(please visit the following link to see my article on the same subject that was published in the March 20, 2011 issue of the Organiser weekly http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=389&page=24
and http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=398&page=44 )
Let us begin this discussion with an honest admission that we all are corrupt. Let us rise above the level of the blame game in which we invariably engage ourselves if we really want to leash this menace. Believe me, if you are picked up for scrutiny under income tax act, you will never be able to convince them that you never violated any rule unless they are paid for that. If you are under police custody for any reason it will be impossible to plead your innocence without paying bribe. No business can survive in India if all applicable taxes are paid faithfully. None of us will be able to explain/remember each entry in his/her passbook for a period spanning last three years if entries run in thousands. There is no way that one can avoid corruption in India. We must finally admit that it is just impossible to escape corruption in this country and one can only set an acceptable limit for oneself.
Let us try to understand the cause of the existence of corruption and the reasons for its growing acceptability. Let us also try to measure its multi-dimensional spread while admitting its exponential increase in our bid to overpower this bull by catching it with its horns. Let us try to find a way out from this desperate situation.
Hope lies in the conclusion that this state of hopelessness is actually forced one on us. Rules have purposefully been framed with an intention to keep a handle of possibility to prove anybody corrupt despite all his/her sincere efforts. The conspiracy is to make everybody feel vulnerable so that they do not have the courage to raise voice against corruption. It seems we have not changed after becoming independent. We somehow still live in a situation similar to the pre-independence era. The government still identifies itself with the ruler-class and engages itself in enacting rules that simply can never be abided by if one tries to follow all the applicable fine prints. These rules only help them in providing teeth to bite the commoners and get away with any corruption in return. On the other hand we too posses no respect for the rules, the attitude that we used to carry proudly before independence, as we still think that government is an entity separate from us and most of the times works against our welfare. With this sense we feel committing no wrong while draining out the government funds. Another factor that hugely contributes to the unlimited rise of corruption is the absence of social security to the citizens. While high end corruption is driven primarily with an urge for acquiring luxury, the seeds of low scale corruption are generally sown with the social insecurity prevailing everywhere in our country. Many of us fall prey to corruption in our resolve to secure future for all the future family members.
Instead of raising the acceptable limits of corruption by each passing day, let us resolve to wipe out corruption from our attitude itself. For this let us urge the government first to make rules with an intention to make all of us feel that we all are living in an independent country where we are not merely stakeholders but also part of the policy makers. Let us have simple rules to follow. Let us follow 5% tax rule on all our expenditures. Let us abolish all tax saving schemes. Let the government start a decent social security scheme. Let us also end the era of cash transactions. These efforts should be followed by a zero-tolerance regime for all kinds of corruption as we are left with no soft options now. We must feel the importance of independence and confront this menace of corruption by declaring a war against it or otherwise this has a potential to wipe-out our independence.
