Fight Against Corruption

It appears as the whole country has risen against corruption. In such a situation corruption should hide its face at least, if not disappear from the country.  The reverse is, however, happening. It appears as the campaign against corruption has resulted in only highlighting the issue. The corrupt is alive and kicking. In fact, it has found many intelligent ways to flourish

Some 25 to30 years ago the government had launched a scheme to economically empower the poor villagers and farmers. They were entitled to take a loan of Rs 2000/-   from banks to buy a buffalo .As this money was not enough to buy milk -giving buffalos, nobody will approach the bank. The bank officials, then, took it upon themselves to economically empower the poor farmers. They went from door to door assuring the farmers that the loans they will take will not be recovered from them provided they agreed to share the loan amount with the bank officials. The farmers will thus get Rs 1200/- and the remaining Rs 800/- will be pocketed by the bank officials.

The same is happening to the much hyped MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). The officers, in charge of the scheme, have joined hands with well organized mafias to plunder the State treasury. They have ‘manufactured’ lists of fake workers with whom they share the MGNREGA money at the rate of 50%. The money is thus not reaching the deserving or only half of the sanctioned amount reaches the intended target.

Not just the small scale corruption but corruption in high places has also become very clever.  Now the intelligent politicians and bureaucrats do not take bribe in cash, instead they help in establishing companies/ factories and buy their shares without paying any price. It pays in the long term, one can easily imagine.

But all men in high places are not necessarily clever. Still there are many who prefer the old-fashioned nepotism and favoritism and indulge in corruption in brazen manners. The high placed men are not just bureaucrats and politicians but also the vice chancellors of universities.

Charges of corruption have often been laid against Vice Chancellors by groups of people seeking their ouster. However, the situation has changed and some Vice Chancellors seem to be corrupt as CBI is investigating charges against them.

But there are Vice Chancellors who seem to be escaping the CBI scrutiny. Here is a Vice Chancellor who violates all the rules, even the ones he himself has made. It is alleged that he has spent over 28 crores on improving an existing hospital. He has refused to pay the technical staff the salary advertised in news papers. The affected staff has already knocked at the door of judiciary.

On the other hand, he paid many crores as salary and commission to a crook who ‘specialized ‘in getting MCI recognition to his proposed medical college. He miserly pays to the provost, proctor and DSW but showers thousands of rupees on his favorites as honourarium. He breaks all rules while appointing Heads of Departments Deans of Faculties. In appointments and admissions he blatantly favors the candidates from his domicile state. He has played foul with PF and pension scheme of the employees. He routinely refuses to give promotion to the qualified teachers who have served the institution over a decade. He selectively follows the rules and directions of the HRD ministry and favors the ones who have relations and connections in the UGC, even flouts rules for them. Above all he continues to occupy the office of the Vice Chancellor though his tenure expired many months ago. But in spite of all this he seems to be the darling of UGC and MHRD. The UGC officials participate in the programmes he presides over and the MHRD sent him to USA as a member of an official delegation of Vice Chancellors. Surprisingly the CBI has not been asked to look into all this, though it investigated a professor for minor irregularities.

Do we still need any explanation why corruption flourishes in the country? It is because we, ‘strain off the midge and gulp down the camel’. We have written in our constitution that all are equal before law. It appears as this rule does not apply to alleged criminals. As a result we see that minor offenses are investigated and punished but the big polluting fishes are spared. True, some politicians are behind the bars but had the law been allowed to be fair and impartial many dozen more would have been in jails.

No CBI and Lokpal can work unless we free the law from political control. In a country like India politics is hard to be free of corruption as under one or another compulsion it is forced to tolerate malpractices. Then the only way to redeem the situations is to allow the law to take its own course which can happen only when it is truly free of political control and intervention.

(November 2011)