Joginder Singh,
IPS (Retd.) Former Director CBI
GENTLEMEN, IT IS TIME
Joginder Singh,
IPS (Retd.) Former Director CBI
The CBI in the first week of May, 2009 had arrested an Inspector General of Central Reserve Police Force, as well as a Commandant and nine others, in connection with irregularities in the recruitment of paramilitary personnel in Bihar and Jharkhand in 2007. A dismissed constable was the alleged master mind and a middle man for them. Others who have been named by the CBI in the FIR also include a DIG.
Over 1,000 constables were recruited to the CRPF from 2007 to 2009 in Bihar and Jharkhand. It is alleged that candidates were made to pay between 3 to 3.5 lakhs to get their jobs. CRPF has a cadre of tradesmen in the Battalions, which includes cooks, water carriers, tailors, carpenters and other professionals.
One of the accused was running a so called fake ITI (Indian Training Institute) for issuing bogus certificates to those, who did not have the proficiency or knowledge of the trade, for recruitment. If we calculate the bribes paid, at the above rates for the jobs traded, it works out to over Rs. 200 crores.
Earlier, the matter was handed over to the CBI by the Home Ministry after it found prima facie discrepancies in the constables' appointment. A CBI team during the raid had seized papers of moveable and immovable properties worth Rs 1 crore. More than half a crore cash has been recovered . The scam has come to light as a result of whistle blowing by those who did not get their share of the cut or their promised jobs.
The accused had the same unique modus operandi which has been adopted in the scams of Punjab, Bihar and Maharashtra Public Service Commissions. The touts of the accused there as well as in CRPF would contact prospective candidates offering them jobs, saying that they knew higher ups and had influence in the recruitment board to get them jobs. Instead of putting up the board, “Jobs for Sale”, the same work was got done from the middlemen.
Earlier, the CBI had arrested a CRPF DIG and a head constable in Lucknow who had allegedly received bribes for the recruitment of constables. Incidentally, the IG arrested now, had been found guilty in a similar case, in the departmental inquiry, but was allowed to continue at his job, despite adverse reports.
It will be wrong to presume that CRPF is the most corrupt organisation in the country. It is as honest, or as corrupt, as any other Government Department.
The main reason as to why people seek and hanker after the Government jobs is that there is no fear of its loss, whether you perform or not.
It is not that corruption is a secret. If anything, it is an open and a patent fact, in every segment of life, whether it pertains to availing of the services, which should come free as a matter of right or asking questions in Parliament or purchasing votes.
In a survey conducted on the eve of the Elections to the Parliament, in 2009, corruption topped the concern of the voters. Other issues like terrorism, internal security, unemployment and economic slowdown came after that. Sale of jobs whether in the State Civil Service, or by Government recruitment bodies, in the Railways, the education or police, either by the officials concerned, or on the orders of the powers that be is no more done, clandestinely or surreptitiously.
At the top of it, the corrupt take advantage of the overprotection provided by the laws, which are unabashedly pro-criminal and pro-accused. What prevents crime in a society is the inevitability of punishment for any crime committed including corruption, that is, if you are caught, not only do you lose your job, but also sometimes your life and certainly all your ill-gotten gains.
But be certain that there is no such fear in India. Though the rules exist on paper, they are more there to shackle and protect the corrupt and act as hindrances rather than a deterrent.
As per the present laws, no inquiry can even be started against an officer of the level of Joint Secretary and above in the Government, without the permission of the Government. Even after an inquiry is completed, the sanction of the Government is required for filing a case in the court of law. The rationale given for this is that the decision makers should have sufficient protection against any arbitrary or whimsical action by the investigating agency. But the real reason is that those who take decision as per the written or unwritten orders, even if the decisions are not able to stand the test of equity, justice and fairness, should be protected. If it is not done, the political executive believes that nobody will put his neck on the block for their sake. This is notwithstanding the Supreme Court orders that the corruption is not a part of the duty of any public servant and no permission or sanction is required for taking action against them.
