India prides itself as being “the world’s fastest-growing democracy”. This may hold good for its economic development, but the ongoing erosion of basic democratic norms tells a different and sad story. The highest institution of India’s democracy is a refuge for criminals. According to official figures, 162 out of 543 members of the current Lok Sabha (parliament) have criminal cases pending against them with the punishment being imprisonment for two years or more.
According to the Centre for Media Studies, India spent the equivalent of $2 billion at the last general election – more than $0.2 billion more than at the US spent on its last presidential election. Where did this money come from? All political parties in India fund themselves through the proceeds of corruption. Election funds are generated by filching money from the exchequer, extorting money from the public, or selling patronage – aided and abetted by civil servants. In short, corruption funds Indian democracy.
Since the use of state machinery to generate dubious resources requires the sanction and clearance of the civil service, officials, inevitably, also become corrupt. This is a system in which no insider has an incentive to change anything. Corruption has inundated all walks of life and infects various government functionaries, judges, lawyers, engineers and doctors.
The chief economic consequences are the loss to the exchequer, an unhealthy climate for investment and an increase in the cost of government-subsidised services. India still ranks in the bottom quartile of developing nations in terms of the degree of ease of doing business. Compared to China, the average time taken to secure the clearances for a business start-up or to invoke bankruptcy is much greater.
As a result, the credibility of India as the chosen destination for foreign investors has taken a severe beating. This discouraging situation has compelled several Indian business houses such Tata, Birla and Reliance, to opt for offshore investments, worth several billion dollars, instead of investing at home.Increasing corruption has been agitating minds for a long time. Civil society activists such as Sri Sri Ravishankar, Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare have been raising their voices against it for years, but to no avail.
However, a public murmur has at last become a roar. Scams and scandals have multiplied under the second-term UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.Hundreds of billions of rupees have been made in different ways: through government spending on mega-projects or major events such as the Commonwealth Games; through the often illegal and inadequately compensated expropriation of land to benefit private players; through the gratuitous takeover and handing over to favoured parties of resources ranging from water and minerals.
Now people have become so sick of the rampant corruption in that they are starting to blame their elected representatives and the very institution of democracy. So it was not surprising that Anna Hazare, a diminutive, little-known Gandhian from Maharashtra, gave vent to the national outrage by embarking on a 98-hour fast in April. He received mass support for his proposal of a Jan Lokpal (Ombudsman) bill, which would cover all government functionaries (including the prime minister), judges and members of parliament.
People from across the country joined his anti-corruption movement. A press survey recorded 92 per cent in his favour.Rattled, the central government constituted a panel to draft the Jan Lokpal bill. This was a defining moment that highlighted the power of ordinary people who refused to mortgage themselves to a few sharks in power. Not to be outdone, the government mandarins first created confusion in the public mind by raising doubts about the integrity of five civil society members, including Anna Hazare.
When this did not work, various rumours were floated to confuse the public. The government’s representatives are refusing to concede to Hazare’s demand that the prime minister and the higher judiciary should be under the purview of the Lokpal.In the 64 years of free India, its people, long-suffering from corruption in all walks of life, have found the moral strength to try to curb this menace.
It surely sounds absurd to suggest that a Middle East-style people’s revolt is brewing. But, as in much of the Arab world, the criminal mismanagement of resources, red tape and crony capitalism have ensured that, even as India trumpets its economic progress, much of its population survives on less than £1 a day.
Globalisation and the market economy have brought selective prosperity, but they have also exaggerated huge socio-economic inequalities. No wonder the country is home to a violent Maoist insurgency that the New York Times has described as a bigger threat to India’s security than international terrorism.
So there is the risk of huge upheaval unless drastic action is taken to eradicate corruption and tackle poverty.The Congress-led coalition has three years of its second term to go and much still to accomplish if it is to submit itself to the electorate with any degree of confidence. It is in a crisis of credibility. Scam after scam has left it exposed. With junior partners doing their own thing, there is an absence of direction. Prices have hit the roof and foreign investors are wary. While corruption needs to be reined in and accountability increased at various levels, economic reforms require a much-needed impetus.
The government of Manmohan Singh must articulate a clear vision and act on pending pieces of legislation, such as plans to ensure the right to food for India’s poor, overhaul the archaic mining laws and revamp land acquisition, making sure the government stays out of the messy business of buying land for private projects.Perhaps the greatest scandal affecting modern India is that even the judiciary is corrupt and no action is taken about it.
The country needs a progressive, active nationwide movement against corruption. A powerful instrument must be set up for this if the confidence of the people in democracy is to be preserved. Anna Hazare’s movement is inspirational. But if he is not to become a mere footnote in history, it is vital that he presents a list of pragmatic, ethical and deliverable demands. Only this will stop the movement against corruption becoming full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing. Rooting out corruption is vital to India’s long-term interests. But an anti-corruption drive must be sustained. Only then can the country reap the benefits of foreign collaboration and investment to become truly “the world’s fastest-growing democracy”.
