In our society, we see a lot of allegations being flung across almost every day. Many discussants give verdicts exclusively based on their beliefs and prejudices. In short, allegations are celebrated. Observations of courts are treated as last words. When one issue loses steam, others quickly follow. Where are our discussions in the public domain leading us to? Often, only facts which are convenient are revealed. Nothing can be worse than this. All these have added to what is generally called the Corruption Perception in the society. The issues involved are complex and can be analysed only if there is time and patience for details. Investigators or some of them (who are mystified), and certain agencies that are glorified and sought after, are expected to unwrap the riddles wrapped in mystery inside an enigma (to borrow Winston Churchill’s description of Soviet Union).
As the process of unwrapping is on, a parallel mini screen trial also starts. Sometimes, it can help to make the public more informed but mostly it results in forming a conclusion on the basis of partly revealed information. Be that as it may, as a civil society, it is time to take stock of many of our beliefs and perceptions. Today, we are standing dumbfounded when mind boggling figures of alleged swindles are being reduced to ashes at the trial court stage. Why these happen is yet another story. Let us see what should be a logical end. If an official, citizen or an investigative journalist, finds out that there is prima facie corruption in an act of omission or commission, the first step should be an impartial look into the issue and if there is merit in it, further steps leading to trial, discharge, conviction, acquittal and appeals, as the case may be, should follow.
Here, the foremost question is whether such a logical process is followed or not? There is a trust deficit which is widening and an immediate urging for ‘investigation by an outside agency’. Some years back, the strident demand used to be inquiry by a certain Officer, who is considered a (or so called) legend in the field. Now, the latter is not much heard of. It could be either because we are short of such personalities with perceived extraordinary capabilities or with more information at our command we have found many to have feet of clay. Presently at the first stage itself, public interest litigation starts. Given this low level of confidence, there is a crying need for establishing an impartial mechanism, which should appear also to be so for many, if not all.
If a vast majority of the issues which generates the cyclonic corruption perception and makes and mars political and bureaucratic fortunes, end up as a non sequitur, something is seriously wrong in our collective perception. We emphasise on putting certain personalities in the dock and in many cases, finally nothing comes out of the whole exercise, In this process, systemic faults which need plugging so that preventive mechanisms against corruption becomes effective becomes a last priority in the discussions.
In the last few years, our State has had a high tide of corruption perception. Many are in investigative stages and hence no names are mentioned. But this tide does not lift the moral level of the society. Newer stories crop up everyday and heroes and heroines emerge. slips the basic understanding is that a government servant is paid for upholding law of the land. If someone carries on this duty, she/he need not brag about it or no one need be eulogised for that. The flip side of this process of heroine/ hero building is that the society gets a deep rooted perception that only a few do their duty and many others who are silent torchbearers of their duty,are branded and tarred by the corruption or inefficient brush.
It is a fact that those who loot the system do exist. The best is to plug the loopholes for such exploitation and in extreme cases, expose them with proper evidence. There should be an effective authority with independent powers to handle these issues. But there should also be checks and balances so that no megalomaniac is allowed to emerge out of this. Above all, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Processes in the system should be open to public, except when security interests are at stake and audit and vigilance should be concurrent with decision making and not exercises of exhuming skeletons. Sooner we move in this direction, the better. Cacophony is no solution to any problem.
Information should flow and processes should become preventive in nature. This is the basis for confidence building. Instead, if an all round crisis of confidence is created, it would degenerate quickly into a chaos. During chaos, the tribe of looters breed in plenty, while newer heroines/ heroes would be portrayed as striding colossuses. In a developing democracy, everyone has a stake holder’s role. There is no need for paid civil servants to become heroines and heroes. But for this, the terrain of the field has to change and rules of the game followed. How much have we benefitted to move in this direction from the splurge of discussions we had in the recent times, especially last one year is the pertinent question. Honestly, have we not moved faster in the reverse direction? The answer can be yours.
(The writer is a former IRS official and is now a member of Kerala Public Expenditure Review Committee)
