No short cuts here

By Joginder Singh

India has done it again. It is not that it has won any Olympic medal or topped in some invention or made any new discovery. It has this year also retained the position of being in the big league of the most corrupt. It is one of the bottommost amongst 55 of the 146 countries where corruption is rampant, according to the 'Corruption Perception Index 2004 Report released by Transparency International India last month.

In fact, except for some media reports and some discussions on TV, nobody in the Government, like in the past, has shown any concern or expressed regret at the slide down. The result is that people have come to accept corruption as a part of their lives.

Even in the State Assembly elections held last month, corruption was not an issue. Corruption as an issue is periodically raised invariably by the political parties in wilderness when they run short of any other idea or issues.

The report of Transparency International indicates that Indians pay five billion dollars or Rs 32,000 crores, as bribes every year. Let me hasten to add that this report only estimates the money paid by the contractors to public servants which includes both the political and bureaucratic executive. It has worked out this figures on the basis of ten per cent cut given by the people having dealing with the Government.

Gone are the days, when people were satisfied with a few token gifts on new year or Deepawali. Now they want cash down, in addition to the gifts, on festive occasion. Sometimes, even what is expected, like the television or fridge or music system or a jewellery set, is also indicated in advance.

A few years ago Central Vigilance Commission had issued a circular banning the acceptance of the gifts. When reminded a senior officer whether he was aware of such a circular and how far it was followed, he said, ''Who will complain? Neither the giver, nor the recipient is likely to raise shindy to it and what is the enforcement machinery for it ? When told, that CVC expects officials to follow its instructions. He said such circulars exist, dozen a dimes. In the absence of any mechanism, except the willingness of the officials concerned to implement it, their existence or non existence does not make any difference.

Government rules are made on the premises tha the public is a thief. They create a web of complicated procedures which give birth to corrupt practices. A TV anchor recently gave her personal experience. She wanted to purchase some property. Her identity card, showing that she was from the press, saved her from most demands of bribery, which is an inescapable part of the system. At the time of registration she was told to bring the photo of the registering officer. She said she had not brought her camera, as she was not aware of such a requirement. She was told that she could get the same from the photographer outside the office concerned. It cost her Rs 1,200 Rs 200 per photograph from the photograph who had kept in advance the photos of all dealing officials. It was a novel modus operandi, where the officials did not touch the money, but used the photographer as a collection point.

A number of Chartered Accountants have been arrested by the CBI for acting as conduits of the revenue officials either for settlement of the cases or for getting them transferred to the juiciest of the prized postings, where such people can line up their pockets.

If anything, corruption has grown up at the retail level, where public has to interact with the Government functionaries at the cutting edge level. This type of corruption is not included in the Transparency International 2004 survey. According to another survey, there is a price tag which varies from person to person as per his or her capacity to pay to get the Government services which should be normally free.

These include getting a ration card, birth, death certificates, driving licenses, admission to schools and colleges, bank loans, customs, excise and income tax or sales or pollution, or tax clearance, getting insurance claims passed, admission to hospitals, Government or DDA built houses, escaping traffic violation, or getting married the same day in court, compromising examination system. This list is only illustrative and not exhaustive.

Another reason for rising corruption is that the corrupt have no apprehension, they forget about any fear of being brought to the book. The public rightly questions as to why people involved in high profile corruption cases are not only freed, but are calling the shots and in some places even ruling roost. The answer to this lies in the fact that a lot of political will is required to reform the criminal justice system, which unfortunately, for one consideration, or the other is lacking.

The corrupt on a grand scale have a habit of making life unpleasant-- and often short-lived for whistle blowers. There have been cases, where such whistle blowers as in the case of an Engineer of National High Way Authority of India, Satendar Dubey, were killed to prevent exposure of corruption in the system.

Corruption in the country is hardly a new phenomenon. Surveys after surveys, cases after cases in CBI, have documented a widespread pattern of corruption and racketeering prevailing in several departments of the Government. Corruption has been more than a problem for India. Put simply, the National Treasury is susceptible to rip offs in large part because there is so much money to be ripped off in the first place. And longstanding national policy has been to go slow if not exactly soft pedal the cases.

Recently, the Supreme Court of India observed as to how efforts were made to change the prosecutor in Bihar Fodder Scam case and it currently found fault with how things had been done, under the influence of the powerful politicians. When it comes to rooting out corruption it seems no matter how much liberalisation is done or progress is claimed to have been made, nothing really changes. It matters little to charge a few politicians with corruption, when they have learned their tactics of attacking corruption cases launched, as political vendetta.

