The government must resist the Hazare group's mischief, because his solution is no solution at all, writes AAKAR PATEL in The Friday Times
For most Indians, corruption is something the government does to them. The people are victims.
The anger of these victims has dominated the debate in our media for the last few months after scams of enormous size involving Cabinet ministers have been uncovered. The scale of the theft, tens of thousands of crores, has shocked otherwise hardened Indians. The English-speaking middle class, who are angriest, are now convinced they have a silver bullet solution to ending corruption in India, the Lok Pal.
This person will head a body that will sit apart from the state and pursue those in office, including the prime minister, it thinks are corrupt.
Other such bodies already exist, such as the anti-corruption bureau. Being a part of the state, however, these are thought to be compromised.
Manmohan Singh's government has armed Indians with the most powerful anti-corruption tool in a developing nation. This is the Right to Information law. It allows for intrusive questioning of decision making at all levels of government, local and national. Those responsible must give signed testimony in answer to each question. The law gives citizens access to data, including contractual and tender details of most state spending. In the rural parts of India, where the state is feared more, this law has made a big impact and in time this law might be the ultimate solution to corruption in government.
But the Right to Information law needs participation from citizens to be effective. Forms need to be filled and matters pursued. This the middle class are unwilling to do. What they want is someone to solve the problem for them instead.
The independent and incorruptible Lok Pal, personified by the saintly Anna Hazare, is such a person who will rid India of corruption through his firmness. This week, Hazare has begun another fast, Mahatma Gandhi's weapon of choice, to shame the government into accepting his solution.
Such innocent reduction of corruption in our culture is false of course.
Other such bodies already exist, such as the anti-corruption bureau. Being a part of the state, however, these are thought to be compromised.
Manmohan Singh's government has armed Indians with the most powerful anti-corruption tool in a developing nation. This is the Right to Information law. It allows for intrusive questioning of decision making at all levels of government, local and national. Those responsible must give signed testimony in answer to each question. The law gives citizens access to data, including contractual and tender details of most state spending. In the rural parts of India, where the state is feared more, this law has made a big impact and in time this law might be the ultimate solution to corruption in government.
But the Right to Information law needs participation from citizens to be effective. Forms need to be filled and matters pursued. This the middle class are unwilling to do. What they want is someone to solve the problem for them instead.
The independent and incorruptible Lok Pal, personified by the saintly Anna Hazare, is such a person who will rid India of corruption through his firmness. This week, Hazare has begun another fast, Mahatma Gandhi's weapon of choice, to shame the government into accepting his solution.
Such innocent reduction of corruption in our culture is false of course.
Hazare is not particularly literate and doesn't understand complexity. A retired jawan, Hazare's achievement is to make one village in Maharashtra self-sufficient (though it wasn't quite helpless before him) and moral. He has banned cable television and alcohol in it. He thinks, as our middle-class believe, all that is needed to solve corruption is to give sweeping power to the right people. He also thinks that the government will never be able to produce them. They must be outsiders, who are not tempted by corruption.
This formulation is bogus. To anyone with an open mind, it is obvious that corruption is steeped into our culture and our behaviour.
The middle-class's anger hides their hypocrisy and corruption. The breaking and bending of rules and of the law is all around us. In India, our cities, our streets do not resemble those in Europe.
The English-speaking middle class, owners of motor cars, are if anything the most obvious offenders in this sense. Our traffic is based on opportunism rather than respect for law or fondness for order. Where advantage is to be found, the motorist will take it. Where it is possible, property will be occupied and encroached on by the builder, by the apartment block resident, the restaurateur and the man in the slum. Observe any city of India and this rule will be unchanged.
We do not think of such things as corruption, as linked to our culture of corruption, but of course they are.
The opportunism of the Cabinet minister who takes money because he can is rooted in the same culture as the opportunism of the motorist who operates outside the law because he can.
The government agrees that there should be a Lok Pal, because internal correction is no longer possible in India. But how long must the Lok Pal's reach be? Should it include the prime minister and be otherwise unaccountable? That is what Anna Hazare and his supporters want. The earlier formulation by the Hazare group was for a Lok Pal who would have absolute investigative, prosecutorial and judicial power, before this was laughed off by commentators.
Manmohan Singh feels that, like in the US, the head of executive should be exempt from criminal prosecution till he demits office. If this is not the case, he reasons, it might be that when the Lok Pal acts against a sitting prime minister, the state comes to a halt and no decisions are made. It is wiser to leave this one position, that of the prime minister's, outside the ambit of the Lok Pal, though he is exposed to prosecution once he demits office.
