conducive to corruption. Moreover, the speed with which we are distancing ourselves from our culture and values makes us more vulnerable to these temptations. Corruption thrives on opacity. To give an example, people marketing computer networking software found that 'corporate transparency' is not the sales pitch that works with the top bosses. But the same people are more than willing to invest in networking if told that it would help them manipulate information. This sort of a mindset is ingrained in us in the form of a belief in an 'information pyramid' that causes information to move according to hierarchy. What we need is an information revolution which is all about flattening this pyramid and providing access to information for as many people as possible. While our politics may be the dirtiest, the very structure of our polity is top heavy, thereby concentrating too much power in too few hands. This increases the chances of power being misused and manipulated for vested interests, totally bypassing the greater common good. One practical alternative

is to Decentralize. In urban areas, implement the much talked about Bhagidari system. Enact a law to make the neighborhood committee the first municipality. Give them the power to collect dues and empower them to be the first authority to sanction any building alterations. Empowering the people and putting them in charge of their own neighborhood will reduce corruption as well as make administration effective because that is where the administrators themselves live. The chances of anti corruption movement succeeding in India would become really great, if the campaign against corruption would be carried out in a sustained manner, utilizing the due process of law and encouraging the common man at every level to resist corruption and urging the people to utilize Right to Information Act much more. Those individuals and institutions that resist corruption should be applauded and highlighted in every possible way. The country desperately needs constructive anti corruption movement and only such constructive protests supported by well investigated and logical arguments and resorting to the due process of law, would stand the test of time. Here are some of the ways with which we can make a difference: PUBLIC DEBATE: Many of us may feel inhibited discussing corruption issues. To overcome this, we can generate a debate within our community, whether at home or at work, regarding the corrupt practices we come in contact with. Ask yourself and your friends why things seem to be going wrong, and how they might be corrected. Have brainstorming sessions to come up with ideas as to how systems can be made more transparent and accountable. Write letters to newspapers, but try to suggest improvements, not just complain about the way things are at present. It is small steps like these that snowball into movements that change society. DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Groups are campaigning for access to official information. Once legalized, get information of, for example, small-scale development projects at the village level, take it into the villages, and inform the people there. They are the ones who know who has really been paid, and how much. At village meetings, officials may be asked to explain why the money has not gone where it should have, and can be shamed into changing their behavior in future. BE A WHISTLEBLOWER: The most effective thing that individuals can do is to complain when they see corrupt acts occurring. This can be difficult when your superiors are the ones who are misbehaving! Make sure there is no innocent explanation of the activities you see happening because what less senior people see is not necessarily the whole story. You don't want to confront an honest boss with a complaint that they are corrupt! Yet unless people have the confidence to raise their concerns with people they trust and are in a position to do something about it, nothing is ever going to get better.

FORM AN INTEGRITY CIRCLE: If you are working in a department with a reputation for corruption, form an 'integrity circle' with likeminded colleagues. Each member makes a pact with all the others that he/she will not be involved in corrupt activities and will support each other if anyone has any problems over this refusal. Declare your office a 'Corruption-free zone'. You may also put up signs saying 'Please do not offer bribes as we do not accept them' or 'Bribes are unnecessary-we are paid by the state to serve you'. Encourage friends in other departments to do the same. Inject a seed of integrity into the administrative body and see how effective it is. Get your managers' support for your endeavor in writing. REMOVE TEMPTATION: When you see opportunities to remove unnecessary blockages in systems that serve no useful purpose but which create opportunities for bribes to be extorted from the public, write to ministers, MPs, MLAs, newspapers, drawing attention to the reforms needed. All these measures stand a chance of working only if we do our part. We need to get off our moral high horses and shake off the complacence that comes with 'dispassionate discussion' or, in other words, pointing fingers at others. We have examined society and people, but what about our own selves? For every finger that we have pointed at politicians or bureaucrats or the government (or the babu in a certain daftar [office] counting soiled fifty rupee notes), four fingers have pointed right back at us. It is time to turn the light, and the microscope, inwards.

Name- Shantesh Kumar Verma Designation- Jr. Manager Department- CO & CC (EM) Personnel Number- 94796/F001283 Contact number- 9434776211