A CORRUPT SOCIETY WITH CORRUPT INDIVIDUALS TRYING TO FIGHT CORRUPTION BRINGS ABOUT MORE CORRUPTION.

You cannot expect corrupt and characterless individuals to work for eradication of corruption. A characterless or corrupt leader cannot and will not promote people of character and conviction and most likely they promote weak and characterless people and assign them important responsibilities.

Let us consider some common examples here. In India, we are very familiar with corruption in the Road Transport Authority (RTA) offices, in the Police Department and probably in all government offices dealing with the general public. The registration department, the lower judiciary and the like are all in this category and any one who attempt to do any thing anytime concerning these departments will immediately know how deep routed is this malady in our country. In India, we know this and that is the Indian way of life. No escape !

You cannot get a driving licence issued in the normal way, because such normal way systems are hidden from the public. But if you are ready to spend some excess amount over and above the fee prescribed by the law, then you can get the license within no time. You can even get the license without even undergoing the driving test! In 99% of the RTA offices, this is the situation. Of course there could be some exceptions here and there.

Have you ever analysed the reason for this ? Why such a thing is uncommon in the developed nations?

Let us try to analyse this situation. Corruption here starts from the officers of the government authorized to issue the licenses. Say the Inspectors and the Issuing Authorities, called the Regional Transport Authorities. Some officers are responsible for examining the individuals and check their driving competencies and then issue the licenses, only when they are convinced that the individual has the required proficiency in driving. The assessment here is not based on any quantifiable inputs, but on the basis on the true conviction of the assessment officer on the basis of his witnessing the driving test physically demonstrated before him. The officer can also ask questions about road safety rules and things like that.

But what happens here is that most officers do not venture for such a thing now. In some states, like in Kerala, the officers are stricter and conduct the assessment in a stricter way and in some other states like Madhya Pradesh, the checking is just a cursory one.

Now you can see that the issue of license is based on qualitative assessment of the assessment officer. The assessment officer is free to decide on the issue any way he likes. He is free to be whimsical or he is free to be just and strict. It is purely up to him.

In such a scenario, what happens? If he is going to be just and strict, it causes some hurdle to me and you to get the license. We have to really learn driving and its rules. In that case, the drivers on the roads will be people with real competency the roads would be much safer and disciplined. The real purpose of issuing license for driving would have been met.

Now, if we are characterless people, we try to circumvent the situation and would try getting the license, the easier way. That is by luring the assessment officer for easing his strictness. So we are ready to bribe that officer and the officer is ready to get bribed and oblige!

So within no time, the licensing office becomes a collection center for illegal money.

The RTA officers and staff now have an opportunity to make an extra income in liquid cash, not accounted any where. The amount varies from person to person and location to location. In some places, the persons concerned makes easy money many times more than their monthly salaries. Now these officers are vested with many other such powers, where whimsical decision making is possible and consequently, opportunity for making illegal cash through bribes.

The RTA officers and staff have become collection agents for black money. The story is not ending here.

They have to shell out the ill gotten money to their superiors, at least some portion of it. Otherwise they will get transferred to some remote areas where the opportunity for making such money is less or shunted out to some posts where there is no scope for making such monies.

So from the lower collection centers and individuals the higher authorities get the share, all in black. From the lower government employees the money flows. The political bigwigs then fight for getting 'important' portfolios in the ministries. The 'importance' here comes from the opportunity for making big cash.

Who is corrupt here ? Who is to be blamed?

I say, it is we the public. We are those small payers from whom the big black money gets generated.

If we decide to get our licenses in the normal way and decides not to pay those extra small sums to ease out our one time difficulties, this corruption could have been eliminated.

But one or two individuals in public cannot do it. There has to be a majority conviction for that. The majority in the public should have character and conviction!

If that is not feasible, then the officers of the RTA has to be people of character, conviction and competency.

That can happen only when the authorities above them have the same qualities.

That too seems difficult now.

So, a characterless society with characterless people cannot eradicate corruption !

If the majority of the individuals in the society or country are weak and characterless, they are are likely to be corrupt either actively or passively.

In such societies corruption will be an inherent phenomenon.

Any attempt of fighting corruption by such a society is bound to enhance the penetration and effects of corruption and make the situation worse and worse!

Source: BewareIndia Website

Anna Hazare and the Rest of India !

Anna Hazare, the ex-indian military jawan and now an ascetic and crusader against social evils, hailing from a little known hamlet of the Indian state of Maharashtra has been getting attention of the media and the people for quite some time, except perhaps the arrogant politicians and the bureaucrats. 

For quite some time the Indian politicians have been confident in their power to gather mobs and crowds for any purpose connected to show off their popularity. They knew very well how they did it. They had the party workers on their rolls . At a short notice they were capable of getting a crowd for meetings, bandhs, processions and what not. They pretty knew very well how much money it costed. No one ever did any thing without any 'fayada' or benefit for self.

To get into politics and become a leader of some say, you need popularity. And popularity cannot come overnight. You have to do many good and bad things and act and over act to gain popularity. Politics therefore is not something the good people can try out. Over the years, the Indian political scene has evolved certain theories of its own.

To remain in politics you have to keep your popularity intact. To keep the popularity intact, you need money. Money in real hard cash to buy out the people who helped in showing off the 'popularity'. Now from where does such huge money comes from. That money has to be made from the power and authority that is gained through playing politics. 

To win an election huge amounts of money is needed especially to gain popularity . Why any one should spend millions of rupees to get elected as an MP or MLA unless there is a potential for recovering much more than he or she had spend initially?

The rule books do not allow you to recover your money. That has to be done by covert methods. All those covert methods in which authority is used to amass money for personal coffers is called corruption.

Practising corruption has its own risks. To overcome the risks you need more money and perhaps more power. Thus a vicious circle developed over the years in India. Corruption causing more and more corruption. Half hearted efforts to hoodwink the common man lead to more corruption.

For the public, there was no option. No options to come out of it. Only option left was to be in it. The candidates of the political parties they knew would do no good for them. But yet they had to elect and select from the list available to them. Even when over two-third did not vote, some one would win. To be called their democratically elected representative!

Indians fumed and cursed their fate. Those in power teased and ridiculed them. With total disregard to their feelings and with impunity.

So when Anna and his team declared their intentions to initiate a peaceful protest against corruption, those in power never imagined that the people would ever dare to come out of their homes braving the odds. Anna and those with him knew that those in power are capable of unleashing violence over them with the help of those 'custodians of the law'.  

But the 'August Kranti 2011' of India taking place after 64 years after the successful independence struggle of 1947 under Mahatma Gandhi, surprised all, including Hazare himself. He would have never imagined that the Indian public would show such a solidarity and support !

Each passing day after Anna began his 'Anshan' or fasting, those in power naturally thought that he would give up in one or two days. At least that was what the neo politicians all thought about 'satyagraha'. They could perhaps never ever assess the strength of the will of an ascetic!

So Anna Hazare showed that strength to all- to his enemies and to his supporters at the same time.

Even the most stone-hearted thug also would have a second thought by seeing the feelings of the people and the determination of a simple man like this.

But the grave inaction of those in the government preaching Gandhism gave surprised even those who have not taken any sides.

Such is the greed for clinging on to power and the pleasure of lynching the millions who had no direct  power!

Now India has Anna at the centre with powerful and powerless Indians at both ends! 

But Anna Hazare also has a human mind with its weaknesses and strengths. There is no guarantee that those weaknesses would some day overtake his strengths. It has happened with many in the past.

Let us watch and see.

[For More reading on corruption in India visit the BewareIndia Website]

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