It is difficult to disagree with this formulation, but Hazare insists on including the prime minister also. This fast of his is to shame the government into accepting what is essentially his view and that of his supporters in the unthinking middle class.
Indians vote confessionally and not based on issues. Despite this, many Congress supporters are also warmed by Anna Hazare and the government has had to molly coddle him. But this movement may actually be damaging to India.
India's laws need to be liberalised because too much state control has hindered development. Legislation is becoming difficult because the media's sharp focus on corruption is leading to pressure on decision makers who don't want to be accused of corruption.
In Monday's speech on Independence day, Singh cautioned the anti-corruption movement that it was becoming damaging. Singh said it was important that we "not create an atmosphere in which the country's progress comes into question."
The media, hundreds of newspapers and dozens of channels, will focus on this issue over the next days. Drawn from the middle class, the media naturally gravitates towards the Hazare position on this and the government will find to difficult to resist this reckless demand.
The opposition in India are also opportunistic, and milking the situation even though they take the government's side in parliament.
The government must resist the Hazare group's mischief, because his solution is no solution at all.
Other than the Right to Information, Singh's government has also legislated the Right to Education (guaranteeing the poor 25 per cent of all private school seats), and the Right to Employment (guaranteeing 100 days' work every year for all families). A Right to Food act, assuring a minimum supply of grains to each family every year, will also soon become law.
Now, Indians want the right to no-corruption, but will not submit themselves to its true meaning.
(Aakar Patel is a director with Hill Road Media, Mumbai )
This formulation is bogus. To anyone with an open mind, it is obvious that corruption is steeped into our culture and our behaviour.
The middle-class's anger hides their hypocrisy and corruption. The breaking and bending of rules and of the law is all around us. In India, our cities, our streets do not resemble those in Europe.
The English-speaking middle class, owners of motor cars, are if anything the most obvious offenders in this sense. Our traffic is based on opportunism rather than respect for law or fondness for order. Where advantage is to be found, the motorist will take it. Where it is possible, property will be occupied and encroached on by the builder, by the apartment block resident, the restaurateur and the man in the slum. Observe any city of India and this rule will be unchanged.
We do not think of such things as corruption, as linked to our culture of corruption, but of course they are.
The opportunism of the Cabinet minister who takes money because he can is rooted in the same culture as the opportunism of the motorist who operates outside the law because he can.
The government agrees that there should be a Lok Pal, because internal correction is no longer possible in India. But how long must the Lok Pal's reach be? Should it include the prime minister and be otherwise unaccountable? That is what Anna Hazare and his supporters want. The earlier formulation by the Hazare group was for a Lok Pal who would have absolute investigative, prosecutorial and judicial power, before this was laughed off by commentators.
Manmohan Singh feels that, like in the US, the head of executive should be exempt from criminal prosecution till he demits office. If this is not the case, he reasons, it might be that when the Lok Pal acts against a sitting prime minister, the state comes to a halt and no decisions are made. It is wiser to leave this one position, that of the prime minister's, outside the ambit of the Lok Pal, though he is exposed to prosecution once he demits office.
It is difficult to disagree with this formulation, but Hazare insists on including the prime minister also. This fast of his is to shame the government into accepting what is essentially his view and that of his supporters in the unthinking middle class.
Indians vote confessionally and not based on issues. Despite this, many Congress supporters are also warmed by Anna Hazare and the government has had to molly coddle him. But this movement may actually be damaging to India.
India's laws need to be liberalised because too much state control has hindered development. Legislation is becoming difficult because the media's sharp focus on corruption is leading to pressure on decision makers who don't want to be accused of corruption.
In Monday's speech on Independence day, Singh cautioned the anti-corruption movement that it was becoming damaging. Singh said it was important that we "not create an atmosphere in which the country's progress comes into question."
The media, hundreds of newspapers and dozens of channels, will focus on this issue over the next days. Drawn from the middle class, the media naturally gravitates towards the Hazare position on this and the government will find to difficult to resist this reckless demand.
The opposition in India are also opportunistic, and milking the situation even though they take the government's side in parliament.
The government must resist the Hazare group's mischief, because his solution is no solution at all.
Other than the Right to Information, Singh's government has also legislated the Right to Education (guaranteeing the poor 25 per cent of all private school seats), and the Right to Employment (guaranteeing 100 days' work every year for all families). A Right to Food act, assuring a minimum supply of grains to each family every year, will also soon become law.
Now, Indians want the right to no-corruption, but will not submit themselves to its true meaning.
(Aakar Patel is a director with Hill Road Media, Mumbai )
No comments:
Post a Comment