The Anna and his anti corruption movement

It is amusing, that the country which has the distinction of being home to the largest number of hungry people in the world should be shaken by the threat of hunger by a few. But that is what has been happening since Mahatma Gandhi forged this into a weapon. Interestingly, Gandhi referred to it as a fast, not hunger strike, which it actually was. A fast has a religious undertone, as Ed Cole, the founder of the Christian Men’s Network in the United States, candidly stated: “A fast is not a hunger strike. Fasting submits to God’s commands. A hunger strike makes God submit to our demands”[1].  What India Against Corruption (IAC) staged as indefinite fast is nothing less than a hunger strike, Anna Hazare with his team tried to make parliament of India submit to their demand of Jan Lokpal bill. When he withdrew the fast he passed ultimatum to the parliament to pass the bill by august 15 and warned that if the bill is not passed he would go on fast again.

The Team Anna mobilized support of middle class population across the towns of India. The launch of campaign was well timed, it launched after exposure of series of scams at the centre and across the states of India. With much hype from media people instantaneously plunged into the anti corruption crusader’s movement. Lakhs of supporter flocked at Jantar Mantar for the fast on the call of Anna, an ardent Gandhian. The government finally agreed to introduce the Lokpal bill in the parliament. But government failed to please team Anna with its version of bill.

The IAC certainly brought the issue of corruption center stage. But it was focused narrowly on corruption in public life without a wider world view on the root causes of corruption or on the myriad other problems afflicting Indian society, had to come apart at the seams at some point. Anna targeted only political and bureaucratic class as perpetrators of corruption. The team deliberately ignored the trading class, private corporations, hawkers, middle class for whom corruption is an inevitable part of life. A middle class employee offers a bribe to regularization of his land. A hawkers pays his hafta to the cop for paying illegally encroaching on the foot path .A corporate employee bribes cops to save on his fines for jumping the signal. A company bribes to evade tax. A local trader charges more than MRP for the products. Aren’t they perpetrators of corruption? Team Anna envisaged that targeting hawker, trading class, Private Corporation, employees along with political and bureaucrat will strangle the movement. In a way the strategy did work these classes doled out huge donations and supported the movement by fasting and staging protests with Anna.

Many critiques asked Team Anna why don’t they get elected to parliament and pass the bill if they feel they are representing the aspiration of entire nation. The critiques were correct to an extent. Even Team Anna knew that they will never be able form a government even as a coalition. This became evident when Team Anna stayed out of U.P election and now their mulling over Gujarat election. But Arvind Kejriwal who scripted the drama of IAC launched his party recently. Now what one has do is to wait and watch how many seats the anti corruption crusader, who claims India to be with him will win.

                Anna misled Lakhs of people by proclaiming that a Suo motu Ombudsman can be a magic wand to end corruption. May be high school dropout was not aware of Lord Acton’s dictum “power tends to corrupt but absolute power corrupts absolutely”. What if lokpal and other perpetrators of corruption form nexus? Should we then introduce “Super lokpal” to monitor lokpal ? Introducing Lokpal without social reforms is never going eliminate corruption we have to reform the social practices. Politicians and bureaucrats are same crop from the society. Branding them as perpetrators of corruption is unfair. They share same morals like other citizens. As long as people demand delivery of services by bypassing laws, corruption can be never eliminated. The target population and strategy has to be different. The social movement should start with reformation of grass root that is nothing but people of the society. Organizations like India Against corruption have to make people pledge not to bribe any official to bypass law for delivery of any service. A civil society rather than politicizing the movement for personal gains  has to conceive movements like “zero currency” by 5^th pillar, which distributes notes to citizens to give to any civil servant they come across that asks for a bribe.  

