I laud the fact that Anna Hazare and his co-workers could exercise their rights for freedom of speech and expression to extol the virtues of the Jan Lokpal Bill. If nothing else, this makes me glad to be an Indian, rather than a citizen of the multitude of countries where the whole gang would have been arrested, and/or executed.
But being a citizen of a democratic republic can be quite a double-edged sword.
I lament the fact that Anna Hazare could publicly fast for 13 days, and in effect hold the Government at ransom. Call me heartless or unpatriotic, but weighing the wishes of one organization against the actual good of the 1.2 billion people we have does not quite make sense to me. What I do applaud AH & Co. for doing, is bringing the issue of corruption to the fore-front. On a more practical level, does it actually stop people from paying off the policeman, the babu, the clerk, the conductor, buying a movie ticket in black and the other small "chalta hai" corruption we see and actively participate in? Not really. Did the hunger fast make a lasting change on our mindset? I have my humble doubts.
As I understand it, these three demands have been tentatively met: Lokayuktas in every state, citizen's charter in each government department and inclusion of lower bureaucracy under Lokpal, with some others under discussion (I apologize if I misrepresented any facts). My do paisa views on them:
Lokpal/Lokayuktas: To expect one "God-sent" (Anna-sent?) Ombudsman to take care of the corruption that happens everyday around us, is logistically ridiculous. As is the idea that this one authority would be able to dig deep into the lives of our political and bureaucratic elite and reveal the corruption that lies there. So this person would need to be surrounded by staff members, in essence, another bureaucracy. Has anyone thought about running this organization or are we expecting it to materialize out of thin air? Who will elect/select/nominate people for this post? Will we have another election for this, and if so, who will fund it? Also, would will investigate the corruption in the Lokpal's department?
Inclusion of the lower bureaucracy: Many of the same issues as above. We have this whole convoluted, multi-office bureaucratic system. From my experience of trying to work with it, most of it involves corruption, either by money or by "influence". Monitoring the activities of this giant, and handling the complaints that are likely to float in from the public is daunting. Also, the Lokayukta will only investigate the complaints, the trial and prosecution rests in the hands of the over-burdened judicial system. So how does that improve the efficiency of getting an actual result?
Citizen's Charter: Eh? Let me ask you this, as an Indian, the most binding Charter on you is the Constitution of India. Now I don't expect you to know it in any detail, but do you remember maybe the Preamble or the Fundamental Rights and especially the Duties of the Indian citizen? In case this makes you go "of course I do", when did you last actively follow through on any of them? Except use the right to talk and blog, we do that incessantly.
Now that I have finished my rant, I admit that the movement, and the power of the Indian public behind the movement is admirable. What I question is the effect of these on the public, after the shor, the noise has died down. The issue is larger than AH's fast and demands for a Big Brother bill.Tackling corruption by increasing bureaucracy is a self-defeating cycle. Putting the power of the public behind a movement to increase the transparency of the existing babudom may yield better results. Modernizing the way our country is run is important, as is making the government servants accountable for their work. Six sigma and lean management theories, anyone?
For our sake, I hope the whole Lokpal movement brings a positive awakening within the public, within us. But if I can't bribe the Customs official at Mumbai airport, how will I smuggle in the extra iPhone and the bottles of alcohol into the country without paying excise? Quite an ethical conundrum, ain't it?
But being a citizen of a democratic republic can be quite a double-edged sword.
I lament the fact that Anna Hazare could publicly fast for 13 days, and in effect hold the Government at ransom. Call me heartless or unpatriotic, but weighing the wishes of one organization against the actual good of the 1.2 billion people we have does not quite make sense to me. What I do applaud AH & Co. for doing, is bringing the issue of corruption to the fore-front. On a more practical level, does it actually stop people from paying off the policeman, the babu, the clerk, the conductor, buying a movie ticket in black and the other small "chalta hai" corruption we see and actively participate in? Not really. Did the hunger fast make a lasting change on our mindset? I have my humble doubts.
As I understand it, these three demands have been tentatively met: Lokayuktas in every state, citizen's charter in each government department and inclusion of lower bureaucracy under Lokpal, with some others under discussion (I apologize if I misrepresented any facts). My do paisa views on them:
Lokpal/Lokayuktas: To expect one "God-sent" (Anna-sent?) Ombudsman to take care of the corruption that happens everyday around us, is logistically ridiculous. As is the idea that this one authority would be able to dig deep into the lives of our political and bureaucratic elite and reveal the corruption that lies there. So this person would need to be surrounded by staff members, in essence, another bureaucracy. Has anyone thought about running this organization or are we expecting it to materialize out of thin air? Who will elect/select/nominate people for this post? Will we have another election for this, and if so, who will fund it? Also, would will investigate the corruption in the Lokpal's department?
Inclusion of the lower bureaucracy: Many of the same issues as above. We have this whole convoluted, multi-office bureaucratic system. From my experience of trying to work with it, most of it involves corruption, either by money or by "influence". Monitoring the activities of this giant, and handling the complaints that are likely to float in from the public is daunting. Also, the Lokayukta will only investigate the complaints, the trial and prosecution rests in the hands of the over-burdened judicial system. So how does that improve the efficiency of getting an actual result?
Citizen's Charter: Eh? Let me ask you this, as an Indian, the most binding Charter on you is the Constitution of India. Now I don't expect you to know it in any detail, but do you remember maybe the Preamble or the Fundamental Rights and especially the Duties of the Indian citizen? In case this makes you go "of course I do", when did you last actively follow through on any of them? Except use the right to talk and blog, we do that incessantly.
Now that I have finished my rant, I admit that the movement, and the power of the Indian public behind the movement is admirable. What I question is the effect of these on the public, after the shor, the noise has died down. The issue is larger than AH's fast and demands for a Big Brother bill.Tackling corruption by increasing bureaucracy is a self-defeating cycle. Putting the power of the public behind a movement to increase the transparency of the existing babudom may yield better results. Modernizing the way our country is run is important, as is making the government servants accountable for their work. Six sigma and lean management theories, anyone?
For our sake, I hope the whole Lokpal movement brings a positive awakening within the public, within us. But if I can't bribe the Customs official at Mumbai airport, how will I smuggle in the extra iPhone and the bottles of alcohol into the country without paying excise? Quite an ethical conundrum, ain't it?
