Nandini – Voice for the Deprived.

Meeting at Chennai on 15th Aug 2008

Corruption is an age old phenomena that’s evolving over a period of time. Earlier
corruption used to be confined to certain section of society and large sections of
them remained untouched. Now it’s a different story and corruption has
percolated to each and every section of the society. It’s hard to point out where
corruption is not present. We have been regularly fed media report on corruption;
Bofors, fodder scam, MPLAD scheme, coffin scam, hawala, match-fixing,
Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parikh, George Fernandez, Bagarau Laxman, Joyti
Kumaran, Nuke deal trust vote, the list is endless. Every new report pales
previous one into insignificance. All of them scream that corruption is growing at
an alarming pace in India and if it goes unchecked, the peril of our nation is
imminent.

In order to have introspection to the problem of corruption, a Chennai based

NGO Nandini- Voice for the Deprived, organised anti-corruption meeting on 15th
August 2008 (Independence Day) at Chennai. The meeting was attended by over
250 participants consisting of former IAS officers, NGOs, professionals and large
number of people from lower income group. The most noteworthy among them
was Mr Kalyanam, now 88 years of age and who had served as personal
assistant to Mahatma Gandhi.

Mr. N. Vittal, Former Central Vigilance Commissioner, of India delivered the

keynote speech and began by saying that corruption has been defined by the
World Bank as the ‘use of public office for private profit.’ In our country, there are
five major players on the corruption scene, interdependent, strengthening and
supportive of the vicious cycle. They are the corrupt politician (Neta); the corrupt
bureaucrat (Babu); the corrupting businessman (Lala); the corrupt NGO (Jhola);
and the criminals (Dada).

He added that corruption flourishes in our system because of five basic reasons.
(i) scarcity of goods and services; (ii) red tape and complicated rules and
procedures; (iii) lack of transparency in decision-making; (iv) legal cushions of
safety for the corrupt under the ‘healthy’ principle that everyone is innocent till
proved guilty; and (v) tribalism among the corrupt who protect each other.

He further said corruption is a two-way street. For every bribe taker, there is a
bribe giver. While the debate on corruption in our country has focused on the
demand side of corruption, there has been a thundering silence on the supply
side who bribes the public servants and politicians.

The former Central Vigilance Commissioner suggested a three-point plan to

check corruption; first simplification of rules and procedures, second is
empowering the public and bringing in greater transparency and third is effective
punishment.
The important aspect of the meeting was that ahead of it, fifteen colleges from all
over India took part in an essay competition “Rampant Corruption in India: Who
is responsible.” Eleven college students among them won prizes and were
awarded certificates and cash prizes during the meeting. Five of the students
were allowed to speak and present their views on corruption in India.

One of them said corruption follows a vicious cycle, but the root cause is the
corruption of the political system. The nexus between corrupt politicians and
corrupt bureaucrats makes it look that any fight against corruption is the fight
against the government itself, he said.

As long as the work is done, it is fine – this attitude of the people could be
another cause for the rampant corruption in India. We have a tendency to blame
the politicians, government employees or higher authorities in any sector for
putting money in their pockets. But, have we ever introspected how true we are
as citizens, with regard to the issue of corruption? How many of us do not look
for “contact” for getting our children in good school or college, said another
student.

The other underlying cause of corruption could be tolerance of the people, almost
complete lack of intense public outcry against corruption and the absence of
strong and effective public forum to oppose corruption allow it to reign over
people.

Another student was intrigued about why that even the well informed people in
India have carried this corruption burden for so long and why have they not
revolted against it? Is this linked to an unflinching faith in karma theory or is it a
reflection simply of utter helplessness, he asked? Even the efforts of great
fighters like Anna Hazare have not made a dent into breaking the evil of
corruption, and even the educated people are not supporting such efforts
adequately, he said.

One speaker said we need a second freedom struggle and the fight against
corruption must begin at home. Family and schools are the twin indispensable
social institutions which must be activated to fight for value system in life.
Functioning of these institutions at high ethical level can usher in a revolution to
change the mind set of both the giver and the taker. The pressure must come
from the public by agitating against corrupt practices. The youth can make a
difference if there are role models for them, he said.

An interesting view was that most people who talk about corruption and ethics
today appear to be of plus sixty. Most of them had been part of the corrupt
system in public life in one way or the other earlier and had not fought against the
issues when they had the power and energy. At sixty when they preach, they do
not inspire confidence amongst the youth.
Alarm bell rang when some one said; one would shudder to think as to what
would happen to the peace of the society, if the common men whose interests
are defeated by the forces of corruption, would feel helpless and take to violence
as the only option available to them to tackle corruption. He was obliquely
pointing to the rise of the Maoist in India.

Another speaker pointed that if the corruption would continue at the present
pace, it may lead to a situation where the corrupt people (both the givers and
takers) would become shameless and even a sense of shame would not deter
them from indulging in nefarious activities. This situation should not be allowed to
deteriorate further and the corrupt forces in the country should be defeated at
any cost, he advocated.

Use of modern gadgets like cell phones with cameras to expose corrupt officials
was stressed by one speaker. Everyone can become a citizen journalist and
make use of modern gadgets to expose the corrupt practices. Sting operation on
corrupt official will certainly help reduce corruption to a great extent, he said.

N.S.Venkataraman, Trustee of the NGO, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, and the
main organiser of the meeting concluded saying the root cause of corruption is
greed and how to overcome it is the biggest challenge before us. He stressed
that efforts should be made to develop hatred against corrupt practices and
corrupt elements in our society.

Normally on Independence Day, the entire nation remains in a holiday mood.

There is little time for anyone on this day to brood over such ticklish issues.
Given this fact, efforts made towards organising such a purposeful public
meeting where there was involvement of large section of the society is something
laudable. The organisers of this meeting definitely deserve a word of praise.