India Against Corruption

I recently came across this facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/IndiACor), and decided to support the cause. The single biggest factor which led me to get involved is this guy named Arvind Kejrival. He is an activist and was one of the main champions of the RTI movement. He is now championing the JLP (Jan Lokpal) movement, which asks for a citizen body to be formed which is powerful enough to punish corrupt politicians.

I did some reading on their approach and what they are trying to do and how. I felt that what they are trying to do makes sense. Basically, corruption goes all the way to the top. Think about what happens if the boss is corrupt. Everybody in the organization gets a license to be corrupt, since any complaints against corruption are not entertained.

I heard this anecdote about corruption in a UP city called Aligarh. Bribes were rampant in the transport department and you typically had to pay about INR 10K to get your shipment across. An honest senior bureaucrat came to the scene and tried to fix the system. He was personally manhandled in the process, and things came to a stalemate, the business suffered. Eventually, after a cool down period, the top politicians got involved and revived the business. But, now the bribe rate had gone up to INR 15K, the extra amount going to the politician for their blessings!!!

So, even though India is riddled with corruption at the lowest levels, this problem can only be fixed top down. But, how do you uncorrupt the politicians? I think there is only one way to do it and it is by using your "vote".

I think the power of public opinion does exist in India, and that's something that the major political parties can not afford to ignore. Politicians take advantage of a common man's ignorance and play the divide and conquer politics by distracting the public with less important issues like religion and caste.

But, no one person individually can do anything. And that is another fact that the corrupt politicians rely on. If the non-corrupt can come together in large numbers, then the corrupt will have nowhere to escape. We can make sure that no political party dares to shield the corrupt, by declaring that they will lose our vote if they do so.

If each one of us goes through this simple logic in our mind, decides to be aware of what's happening around us and use our vote judiciously, we can make a difference. Of course, easier said than done. How do we get this done? We need some great leaders at the grassroot level who can motivate people to awaken and ensure that we control the politicians. Our vast illiterate, poverty-stricken and gullible population is definitely a challenge, but we have to start somewhere.