A quibbling is going on, whether the investigating agency or the Government or the court should order the seizure of dishonestly gained property. With over 32 million cases pending in the courts, the dishonest are confident that they can prolong their trials till the last breath of their life.
While hearing the appeal of a corrupt public servant a bench of Supreme Court said, ”Everyone wants to loot this country. The only deterrent is to hang a few corrupt persons from the lamp post…The law does not permit us to do it but otherwise we would prefer to hang people like you from the lamp post.”
To put the record straight, only a public servant can be corrupt and there is no dearth of them. Public servants also include the Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly.
Our country has slipped again in the latest Trans-parency International. It is the 84th most corrupt country in the world, with 34 marks out of 100. In truth, the fight against corruption was not even on the agenda of any of the political parties during the 2009 general elections.
Ask anybody, who has to interact with the government about many, often unnecessary approvals required to set up a business or to expand/diversify it. Babus, top to bottom, make you feel as if they are doing you a favour by allowing you to do something productive with your own money even in the country's interest. The bureaucratic logic is simple that if my approval or even hastening the sanction is going to help you make money, surely I need to be looked after with a cut. The result is the proliferation of Inspector Raj, though all Governments have been swearing against it.
As political masters are busy with the game of survival or holding on to the power, the Bureaucrats have literally taken over the Governance, not only in the seat of power, but also in the umpteen regulatory bodies and commissions, or think tanks, as post retirement sinecures. Look at the numerous commissions we have in the country, right from Union Public Service Commission, Vigilance, Information Commissions, Competition and Consumer Commissions, they are full of retired officials, whose only qualification was that they remained on the right side of the powers be or did their bidding. So as a reward, the crumbs of Commissions or Committees, which in the first place should not be there, have been doled out to them.
The travesty of the system is that quite often those who did not do one paisa worth of work, after retirement are charged with the duty as to how to eradicate corruption from the country or how to improve the administration. A Government appointed Committee, on Civil Services Reforms says: “We received overwhelming evidence that the temptation of post-retirement assignments under government/statutory/constitutional authorities has made senior civil servants servile and pliable.”
A Hyderabad based NGO says that the expenditure on Governance of India, by the 790 politicians at the Centre, the 4120 in the 35 States and Union Territories and the 18.7 million employees of the Central and State Governments comes to about Rs.2200 crore per day or Rs. 760,000 crore per year, both on capital & revenue account. The higher salaries, which have been sanctioned as a result of 6 th Pay Commission does not mean higher integrity.
Between January 2001 and October 2004, the CBI had arrested 24 officers of the IAS cadre for indulging in various corrupt practices. Top-level corruption in the country's officialdom remains rampant if figures given by the Government up to 2004 are any indication. The Central Bureau of Investigation, during that period, booked 65 officers of the rank of Joint Secretary and above on charges of financial irregularities and swindling. Indian Revenue Services, comprising officers of Income Tax, Customs and Excise, top the infamous list. As many as 22 IRS officers were booked. The money stashed abroad is the public loot not only by the politicians, but also the bureaucracy, which is considered the steel frame. However many call it the ‘steal frame'.
When politicians talk about bringing the money stashed abroad to India, if they are voted to power, they may consider that it will be more worthwhile if they ferret out the corrupt and illegal gains stashed by the bureaucracy.
Things have gone from bad to worse and for this not the Government, but our own indifference and our own desire to get our own work done quickly and if necessary by bending rules, is responsible. Corruption has never been compulsory. If five persons in every town decide to expose corruption and at least, ten percent decide not to bribe, whatever may be the hardships, we can make a difference to the country. The Government on its part, should make sure that once a person is caught for corruption, there should be no escape routes for him. The cases of such people must be decided in months and not in decades, when the interest has waned.
The Government should go by what is right and not by what antique laws say. The law is liable to be interpreted in any way. Under the law it is the responsibility of the Government to eradicate corruption. It must show its determination and ‘will' to rid the country from this evil. The Government and the citizens should remember what Winston Churchill said: “Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”