Corruption and bribery are two different evils eating into the vitals of our society. But we are not the only victims. It is a new phenomenon thrown up by drastic social change that has occurred in post-cold war era. Corruption has many facets, not one, and as such, it may not be uniform all over the globe. We generally say that corruption has to be fought against. It means that corruption is entrenched so deep that it cannot be eradicated easily.
Our country is one that is badly afflicted by this evil. Ours may not be the most corrupt country in the world, but certainly she has fallen in the category of corrupt countries in the world. It has done us great disservice and brought us shame. For too long a time in history, India was known to be the upholder of high moral and ethical values. Our scriptures and our mythology all converge on the pontification that a high ethical and moral standard has to be maintained at all costs. Our sages, seers and savants, who usually become roll model for the people, preferred to live the lives of ascetics and recluses in forest recesses and far from the maddening crowds. They tried to reduce their liking for material affluence and concentrated on spiritual emancipation of the soul. That phenomenon has passed and we could not preserve that legacy. The reason is the march of times and changing world.
Recently, the President held e-conference with Central universities and institutions. He was interacting with them on the question of corruption in democratic society. By and large, an administration that is run without corruption is good governance. Who comprises the Government and who dispenses good governance? After all it is the human stuff that is involved. And about human stuff, it is erroneous to think that human stuff is without evil or that it can do no evil because it is angelic. This is a wrong presumption. Human beings have to be accepted on the basis of their inherent nature. The great political scientist Hobbs said that man is essentially brute and selfish. Ancient Indian thinkers and philosophers believed that it is possible to tame the brute and the animal in our nature through penance, introspection and training. Thus struggle against corruption also means long struggle against the evil within.
Democracy may not be the best form of Government but certainly it is considered the best form of Government known to us so far. There are critics and historians who distinguish the British or American democracy from democracies elsewhere in the world. We should not pay undue importance to desk book interpretation of democracy. Since in simplest words democracy is the rule of the people and not something like superimposition, people’s representatives make only those laws that are presumed to be in the interests of larger number of people. That is the first stage of good governance. Secondly, since democracy gives full freedom to the opposition party or parties, what may seem to be good in the eyes of the ruling authority may not necessarily be good governance in the opinion of the opposition? Democracy allows space for opposition and divergence of view but democracy also provides the solution in the majority formula. In good democracies, whatever is decided by the majority of electorate is the good of the people and the opposition of reluctant parties cannot carry the day. Democracy, therefore, is the art of converging opinions and this has to be respected.
It is a moot question whether good morals and ethics can be inculcated among the people only through intensive indoctrination and persistent education? We are not sure that this proposition will surely work. The change is inevitable but it has to come through education and not through doling out lectures on morals and ethics. Therefore, the first important instrument that can succeed in stonewalling corruption in a society is of educating its members and spreading the light of knowledge.
We greatly value the suggestions of the President which he gave to the educationists in the country, but he did not touch on the crucial subject of accountability. The laws are complex as the President said and more often than not, cases of corruption are ultimately lost in the vast sands of law. What we need is a mechanism that makes accountability procedures very effective and result oriented. Complex laws have to be modified and made compatible with ground situation. Anna Hazare movement was essentially a movement asking for simplification of laws so that accountability is bestowed teeth. For more than two years, civil society demanded drastic change in the framework of accountability. It is the Government of the time that did not understand the turbulent spirit of the Indian nation over corruption. Accountability has to be enforced vigorously if we seriously mean to challenge corruption.
As Indian State locked horns with the evil of corruption, some commentators began reflecting on democracy as the political arrangement. Some suggested shift to Presidential form of Government and others opined for restricted democracy. The fact is that democracy is in reality a way of life and a way of living in a social set up and conducting individual and collective affairs. Democracy is beautiful though of course at times it is noisy, said the President. This is the real truth of Indian democracy. We need not get agitated over people’s representatives making noise in the Parliament on issues of national interest. It is precisely the popular way of the battle of ideas.
We fully agree with the President’s opinion that there is no need of multiplying the institutions and mechanisms of countering corruption in the country. We have the institutions and we have the laws. We also have the requisite wherewithal to fight and destroy corruption. The question is of using the instrumentality that is at our disposal. It is in this area that we are far behind. In other words we need to lay proper emphasis on accountability. The manner in which the UPA Government handled anti-corruption movement is a strong proof that there is still some discrepancy in Government’s conviction that in the process of uprooting corruption in Indian polity, it is important to rise above party interests and come out of the framework of favour and favouritism.
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