FINALLY, the veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption has partially won the battle, with the government conceding to majority of the demands made by the veteran social activist. Given the solidarity and rallies in support of Hazare’s cause, the government was forced to concede to the activist’s demand for a tough law to combat corruption. The method, made famous by Mahatma Gandhi who pioneered fasting as a form of protest, and physical resemblance to the Father of the Nation helped galvanise support. The crusader Anna had politely said: “I have limited energy. I have no money, no big house and no gold, but I have support from the people and I see God’s will in it.” Few could have anticipated that Anna Hazare’s movement for a stronger Lokpal bill would generate such an extraordinary groundswell of public support, particularly among the urban middle class.
But in the welter of protests and the general anger about corruption, the key details about what this specific crusade is really about must not be lost. If the ‘Jan Lok Pal’ presides over the same system that has corrupted civil servants, politicians, anti-corruption watchdogs, judges, media, civil society groups and ordinary citizens, can the ombudsman be expected to be incorruptible? Therefore the real challenge is to formulate a Lokpal bill that has the teeth lacking in the government draft and is free from the angularities of the civil society version.
Every other day a new scam is unveiled and the nation is held to ransom by political parties to capitalize on the issue. The nation had hardly recovered from the shock of CWG scam when 2-G Scam added salt to the wound and now we have S-Band scam. We may not earn the appelation of being economic superpower, we are sure to earn the notoriety of being the most corrupt nation on earth. Vested political interests and lenient laws provide incentives to the powers that be to play with public money and syphon off amount allocated for development. The poor nurture hopes of receiving some sops to alleviate the burden of poverty haunting them for generations, however, their dreams end in smoke when it unfolds that the development fund meant for uplift of the poor has been highjacked by already rich lobby.
Coruption has seemingly become a ‘way of life’ for many and it has deepened its roots in almost all walks of life. There is dire need of revising existing laws according to the new developments and penal action should be severe. Those found guilty of commiting economic offences should be treated as criminals. There is need for revamping of administrative system to make it more transparent and acountable. The dilemma is as to who will bell the cat in view of the fact that almost entire system is paralyzed by corruption. There is no magic wand to do away with corruption overnight. A protracted and well-concerted strategy is called for to make people aware about their rights and duties vis-à-vis corruption. Only vigilant public opinion can nip this evil in the bud.
The unanimous passage of Public Service Guarantee Act 2010 by the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly on 30 July 2010 has earned Madhya Pradesh the distinction of being the first state in the country to enact such legislation, which is the first-of-its-kind in the country. Undoubtedly, it is the historic victory of the people of Madhya Pradesh and concurrently this measure has thrown open a challenge to the other State Governments of the Indian Union as well as Central Government which finds it cumbersome to amend the constitutional safeguards provided to the high ranking public servants in India. The Act is widely regarded as a stepping stone toward good governance.
The Act envisages guarantee of delivery of time-bound services to Aam Aadami, failing which the concerned officials will have to pay a fine. Lest citizens fail to get services on time, ‘they could make an appeal to first and second appellate officers, who would give instructions to the officers concerned. If there is a delay, the officers would have to pay a fine of Rs 250 per day, with a maximum of Rs 5,000.’
If first appellate officer fails to ensure delivery of services without valid reason, he, too, would have to pay a fine amounting minimum Rs 500 and maximum at Rs 5,000. There would be a fixed time as to how many days an officer is entitled keep a file.
The officer who receives a file has to provide a receipt to the applicant. The time limit begins from that date onwards. There is also provision to initiate disciplinary action against the errant official.
The salient characteristic of this Act is that most common man’s public services like birth certificate, caste domicile certificates, khasra copies, tap-water supply connections etc are listed and their timely service guaranteed. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has promised that soon the office of the Chief Minister and Ministers too will be brought within the ambit of the legislation in future. This Act is expected to empower the people to demand their right to have time bound services.
People have lost faith in the government because of ubiquitous prevalence of corruption in the society as a whole. The recent raids at high ranking officials and business tycoons by various agencies of the Centre and State have generated a sense of awe and fear among them. Resultantly, bribery seems to be on decliner at the top level, though temporarily.
Undoubtedly, the provision of requiring the Government officials to declare their assets annualy has helped a lot in the fight against corruption; nevertheless the corruption that begins from a small amount and varies to lakhs of rupees in the lower level is still thriving. It has affected the whole administrative system and posting of officers. Usually, case delay is the common tactic which most of the public servants resort to bargain their rate.
The present Public Service Guarantee Act 2010 can be expected to be right step in right direction to plug this opening of corruption. Much depends on sincere implementation of this Act in true spirit as a bulwark against corruption. It is high time that other states of the Indian Union also enact such laws and persuade the Central Government also to emulate the example of the Madhya Pradesh.
The existing loopeholes in the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, particularly in respect of prior approval of sanction to prosecute the corrupt officials should be amended and strong provisions should be incorporated that ensure smooth and speedy trial of the culprit.
Former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan in his speech in a seminar in 2009 had pointed out that the root cause of corruption is the procedural delays like granting sanction to take action against corrupt officials. Veerappa Moily, Law Minister, has reportedly said that the court interpretation of Article 311 has made it difficult to deal with corrupt civil servants.
The people are fed up with existing corrupt system which should be radically reformed to serve Aam Aadami and not to deny his due of a peaceful, corruption-free society. Political parties of all political hues should be unanimous on this point and work towards establishing good governance. People should vote for only such parties which are staedfast in their commitment to provide clean, honest and corruption-free administration. Anna Hazare’s mission cannot succeed by merely enacting law or appointing a Lok Pal; rest of the society has also to take lead in this regard.
