Economics of corruption

Shiban Khaibri
Actually the theme would look incoherent unless it had the docket of ” and Corruption of Economics”. Not daring to venture into the abstract technicalities of the subject but attempting to put forth views in common man’s parlance, the question earned more relevance following the daring and much needed decision of the economic reform of demonetization and the much repeated hullabaloo of Cash transactions suffered, small and tiny business suffered jolts and the usual “find” of the opposition Parties – the Kissan had not as much cash with him so as to purchase seeds …like rhetoric was vociferously articulated to trivialise the move and spread disenchantment against the government as the “concerned” feared that similar reforms might affect their political fortunes in many ways. However, the tirade against the move which otherwise was hailed even by the top economists of the world like Nobel laureate Richard Thaler known for his contribution in the field of behavioural economics who said, “a policy I have long supported” but was equally critical on introducing currency notes of the denomination of Rs.2000 . Back home, Raghuram Rajan, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India had opposed the move and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh reacted with more of compulsive politics than simple economics by calling it as “an organised loot”.
However, the move of demonetization , though vehemently opposed much more than the Land acquisition Bill, the political criticism cut very little ice with the public who not only want more of such moves but are so much desperate that they are indignantly wanting some divine intervention to ensure denouement of corruption, amassing of assets disproportionate to known sources of income by corrupt people mostly some politicians and some bureaucrats and loot of public money in various forms. Just an instance which could serve as only a tip of an iceberg , from our own State of Jammu and Kashmir, Governor Satya Pal Malik has very recently pooh poohed rather lamented about the scourge of corruption being to this extent that the same having resulted in the life style of the corrupt politicians and others to be just like emperors and Kings .If an impartial, high powered and fully autonomous professionally talented inquiry commission was set up to inquire into the sources of raising mansions, bungalows and amassing of other assets by such corrupt people, political leaders , bureaucrats and influential people , the findings will be startling and appearing nothing less than a fiction .
Those great national leaders who thought nothing except India, those freedom struggle heroes who smilingly kissed the hangman’s noose for this country, never ever imagined that corruption could render their supreme sacrifices as pitiably pyrrhic. They could never imagine that a Prime minister with more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha could openly but helplessly lament that only 25 paise reached the intended target of the population from out of each Rupee spent on welfare schemes . He could have tightened the noose around such unscrupulous elements that ate away 75 paise from out of each Rupee of the public money spent. He did not take any action simply because he could not afford to take any risk in respect of loss of votes on account of hundreds of thousands of corrupt elements present very firmly in the system.
He has been proved right after so many years in the same country just by a small experiment though symbolic but speaking a lot about all these empty truisms like honesty, transparency, accountability, fairness etc and that is the recent election results of the state assemblies of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh , Karnataka etc having amply proved that Rajiv Gandhi was right and Narendra Modi is wrong as the latter did not follow the dictum of “Do not trouble the trouble unless the trouble did not trouble your poll prospects”. So the issue of corruption was left to get fattened and deeper in every sphere of activities right from political circles down to the lowest Sarkari Karinda until the arrival of Modi Ji on the political scene as the Prime Minister in 2014.
It is another thing that Narendra Modi did not want to “learn” from the great Indira Gandhi in not touching “touch me not’ issues like demonetization, GST etc not because that great Indian leader did not know their far reaching gains to the economy and the country but her million Dollar question “Arey hamain election kya nahin ladna hai?” was perhaps most important. In the same way , her illustrious son Late Rajiv Gandhi though publicly admitted about only one fourth part of each Rupee was reaching the targeted groups from the government funds (read) public funds, still he allowed things not to get disturbed as millions were sustaining on that commission or that conventional Nazrana, Mehantana and Shukrana which the “Radicals or the Extremists” call corruption. You take them out from the system and in addition to getting routed in elections , you have to rehabilitate them by providing jobs or other means of livelihood. The choice is yours as a shrewd politician , either allow the system go on undisturbed or face the gigantic task of rehabilitating the ousted ones failing which you lose elections.
Now another form of corruption , though not coming under any provisions of the Indian Penal Code is the “promise” of “Kissan Ka Saara Qarza Muaf”. This has become now an inalienable part of the preface , prelude , contents and the concluding words of the election manifestoes without touching economic basis , the source of massive revenues and funds to be in a position of actually doing “Kissan Ka Saara Qarza Muaf ” and that too in just 10 days and repeatedly confirming 10 and not within 11 days even. Those in charge of such states must have been on the hunt as to where was the treasure of so much riches buried that only the “promiser “knew about them and not they .
Can there be any other country among the developing ones in the world where the Kissan is used so much politically not to ameliorate his lot by finding out lasting solution to his problems and distress but to score political points and jeer and mock Governments in power for not waiving farmers’ loans . Why should a loan taken be waived? Whose money is being repaid on behalf of the borrower farmer and at what cost? How can the Banking mechanism function and the loss of their profits compensated which they would have earned had the said loans lasted the full tenor ? Last but not the least, why is waiving of loans now seemingly becoming an inseparable part of the advances made to the agricultural sector and why should not the small and marginal borrowers having taken loans falling under other priority sectors not demand similar waiving of their loans which include Government sponsored various schemes running into thousands of crores of Rupees. Where shall this vicious cycle generated for pure political reasons stop ?
Only an able leader of the masses knows that corruption , corrupt practices, fake LPG connections, fake Aadhar and other cards, fictitious companies, Benami properties, money laundering , non payment of taxes and national wastages , delayed decisions taking, policy paralysis etc are in one form or the other instances of corruption in themselves or were generating corruption on a massive scale which delayed and damaged development due to which the entire society suffered. Ill gotten or corruption money generated in the system resulted in the shadow economy which adversely affected sustained economic development, ethical values, the rule of law and justice and facilitated drug trafficking, human trafficking , money laundering , evasion of taxes on a very large base and thus denying the state its due share of revenue.
Let petty political considerations not encourage corruption in one way or the other which would land at nothing less than pursuing an Economics of corruption and then corrupting of Economics as both are correlated. India needs to declare a concerted war against it by means of even pieces of legislation which should not be attacked to gain political short term gains . This time, the country is moving fast as a growing economy racing to fight poverty and bringing down more numbers from the existing poverty levels . We, as responsible citizens have to realise it and support every move that strengthens India.
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