India is a vibrant democratic country, with freedom to talk, write, demonstrate and agitate against the governments and systems. Our system has an independent judiciary that protects us even if the administration violates any of our rights, strictly apolitical armed forces that will never come out and crush our candle light marches; and a vibrant media that can afford to go hammer and tong against government in power, 24×7. India has adopted an open society, unlike some of our neighbours, though we do not credit our politicians for making that possible.

It is not to say that India does not have any negatives. We have our share of negatives as well. Corruption at all levels of the society has been the most rampant and of immediate concern, among the negatives.

The media and increasing aspirations of people are contributing to demands for higher standards from Governments. Some of the very vocal segments of the Civil Society have now rallied against corruption, under the banner of Team Anna. Team Anna is projecting Jan Lokpal as the one cure for all the illnesses of our country and its governance.

Lokpal and Corruption

But, is Lokpal a panacea for all the ills of the Nation? After all, a Lokpal is only an Ombudsman with wider powers. It cannot eliminate corruption. At the best it can only put the fear of retribution in the mind of corrupt. Even that is limited because in any corrupt deal, unlike other crimes, both the parties are willingly participating, and therefore chances of complaints or production of evidences are limited. A bribe giver is not likely to complain against a bribe taker.

Alternate Agenda

Corruption can only be eliminated by removing the opportunities and need for it. Let us look at the options that are readily available for us to make a positive change in our affairs, including elimination of corruption at the source itself.

1. Right to Reject Candidates

The urban voters often complain about the lack of quality among the candidates as the reason for their loss of faith in electoral politics. The best way to eliminate such issues is to make the right to reject all candidates as one of the voting options. This will make us more responsible towards elections and our representatives, more credible. Also, this will make political parties more vigilant while choosing their candidates for elections.

2. Decriminalisation of Politics

The Representation of People Act needs changes to reduce criminalisation of our legislative bodies. Once convicted in a criminal case, a person must be barred from contesting elections, irrespective of the status of any appeal.

3. All India Judicial Service

Independent and corruption free judiciary is the cornerstone of rule of law. While Indian Judiciary has by and large remained so, recently some unfortunate tendencies seem to have crept into this system as well. It is very important that the integrity of Judges is maintained beyond all doubts.

It would be advisable to have a dedicated cadre for judges, by selecting them on the basis of merits at a very young age (before being corrupted by worldly practices) and training them to become successful judges, in the similar manner as other All India Services. They can start their profession in the lower courts and get promoted up to Supreme Court, based on performance merits.

Such a service will eliminate the need to appoint practising lawyers as judges, reducing the likelihood of any influence by their clients or colleagues from erstwhile practise. It will also free them from getting exposed to illegal deals and violations of law, while in practice. I am not suggesting that all the lawyers appointed as judges are corrupt, but merely pointing out the need to eliminate the risk of at least some of them being influenced.

4. Judicial Accountability

Independence of Judiciary is one of the Basic Features of Indian Constitution. However, there is a need to balance this independence with accountability. In democracy, every public authority must be accountable to people. While judiciary is an exception to this general rule, that exception cannot result in a situation of ‘no accountability at all’.

The challenge of ensuring accountability of Judiciary, while maintaining its independence has been a concern. The Judicial Conduct and Accountability Bill, now under consideration, must be made an effective law at the earliest, to ensure this objective.

5. Right to Service

Another area that needs urgent reform is the people’s right to get timely service from government agencies. Lack accountability for the government officials, to provide timely services, is a cause for corruption. Since the officer is not required to complete work within a given time, he can keep it pending till his hands are greased.

Kerala has taken the lead in this regard and is in the process of bringing a law to guarantee right to services. Time limits will be set for each service and the officers made accountable for any deviations. This must be introduced in an all India level by passing necessary laws.

6. Strengthening RTI and Protection to Whistle Blowers

RTI Act is a revolutionary legislation that changed Indian administrative landscape forever. However, the Act has exposed the safety of activists to the threats from vested interests, whose nefarious activities get exposed through RTI. Adequate measures must be incorporated to ensure protection to the RTI users.

Same is the case with whistleblowers. We need adequate measures to ensure protection of those individuals who are willing to take the risk of exposing corruption because most corruption cases will never get exposed, unless someone blows the whistle.

7. Operational Freedom to CBI and CVC

It is not as if we do not have institution to fight corruption. CBI and CVC are among various such institutions. However, in the absence of adequate awareness and public vigilance, these institutions have become mere sidekicks of the Governments.

The balance between accountability and operational freedom must be institutionalised for all the investigative agencies, rather than creating new layers.

8. Redressal of Public Grievances

The lack of effective machinery for Redressal of the public grievances is quite evident in most parts of our country. Be it the demand for Telengana, or against land acquisition, or even for Jan Lokpal – what is apparent is the lack of expertise and cohesive strategy to deal with the public grievances.

The inefficient dealings of these grievances are aggravating the situation to an extent that the governments are losing their credibility and goodwill among the people, which is not good for a healthy democracy.

9. Administrative Reforms through induction of Technology

Constant efforts must be made to modernise the administration by resorting to technology as an effective partner. MCA and IT Department are examples for technology and automation makes departments less corrupt and user friendly.

Automation of processes, reductions of necessity for face to face meetings between officials and beneficiaries, better data creation and management on beneficiaries etc, are some of the practical steps that can be immediately ensured. These processes will ensure the reduction of discretionary powers of officials, thereby reducing avenues for corruption.

10. Value Education and Change of Attitudes

No change in the system will be effective, unless we, the people, are willing to change our attitudes. Unfortunately, most of us do not consider paying bribe as wrong. They justify those bribes in the name of ‘compulsions’ though many a time these bribes are paid for very little comforts or advantages over fellow citizens!

If we need a new India, this attitude must change. The attitude of Saint I (Please read this poem, as I can’t demonstrate this attitude any better) among new Indians will be a great hindrance in any reforms. We must admit that the bribe givers and the bribe takers are both from our own society. The admission and recognition of how we contribute to the corruption is the first step towards any change. Our education must include human values. While ensuring the economic development through inclusive growth, we must also ensure the moral health of our people through value education.

Conclusion

While admitting the need for an Ombudsman (Lokpal) to check corruption at the highest levels of our polity, we must recognise the fact that an Ombudsman is only one more level of oversight. Only continuous reforms at the very operational level to ensure elimination of avenues for corruption can ultimately reduce corruption.

(Image courtesy: svilen001 from sxc.hu)