CORRUPTION IN INDIA
India Today of May 6th. 2002 has an editorial entitled 'Corrupt and
Indian' , One way out is a mechanism of checks and balances. It is a shameful
admission that as the saying goes, 'When a fish rots, the process starts from
the head'. India has the shameful distinction of being one of the most
corrupt bereaucracies in the world. The Bangladeshis are not far behind. We
keep diverting the issue by speaking and writing about our computer experts
and the progress India has made in this field. Small comfort as the
percentage of illiterates in India is very high compared with those who
understand the labyrinthian manipulations of IT technology. I feel that the
desire to avoid poverty forces Indians to strive to excel in Information
Technology if one is fortunate. Failing this, one has an alternative i.e. to
join Indian bureaucracy and adopt corrupt attitudes.
The Sub-Inspector investigating my case of fraud recently informed
me that I was lucky that like another Goan,I had lost a small sum in
comparison. I was advised to place any money I intended to give him in an
envelope and not to hand him cash in the sight of others. And I had just
embarked on the complaint against the Bank Manager and the deceased Chartered
Accountant who had both defrauded me (the Goan wife of the CA was also
implicated).
Met a Catholic lady seated in the office of the Collector in
Mapuca. She complained that one member of the staff was demanding Rs.5000.00
to satisfy her application for change of name on the ownership papers of her
property. When I pointed this out to Mr. Naik, the Collector, he placed the
blame on the public who he claimed initiated this malpractice by offering
bribes. It is difficult for a Goan to do anything that needed the sanction of
a bureaucrat without greasing palms. And however much one complained, no body
seems to be listening - not even the Chief Minister of a tiny state as Goa
is. India, and Goa in particular, cannot afford to be a banana republic in
its administrative behaviour. We deserve what we get. The citizens of Aldona
constituency recently voted in a corrupt Congressman who has been playing
musical chairs from Aldon to Thivim and has returned to Aldona. Ayres
Rodrigues aptly compares the MLA's to stray dogs. Others refer to them as 40
thieves with Ali Baba being the CM. Fortunately, the current CM could be
considered more honest (I will not sign a clean bill of honesty though) than
the past CM's. I have noted the interest taken by the CM as he spends 4
mornings a week (2 to the public) to attend or listen to grievances of the
citizenry. His performance prior to the recent elections had endeared the
citizenry to his BJP Party and many in the minority communities voted for
him. But corruption will continue to be a major problem to all governments
present and future as it has been to the past governments.
I am glad that I am not within the jurisdiction of the Government
and bureaucrats who I criticize. Newspaper reporters based in Goa are careful
not to lock horns with the politicians of Goa for fear that they might lose
the means to earn the food they must place on their tables. Without
institutionalised checks and balances and without the carrot and stick of the
bureaucrats in power, how is the evil of corruption to be eradicated? Indian
progress is mired in a cess-pool of corruption and no one is bold enough to
wade into this pool to dredge it of its filth. This cesspool is where many a
bureaucrat seeks shelter in like pigs.
Edgar Martins
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