                A bill can never be passed without parliamentarians will. Aruna Roy campaign for right to information reassured it. With Sonia interest in the bill, the dream was translated to reality. The bill was passed in 2005 and the amendments to fill the lacunas are being debated now. Team Anna should have also adopted a similar strategy rather than getting insulated from political class for being adamant on their version of bill. Civil society should never be in business of making policy; this task is best left to elected representatives who can be made accountable to the people, at least during election. More important, the making of policy demands open, accessible and public deliberations. No civil society organization can possibly provide the conditions for such wide spread discussion .Civil society , it must be stressed, is in the business of creating, fostering , nurturing and reproducing and informed public opinion that can be brought to bear on making and implementation of policy.[2]

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[1] Anand Teltumbde, ‘Fasts, Hunger and Hunger Strikes’, Economic and Political Weekly, 2011 <http://www.epw.in/margin-speak/fasts-hunger-and-hunger-strikes.html> [accessed 4 November 2012].

[2] Neera Chandhoke, ‘Whatever Has Happened to Civil Society?’, Economic and Political Weekly, 2012 <http://www.epw.in/perspectives/whatever-has-happened-civil-society.html> [accessed 4 November 2012].

Food security in India and impact of neo classical economics on it

Assignment 1- Amith Kaushik Tanneru

Food security in India

Public Distribution system (PDS) is indisputably the indispensable part of Indian Poor.  They are also called as fair price shops as Poor get their food grains, sugar, and kerosene at a subsidized stable price irrespective of market price. PDS story dates back to the Second World War after Bengal famine. PDS was setup to distribute the rationed grains as there was acute grain shortage. After Independence the PDS was introduced to cover the Industrial urban population to prevent them from food price shocks. The PDS mission was to ensure price stability and standard of living of the emerging working class. The government also stabilized price by banning future trades and restricted banks for lending loans for grain trade. By and large the food prices did not grow over time. This is in conformity with the Indian development strategy which was initially modelled after the Lewis development model [Lewis 1954] wherein the agricultural sector supports industrialisation by providing cheap labour and food(Suryanarayana and Geetha 1993). Though a majority of population rely on agriculture the government naively exploited farmers hoping Import substitution Industry (ISI) model is the only way to achieve a sustainable growth. Apart from urban regions PDS was also catered to the food deficit places.

           

Initially the procurement for the PDS was very less as United States of America supported India with PL-480 food programme. In 1964 Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established to procure the food grains from farmers and to encourage them by providing incentives. FCI procures grains from farmers at Minimum Support Price(MSP). FCI also played market price regulation role by releasing excess buffer when there was grain shortage in market. Government took every step to ensure cheap availability of food so that labours can save more and invest back in economy. The market role in food prices was regulated.

           

 This approach was followed till 5^th five year plan. PDS was made universal, covering the entire country as a part of the most popular “Garibi hato” plan, 6th five year plan. In 7^th five year plant PDS was recognised as permanent feature to regulate to control prices and price fluctuations. This model survived till 1991 Balance of payment crisis.

           

To sail over the crisis India was forced to adopt structural adjustment programme (SAP) advocated by World Bank and International Monetary fund (IMF). SAP is the offshoot of Neoclassical Economics. SAP advices countries to “tighten their belt“and reduce their fiscal imbalances. Under SAP the government has to minimize its role and allow markets to operate under freedom (free markets). India was forced to follow the Neo classical Economy approach to avail the interests at low rate.

           

The fiscal deficit of Indian of Indian government ballooned during 1980-90 due to vote bank subsidy schemes. In 1992-93 the food subsidy bill of the government was Rs 2,800crore that is equivalent to about 39 % of the government fiscal deficit. Restrictions on market led to huge black market for food grains. The ‘fair shops’ were unfair to its customers by cheating on the quantity goods by wrongly calibrating the weights. The goods pocketed were diverted to black markets. Due to these leaks in the system the black market flourished and government subsidies were wasted. Government was left with no other option other than to cut food subsidies and productively use the resources. As a result the PDS was revamped into universal to Targeted Public Distribution System (TDPS). Under TDPS 40% of Indian population which is considered to be poor is covered. Differential pricing system was created. Few Studies which have shown that a 10 per cent increase in food grain prices in the year would increase rural poverty by 10.6 per cent in the next year [Bhattacharya et al1991] (Suryanarayana 2008). This concern influenced government not ignore food subsidy to poor as a bad monsoon can put more people back to poverty. The government created two categories namely Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL). TDPS started catering to BPL. APL can also use PDS at a premium price. In 2000 new category was created for “poorest of the poor” called Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) which further subsidized the food prices. Under AAY one crore population was covered. Government advocated that the subsidies for AAY and BPL are indispensable.

