SCAM SCAN

Joginder Singh,
IPS (Retd.) Former Director CBI

I am an avid TV watcher. The only trouble with watching TV serials is that there are far too many commercial breaks. But whe never Parliament is in session, especially debating sensitive matters, including the No Confidence Motions, there is nothing to beat this live and unrehearsed entertainment. To add a live touch, quite often in State Assemblies, anything handy becomes a tool to emphasise or hit at a point of view.

On 22 nd July, 2008 , during the confidence motion against the government, is a new low or high, depending upon which side you are looking from, was established. Wads of currency notes were flung, saying that it was a bribe money to abstain from voting with the sole objective of helping the Government of the day to survive. Cash for vote is a new dimension, after the cash for questions. Of course, in politics, as everywhere else, winning matters.

Money and politics are inextricably linked, not only in India , but every where in the world despite the protestations against the use of money, to stay in power. This is not something new in our country. Indeed, the quickest way to become rich in our country is via the route to politics. A lot of din was raised in the Parliament over the alleged inducements offered to some MPs either to abstain or switch sides, in voting. It is good as far as it goes. But does it really go far or it is only a drama to show to the people that the protesting parties are better than the ones in power. The correct course would have been, to apprehend the person offering bribe to the MPs and hand him or her over to the police, to set the law in motion.

One bye product of the episode has been that most parties have gone on expulsion spree of the members, who did not toe their official line, including the political party to which the speaker of the Lok Sabha originally belonged. One wishes that the same concern should have been shown to the rampant corruption prevailing in the country which affects the common man.

The latest Transparency International Survey in its report released in June, 2008, said that their survey, which covered 22,728 randomly selected BPL households across 31 States and union territories, revealed that a ma­jority of those who paid bribes did so for getting their children admitted in the school or for getting promotion of their chil­dren from one class to another. Issuing school-leaving cer­tificate was another lucrative business for corrupt schools authorities. However, the amount bribed was highest when it came for allotment of hostel accommodation. While looking at States with moderate or high cor­ruption, in the school education sector, the level of corruption in Bihar , Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya and Goa was found to be “alarming”.

Jammu and Kashmir , Manipur , Assam and Madhya Pradesh reported “very high corruption” standards while Chandigarh , Delhi , Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Nagaland were put in the “high corruption” cate­gory. Roughly over Rs. 880 crores were paid as bribes by the Below Poverty Line population in one year.

Transparency International, also in its most recent report has ranked India at 72nd position among 180 countries in corruption. It also says “The maximum corruption takes place during government procurements. For example, when the government buys wheat or arms, or when Public Sector Units (PSUs) procure material. It is also extremely difficult to quantify.”

Despite India claiming to become a new destination for global investors, 38 per cent of over 5,400 companies' representatives, surveyed by global consultancy firm Price Water House Coopers said they were asked to pay bribe to get licences. The more you read and observe about this thing called Politics, the more you are likely to be convinced that each party is worse than the other.  The one that is out always looks the best. Truth is strictly optional in politics. If the members' concern about corruption in politics and in cleaning the system is genuine, then it is most welcome. The trouble is that laws are framed in air, without consulting those who are either affected or who are charged with the duty of enforcing them, either the judiciary or the police. Justice Malimath, who earlier headed a Committee on Reforms says that there is a need to concentrate on the rights of the victim. Justice Malimath also says, “The present criminal justice system has totally collapsed and is not acting as a deterrent for criminals.... With the rate of conviction on criminal offences being low, there was very less risk factor for a person committing an offence. A national survey shows the conviction rate around seven per cent. Ninety-three per cent of people get acquitted, resulting in criminals moving in the society without any stigma.”

If the exposure of alleged bribery in connection with the ‘vote for cash scam' can lead to the cleaning of the system and bring purity in public life, it would have been worth it. But as the matters stand, people have generally with a few exceptions, very low opinion about the integrity and commitment of politicians. They have hit a new low and people believe that given the same circumstances, every body and every political party would behave in the same way. The people also feel that all politicians are the same, though there may be a difference of degrees but not of either quality or qualms in most of them. It is more terrible for the country than the politicians as a class. Our Parliamentarians should remember that the strength of a nation derives from their integrity. Integrity is not a conditional word. It does not change with the wind or with the weather. It is their inner image of themselves. They should look in the mirror and observe, whether they see a man who won't cheat, won't lie and would stand for his values and the country.