Corruption Hope You Are Vanquished

With the government having passed a resolution accepting the three points raised by the Anna Hazare Team and thus having ended the public display of strength by Anna Hazare, the immediate stalemate has been averted and the Government can get back to business as usual. However, the Government can not rest easy on the issue of corruption and other pressing matters which Anna Hazare plans to take up in the days to come.

It will be befitting if the Government, in consonance with the opposition parties begins to act on its own accord and cleans up the system before another public showdown. The Government is well aware of the issues which require attention and does not necessarily need to be prodded by Anna Hazare, unless of course they can come to a consensus only when pushed to a corner and under a threat.

Now that the precedence has been set it will take little time to build up public pressure on the Government on burning issues which catches the imagination of the masses. The masses, which are often fickle in a crowd enjoy this new found sense of power to pressurise the Government and make it succumb to its diktats.

The legislation to set up a Lokpal as was forced on the Government by public pressure, may not quite have the magical effect on ground as is being envisioned, however it will instill caution on the various players involved in corruption. Greed and lust are a part of human nature and no legislation and change that. Less than a week had passed after Anna Hazare ended his public drive against corruption, when an Income Tax official was nabbed for accepting a Rs 5 lakh bribe in Mumbai. Perhaps he must have had a thought that he can get away as of now since Lokpal is yet to be appointed.

A few years back when Narsimha Rao was the Prime Minsiter and the Cash for votes scam broke out, I was getting air filled in my car Tyre at one of the road side puncture shops. The small boy at the shop while filling air in the front tyre informed me that the valve needed to be changed. I asked him to do the needful. he went into the shop and came with a valve and replace the one in my tyre. He then went to the other tyre and once again tole me that the valve needed to be changed. I told him to go ahead and started watching him. he removed the second valve and replaced it with the valve he had taken out of the first tyre. I immediately got out of the car and scolded him admonishing him for cheating. His mother who was sitting near by and watching came running and started arguing with me. When I told her that as a mother she should be teaching the right things to her son, she replied "Jab Pradhan Mantri karoron rupaye ke baimani kar sakta hai toh mera beta do char rupaye ke liye kyon nahin kar sakta?" (When the prime Minsiter can get away with crores of Rupees of dishonesty, why can't my son be dishonest for a few rupees?)

The other day there was a short circuit on the electric pole opposite my house and we were without electricity. It was 6 PM at that time. I went and lodged a complaint at the complaint cell. He said "Abhi thik karwana hai toh do sau rupaye lagenge." (If you want to get it repaired now it will cost Rs 200/-). I asked if I do not pay when will it be done, he said it would be done the next day. I asked him why it could not be repaired immediately, he said that the lineman had gone home. I asked him if there was no one on night duty and he replied that the night duty lineman is only for small repair jobs and does not climb the pole. I had two options. Either I pay Rs 200/- or spend a night without electricity during the peak summer month.

While I was sitting in the complaint cell, there was a call to the complaint cell from a cycle factory in the near vicinity and immediately three men were despatched to rectify the fault in the transformer supplying electricity to the factory. When i tried to find out why the complaint from the factory was attended to with such alacrity while my complaint was being ignored, I learnt that the factory pays equivalent to a months wages to the SDO and some other officials of the Electricity department to ensure that there is no power failure and any failure is attended to immediately.

There are umpteen examples of corruption all around us and a vide variety of ways in which it is carried out. It has earned the name of "Sahuliat shulk" (Comfort tax). There is some form of corruption in almost every transaction or dealing. If teh Lokpal was to be burdened by all these cases, there will be a never ending line of complaints. Most people will not take up the cases with the Lokpal as it would be easier to pay the money and get the job done than to waste time over complaining. Yes where the sum of money involved is large, the complaints will certainly be filed.

i don't think that corruption will be vanquished so easily at the lowest levels, but yes high profile cases will certainly get sorted out. The common man will still have to shell out those extra bucks to get small tasks done.