Since our last post on corruption over a couple of years ago, it was thought there would be no further debates – and no blogs – on bribery and corruption, since the country is getting through a period of renaissance. The hopes were based on solid facts. Several events of significance that took the country by storm surprised everyone. People looked serious: Corruption is an evil practice, it must go.
The most memorable of them are: Anna’s hunger strike, uproars of the civil society, the upheavals by the common man (Aam Aadmi), the lamenting headlines of the newspapers, the unrelenting crusade of the electronic media and of course the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party headed by Kejriwal. It looked, the curse of corruption is on the wane, but then we are thick skinned people. Notwithstanding all the slogans and agitations, the society stood firm in its values and attitudes! Money power is still the ruling deity – the god of gods! How can it be forsaken? There is absolutely no change in the net result. Black money remained black, but now looked more beautiful, more attractive.
A society that respects money – whether ill-gotten or otherwise – will hardly forsake its deity. Now tell me, why will a person getting a milking cow by paying bribe through his nose, would agree to surrender the cow? It proved that our attitude and values do not change easily. The ultimate result of all these developments had little effect and soon we were back to square one again. With passage of time and the proverbial short memory of the people in general, the agitation lost the steam it generated. A major reason could be the belief: Do whatever you can, corruption will never go away from our system. Our people are very tolerant, very docile, very compromising – they know the trick of survival in the most trying situations. They know, breaking one’s head on corruption will hardly bring about any change. It would, no doubt, create some storm, but they know, it will pass on, and it will remain the same – status quo.
Corruption is indeed back with a vengeance. Those who are vulnerable to detection have raised their ‘rates’ on the perceived high ‘risk’ factor. Black money generation has got a boost. Banking channels outside the country continue to remain popular. If the country’s banks can’t provide the right ‘service’ here, what is the harm in keeping the black money stored abroad?
Corruption is indeed back with a vengeance. Those who are vulnerable to detection have raised their ‘rates’ on the perceived high ‘risk’ factor. Black money generation has got a boost. Banking channels outside the country continue to remain popular. If the country’s banks can’t provide the right ‘service’ here, what is the harm in keeping the black money stored abroad?
The moot question is: why no progress on this score despite so much of hullaballoo? No social scientist worth his name could come up with a perfect answer. Some believe that those who have tasted the blood (of easy-money) will hardly agree for a change of heart. It costs. And, why give up when you can buy the entire system with ease? to your In fact, corruption has pervaded every social and business life that it is well neigh difficult to imagine a system where there is no money-transaction below the table. Strange!
That reminds me a cartoon I saw almost three decades back. An office peon enters the cabin of a senior officer with heap of currency notes in a tray when the latter stoops down and extends his hand from under the table to accept them: and the peon explains ‘No Sir, No. This is your salary only.’
The situation is no better today.
That reminds me a cartoon I saw almost three decades back. An office peon enters the cabin of a senior officer with heap of currency notes in a tray when the latter stoops down and extends his hand from under the table to accept them: and the peon explains ‘No Sir, No. This is your salary only.’
The situation is no better today.
