Culture of graft

Systemic corruption is endemic and even the tip of the iceberg has not been addressed, laments a former revenue secretary to the government of India

M R Sivaraman Delhi

Corruption is as ancient as history. Even the Arthasastra talks of how to deal with corruption. It is there in every country without exception; only the degree to which it is prevalent may be more or less. Transparency International grades countries year after year. India, with its rich traditional and history, is usually placed at the bottom end.

Its latest rank for India is one amongst the last. It is indeed a shame for a country that boasts of a hoary past and is looking forward to a great future to be dubbed as one of the most corrupt nations of the world. Some economists have already started writing that corruption is an Indian cultural trait. It grips one’s heart to see the pictures of malnourished children of India’s impoverished hinterland, when politician’s progeny use Rs 500 notes to snort narcotics and yet get great publicity as national heroes. No one really questions how they got that kind of money.

In July 1993, Narasimha Rao, the then prime minister (PM) appointed a committee consisting of the revenue secretary, director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB), director Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and chaired by the home secretary to take stock of the activities of crime and mafia syndicates that were being protected by government functionaries and politicians. Based on the recommendations of the committee, the government was to set up a special agency to collect information and pursue cases against such syndicates. The report was submitted and the government appointed the same group as a monitoring unit with the cabinet secretary as chairman for sometime. The report did not mince words and categorically said that the nexus needed to be broken. At the same time it also pointed out the judiciary’s failure to punish the guilty. It suggested that the heads of important organisations should be chosen with great care for integrity and given sufficient tenure to do their jobs properly.

The only follow through of the report was tenures for some officers. Even large-scale evasions of taxes that have been detected are not pursued because of the clout of the industries involved and the reach of their liaison officers.

The finance minister deserves credit for publishing details of tax expenditure but would he also publish once a quarter the details of cases of tax evasion detected and the stage at which action was in progress in those cases? Some of these cases are pending for years. Should they not be expedited? There may be hundreds of un-served Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA) warrants still pending in the enforcement directorate, direct beneficiaries of which are those who have to look for the accused. It is reported that many warrants are old and the persons who have to serve the warrants make hay. Why should not the government review all these cases, if necessary by a sitting Supreme Court (SC) judge, and withdraw those that have no relevance in the present day circumstances. One source of corruption could be plugged and the present finance minister has the courage to do so but someone should bring this to his notice.

Contracts are rich breeding ground for corruption. Tender specifications and price manipulation start even before the bids are called. At every stage, officers are required to manipulate so that some preferred person gets the contract. Introduction of transparent procedures for technical specifications and open evaluation of final bids would reduce corruption. Where mining leases are granted there is one-time payment and there are payments till the person holds the lease. An Indian Administration Service (IAS) officer was booked for such manipulation and the raiding party found a huge quantity of currency notes in his office cupboard. But the officer was ordered to be reinstated after his expulsion from service thanks to the administrative

tribunal. Another IAS officer was acquitted by the court even though lakhs were recovered from

his residence.

There was high expectation when the SC took up the Jain Diaries for direct monitoring of investigation. But alas even the mighty court of this land failed. Not a single person who figured in the Jain Diaries as recipient of pay-offs was convicted. Similarly, not a single person of the Mumbai bomb blast case has been punished except for those who were dismissed by the revenue department. Persons arrested in the US for corruption have been put behind bars within months if not weeks after

their arrest. Why cannot India’s judicial system function like the US judiciary in the matter of criminal cases?

The author has given a suggestion to the prime minister that the way to accelerate growth of industry in this country to over 15 per cent per annum would be to make a paradigm change in our approach by trusting the investors to obey the laws of the land. Entrepreneurs should not be required to take any license or permit for setting up any unit. The Industrial Disputes Act should group industries into categories and the laws they have to comply with. They should be free to set up the units as they choose. They should only intimate the relevant authority, to be specially set up for this purpose, the details of their unit and their steps to comply with the relevant laws applicable to the unit. They should again report to the authority immediately after commencement of production or start up.

The monitoring authority, which may consist equally of officers and representatives of the entrepreneurial community, could visit the units and inspect compliance of laws applicable to them. This procedure will save entrepreneurs from running from pillar to post and paying speed money to get the various clearances. It will reduce corruption at its fountainhead. Why cannot we trust our entrepreneurs to obey the laws of the land? The author hopes that the PM will consider this seriously both in the interest of accelerating industrial growth and in reducing corruption.

Today a secretary to GoI gets about Rs 40,000 per month as total emoluments against the starting pay of Rs 10 to 12 lakhs for a fresh IIM graduate. If the government thinks that those who are qualified to be secretaries to GOI are not worth even the start-up salary of an IIM fresher then there is something fundamentally wrong. Every country that has undertaken reforms has changed the structure of its civil service and their emoluments. Our responsible media talks very derisively of “babus” knowing full well that many of them die and suffer for their welfare also. The author’s wife could never travel by air in 33 years of his service except once when she had to go to attend to an ailing daughter. Should civil servants be made to look undignified in the presence of all those billionaires they deal with? Reduce the number of secretaries drastically and pay them well and get them committed to achieving targeted goals. They should not be allowed to take up any appointment with the private sector if their pensions are also increased to maintain a reasonable standard of living in their old age. We will then be spared the spectacle of secretaries to government, generals, and admirals serving as liaison officers or in other capacities which undermine their dignity. Will the government wake up to the reality?