Corruption has neither disappeared nor reduced, but has grown more sophisticated with the help of lawyers and accountants. The reason for all malaises in the country is that some wrong people are always in power. Perhaps, they would not be in power if they were not the wrong people. Many a time, people question as to what can be done, to improve the situation and root out corruption. To this Carlyle replied; ''Make Yourself an honest man and then you may be sure that there is one less rascal in the world.''

There is no doubt that a straight line is the shortest both in morals in geometry. It is also important for our rulers to realise that people are fashioned according to the examples they see. Laws, rules and edicts are less powerful, than the models, which our leaders exhibit. It is a matter of dishonour, ignominy and infamy to be branded as the 90th most corrupt country in the world. The onus for this situation, as well as rectifying it falls on our leaders, who need not be reminded that example is the school of mankind and they would not learn at any other. Said Cicero, ''Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is infected by the licentious passions, and vices of great men, so it is likewise reformed by their moderation''.

PTI Feature

TALES OF TRAVESTY
Train to Udhampur

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

For the common Indian pop-ulace, railway train has tra-ditionally stood as a mystic symbol of journey speed, progress, inevitable march of times and ofcourse long-distance travel accompanied by the inherent nuances of joy or sorrow, happiness or tragedy, separation or union. Remember --- even Sarat Chandra could not resist resorting to symbolism of intersecting railway tracks when a disillusioned "Devdas", approaching his inevitable end, travels aimlessly across the subcontinent fatally drowning himself in liquor in the loneliness of a railway compartment as the train speeds past Calcutta, Kanpur, Delhi, Lahore, Madras and so on. Khushwant Singh used the narrative of "Train to Pakistan" to bring home the tragedy of partition marked by death, destruction, homelessness and separation from loved ones.

The news of the train arriving in Udhampur therefore carries connotations beyond the comprehension of the written word as it means different things to different people, several things to several people and diverse things to diverse people. Indeed, for this momentous occasion, Udhampur has waited too long ever since the first train to neighbouring Jammu arrived way back in 1972. Incidentally, when this columnist undertook a train journey from Chennai to Jammu in December 1972 and asked for a Jammu ticket at New Delhi Railway Station, the Railway authorities confessed that they were yet to procure a ticket with the Jammu Tawi print and therefore the last leg of journey to Jammu was accomplished using a Pathankot ticket. These and related hassles are expected as teething problems when a new service is introduced and are likely to be confronted in the initial months of rail journey to Udhampur. This should however not come in the way of Udhampur occupying its place of pride in the rail map of India and thus becoming a beneficiary of one of the most precious gifts in the form of an extensive rail network left behind by an otherwise unflattering British legacy.

In the present strife-torn times, nonetheless, even though extension of railway link to hitherto unlinked areas heralds more business, more employment and more economy, it also simultaneously throws open dark areas with potential for more militancy, more violence and more crime. The present rail-head at Jammu is already a target of recurrent bomb blasts, suicide attacks and other militancy related incidents. Udhampur too would have to guard against this new menace and while the security agencies would have to be more vigilant, it is primarily the common citizen who is to be more alert, cautious and security-conscious.

One may hasten to add, meanwhile, that the work on railway line needs to be seriously expedited or else at the existing pace, if Jammu to Udhampur has taken over 30 years, Udhampur to Srinagar may take another 100 years. The common refrain is that one of the easiest ways to ensure introduction of new trains and new railway links in any particular region is to get the local MP inducted in the Union Cabinet as Minister for Railways. Surely, this could be a cue for the aspiring MPs from the State.

The evergreen, ever-moving matinee idol Dev Anand is never tired of recalling that the turning point in his life was his decision in early 1940s to board the then famous "Frontier Mail" from Lahore with a firm resolve to reach Mumbai and seek a film career there. For the common man, a train journey to any destination as also to Udhampur could symbolise realisation of certain dreams as much as shattering of certain dreams. For Umapathy, a train siren sounds the destiny call for onward march even if it be all alone, a La Rabindranath Tagore "Jadi Tor Dak Shune Ken Na Aachhe, Tope Ekla Chalo ----" (If nobody responds to your call to join the onward march ---- then march alone but keep marching still).