CORRUPTION : THE BANE OF EMERGING INDIA

Recording these stray thoughts on the despised profession of corruption has the basis and inspiration from a recent news clipping in one of the local TV channels, wherein, the former President of India, Dr.Abdul Kalam (despite his demiting the office of the presidentship , he continues to be the People's President of India) was shown interacting with school children in a school function. He was shown lending a piece of advice to the children to take individual and collective vows to root out corruption totally from the country. He was a worried man that corruption is impeding the growth of the country. He wanted the children to learn to be honest in life. He is no doubt a visionary.

Dr.Kalam new well that his message would go down into minds of the students, who form a sizable chunk in the India population - one survey says that the youth group in India occupies nearly 50 percent of the Indian population. This important group, Dr.Kalam believes, will cetainly produce right leadership for making India an econmic power. Therefore, it is apt that the People's President has endevoured to reach this targetted group through his message.

While on the subject, I recall how Shiv Khera, the notable and successful Management expert recorded valuable information in his book FREEDOM IS NOT FREE about the level of corruption prevailing in India and his sincere arguments about rooting out corruption from the country. Relying on an authentic report published by the Swiss Government, Shiv Khera says that Indian money worth 2500 billion dollars have been stashed away from the country unaccounted by faceless persons of Indian origin and such money found safe deposits in the Swiss bank.

In the same vein, Shive Khera depicts another scenario to drive home his point of view. An average middle class Indian, if he/she is to secure a medical assistance in a Government hospital, for instance, has to shell out a considerable amout from his savings to grease the palms of the powers that be, even to secure a semblence of medical treatment. Is this the ethical culture and the so called shining ways of India, he asks. By greasing the palms of the greedy, are we becoming partners of crime? In other words, the author asks:"Are we victims of corruption or perpetrators of corruption ?" Shiv Khera argues that that no one wants to bribe others on his own volition. Since the system itself has placed a demand on average Indians that even their basic needs themselves would be served only by bribing the service provider and persons in the corridors of power, the person giving the bribe is definitely a victim of corruption and not perpetrator of corruption.

What is the answer to this cancerous growth of corruption in public India? On the one side, our soldier brothers are struggling all through their lives in inconvenient and inhospitable border terrains to protect the country's territories and the prestige of the country. On the other side, the country has been caught in the vicious circle of rampant corruption. What happens if our soldiers refuse to perform duty even for a few hours. We forget that THEY ARE SACRIFYING THEIR TODAY FOR OUR PROSPEROUS TOMORROW. We have forgotten to keep the nation first in our quest for material wealth.

The psychology of the urge to commit the crime of corruption is greediness and one of avariciousness. A land that boasts of following a well developed ancient civilization, which places spiritualism and 'Dharma' over materialistic interests, has been showing trends of running after material wealth and the corrupt leave no stone unturned to achieve such wealth wherever and whatever way it comes from. Centuries old nurtured values and ethics have become the first casualty in the hands of these greedy leaches, who have made corruption a way of life.

No doubt the culture of corruption is world wide phenomenon.. Had it not been the case, wealth of literature would not have been created about the issue of corruption world over. Shakespeare's phrase 'the art of glib and oiling' finds enough practice in India. In Arthur Miller's (renowned American dramatist) book 'All my sons", the protogonist piolet son of a wealthy businessman, trading in aeroplane spare parts to the American Airforce, commits suicide by crashing his plane against a mountain - not because he was unhappy about his life, but because he could not bear the fact that his father had been selling quality-less and third rate spare parts to the American Air Force which led to innumerable deaths of American soldiers and the nation's prestige.
Gatsby, the protogonist in Scot Fitzeralds novel "Great Gatsby" engages in illicit brewing of liquor to achieve not only success and to become rich, but also to relive his past and to regain his lost love towards a young women. But he suffers not only from his failed love episode but also from the committing of the crime of becoming rich through illegal means.

In the Indian scenario, Nand Kumar's case is a case in point. Warren Hastings, the then Viceroy during the British Raj, was forced to face the punishment for his alleged bribe taking activities.
That shows the level of judiciary then and its concomittant role in rendering justice. Despite the prevalence of innumerable agencies to arrest the menace of corruption in India, those engage in the art and science of corruption continue to strike gold. While every bit of crime investigation in India engages such tests like Lie Detector test, Narco analysis, etc., no one seems to be giving loud thinking for applying such tests to the breed of executives and politicians who engage in corruption.

Luckily for the country, modern Indian corporates make it a point to include the concept and practice of wealth creation through legal and ethical ways, as their corporate philosopy and goal. Infosys Technologies Limited, a reputed trans-world corporate body, engaged in providing allied IT services world over, has incorporated the concept and goal of wealth creation through legal and ethical means, as their main Corporate policy.

Incidentally, in the context, while there are a number of social orgnizations in India fighting for the cause of rooting out corruption in public life, one small organization in Vellore,a small town in Tamilnadu, India, has received the attention of this Blogger. Named "Oozhal Ozhippu Iyakkam" in Tamil language (which means, a movement for destroying corruption), this Organization does excellent service in the fight against corruption and thus does a service to the nation. The number of current members in the Organization is hardly five or six only. To become a member in the Organization, the aspiring persons should have caught hold of, at least one bribe taker and should have brought such bribe taker before the police authorities for prosecution. As things stand, no one dares coming forward to catch bribe takers red- handed and to face future consequences of threats of death to their life from the associates and hired goondas of such corrupt persons. Dr Valluvan, a qualified medical practitioner does a commendable service in the Orgnization in assocaiton with one Mr.Gandhi of the said Organization in the fight against corruption. This orgnization deserves all encouragement and support from the Governement of India.

The case of the atrocious killing of Sathyendra Dubey, an honest, intelligent Engineer in National Highways Department of India and a whistle-blower, who exposed the rampant corruption in the National Highways Department should be an eye-opener to every law abiding citizens of India.

Therefore, this Blogger makes an earnest prayer that we unitedly come forward to convert Dr.Klam's message into positive action and help make India a major economic power and a corruption free country... Jay Hind.

Too much blogging, eh............Bye until next time, from Chandru.