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Corruption... a canker no more?

Society is more tolerant of those operating on the fringes of the law and this has allowed the political class to be blase about certain things, which were a strict `no-no' in the past. Alok Mukherjee reports.

THE LAST decade of the last century has seen India transform like never before. While the political landscape saw the emergence of the Mandal-Mandir issue, ethical and social values changed as the country marched on the path of globalisation. Competitiveness and consumerism are the new mantras in urban and semi-urban India and their by-product has been a growing indifference to the values that India traditionally nurtured.

Today, the Indian youth has two main aspirations — success and wealth, and a majority is not averse to bending the rules a little to achieve them. Society is more tolerant of those operating on the fringes of the law and this has allowed the political class to be blasé about certain things, which were a strict `no-no' in the past. Unthinkable in earlier times, we now have a Central Minister advocating that entrepreneurs must exceed the limits of law to grow the market. And the Minister is not the sole representative of the political class willing to give the ethical values the go-by.

There have been many instances in the almost six-year rule of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre in which political expediency has been given priority over propriety. The biggest scandal to hit the NDA Government was the capturing on camera of the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, Bangaru Laxman, taking money. The same exposé brought to TV screens scenes of money being passed on inside the residence of the Defence Minister, George Fernandes. While Mr. Laxman lost his job and now portrays himself as one wronged by his party, Mr. Fernandes is back as Defence Minister after a brief sojourn out of the Cabinet. As for the journalists at Tehelka who exposed the whole issue, they have been financially ruined. Dilip Singh Judev, next BJP leader to be "caught" accepting money on tape, and till recently the Minister of State for Environment and Forests, has resigned, but the Government's efforts are now directed towards finding out who dared to "fix'' him.

Not that the BJP partners in the NDA are extremely concerned about values. Last year, the then Union Minister for Power, Suresh Prabhu, was eased out of the Cabinet, because his party boss thought Mr. Prabhu was fancying himself as "Mr. Clean'' and not "helping" the party — Shiv Sena.

The Trinamool Congress, another of the NDA allies, walked out of the alliance, protesting the continuance of Mr. Fernandes after the Tehelka exposé. It bit the dust in the West Bengal Assembly elections and rejoined the NDA. All the accusations and allegations, of course, have been forgotten and forgiven.

And only recently, there were reports that the Chief Vigilance Commissioner complained to the Prime Minister that some Union Ministers were seeking undue favours from public sector undertakings under their charge. The official denial was guarded — no names were mentioned by the CVC, it said. That was all. The Congress has now demanded a probe into the issue.

Ducking accountability seems to have been perfected by the NDA Government. There was a major stock market scam during 2001, but apparently no official or politician was asked to account for it. The country's largest mutual fund, the Unit Trust of India, almost went under — not once but twice — but again, no political accountability has been fixed. The public sector disinvestment exercise has had its share of controversies, including a possible underselling of the Centaur Hotel in Mumbai. No explanations were offered in this case either.

State level politics has also seen brazen acts of switching party loyalties, of open defiance in the absence of a ministerial berth, and of sworn enemies coming together to stay in power. There are instances of Chief Ministers hounding their predecessors on corruption charges, and counter-charges being levelled against the Chief Ministers by those out of power now. There is the instance of a Chief Minister being accused of forwarding false caste certificates to take advantage of reservation and of that of a former Chief Minister running a State by proxy while out on bail.

It is new India in the 21st century. Ethics, social values, nationalism and propriety are on the wane. School teachers are not paid salaries for months. Young doctors do not serve in Government hospitals even in urban areas.

The defence forces are facing a shortage of officers. Top police officials are in jail because of alleged links with criminals. Little wonder then that few complain about the brazen activities of the political class.

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• Brazening it out
• Venality on videotape
• Corruption... a canker no more?
• Small screen magic
• Money matters
• The mask comes off

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