Unrealistic expectations!

The issue of corruption is now center stage. The Hazare and Ramdev movements are based on the understanding that politicians are corrupt and therefore a strong mechanism is needed to checkmate them. This has led to the ongoing long drawn out and heated debates and discussions on the proposed lokpal bill.

Inadequate appreciation of the issue of corruption has caused the above scenario.

Corruption has two faces, financial and professional. Due to lack of understanding of the the professional kind, financial corruption alone is generally considered synonymous with corruption per-se in the nation. The genesis of financial corruption lies in the rapidly depleting standards of national character, and its root cause lies in the complexity of the sarkari system that we have adapted to ru(i)n the nation. Too many thumb impressions for even petty decisions have diluted the concept of responsibility while at the same time giving adequate cover and shield to the corrupt. Enabling corruption has therefore emerged as the strong point of our existing system.

Professional corruption on the other hand is as damaging as its financial counterpart, maybe even more, primarily because of its extremely high ripple effect and its being freely practiced by almost the entire bureaucracy. The higher the pedestal occupied by the bloke, the higher is the damage he causes through his blatant acts of professional corruption, the most common of which is the art of "not taking decisions". And therefore the file, the sarkari tool for taking and communicating decisions keeps on shuttling up and down, right and left, backward and forward and in the process keeps on bloating like a pig.

Identifying the politician as the major culprit in the popular game of corruption is perhaps the biggest mistake almost all of us make. While the politicians are no doubt generally corrupt, the bureaucracy invariably takes the cake in this field with the lower rung generally specializing in financial and the upper crust in professional corruption. Service, only of the self, family and friends has emerged as the motto of the bureaucracy, cutting across sectors and states. Besides why deliver, when no one asks for it. Keep on coasting along, purposelessly and handle files as one would a ping pong ball or a shuttle cock and in the process keep on rising to the top, like muck in stagnant water.

Movements such as those witnessed in recent times are no doubt piloted by men with good intentions, but unfortunately these good men have very little idea of the manner in which the wheels of governance move in this nation. And therefore it is imperative that before another watchdog institution is created, the contribution made by the CVC and the Lokayukta needs objective assessment. The creation of a Lokpal, without cleansing the tantra would tantamount to creating one more checkpoint, one more roadblock that would further slowdown the snail paced system of governance that we have in our nation.