           

As discussed above the FCI procures food grains at MSP as per recommendations of commission for agriculture costs and prices(CACP).CACP has to consider international price situation before recommending MSP , but It has never taken it into account. So there was a huge gap between MSP and international prices. As part of liberalization to align with the world economy the rupee was devaluated in 1991. This further widened gap between the prices. This was used as strong evidence by farmers’ groups to prove that the system of government intervention, instead of providing support to farmers, was in fact taxing them, as what was denied to farmers by not allowing access to international prices was more than what was paid to them in the form of price intervention. Protests from farmers to increase the MSP and new economic policy to integrate Indian markets with global markets forced  government to substantially hike MSP to reduce the gap between domestic and international prices(Chand 2005).But the hike in MSP and open markets did not favour farmers as per the neoclassical economics. The traders and middle men maximized their utility with rationality by exploiting farmers. The reforms failed to connect the farmers with market. This can be the limitation of neoclassical economics as Maximization of an individual’s utility can be determent to others. Traders utility maximization led to exploitation of small and marginal farmers.

             Meanwhile FCI started stocking up its warehouses with buffer grain. During 90’s PDS prices were also hiked (differential price strategy) which brought down the difference between market price and PDS price. The good quality grain was diverted into black market because of greedy officers at FCI. FCI is left with only substandard grains. People started preferring market products as market offered better quality compared to PDS.FCI cant export the grains due to poor quality of grain. The TDPS strategy instead of cutting down the food subsidy bill inflated it. The government is now proposing to increase the number of people covered under the Right to food. But the debate now is that there is no point in nearly universalizing TDPS, when the majority current allocation is underutilized due to poor quality of grains. (Suryanarayana 2008).

            Under the SAP government revamped PDS into TDPS to cut down the subsidy and target them to only needy. But in practice the government failed to cut down the food subsidy. Year on year it procured more food grains but failed to dispense them out of PDS or export them due to their poor quality. The only drain for the grains out of warehouses is Mid-day meal programme and SC/ST welfare hostels. Even the poorest of poor do not prefer FCI grain and the quota allocated to them remains underutilized. FCI sits on huge piles of buffer stock. It is on a procurement spree and is expanding its warehouses as the existing ones cannot accommodate any more. Huge procurement by FCI is keeping market prices high as its sucking huge chunk of grains into its warehouse from ever hungry markets which are depriving common man to afford grains in a local market.

            The government has changed consumption pattern with introduction of MSP. Over period the farmers shifted from growing pulses, coarse grains to wheat and rice as latter MSP are higher. Production of pulses has fallen to alarming levels and we are exporting millions of pulses.

The way out

The government should let markets decide what farmers have to grow.  FCI should have retracted instead of expanding as part of reforms. It should restrict itself only in procuring buffer stocks for market stabilization. Buffer stock becomes more important now to protect both farmer and consumer interests as the futures for gains is allowed in market which can lead to price shocks. The entire PDS system has to be disbanded as it proved to be inefficient in achieving food security and the market has to be allowed to work. The government can subsidize poor by giving them food coupons or direct cash transfers so that poor can buy goods from market. This will plug leaks and reduce the food subsidy bill. The market prices can give better incomes to farmers. By this India can achieve greater food security both by increasing purchasing power of poor. The government should also make sure that the farmers explore markets and earn profits without being exploited by middle men. By following Neo Classical Economics in both letter and spirit we can achieve a more stable food security for the nation.

Bibliography

Chand, Ramesh. 2005. “Whither India’s Food Policy?” Economic and Political Weekly (March 12). http://www.epw.in/special-articles/whither-indias-food-policy.html.

Suryanarayana, M. H. 2008. “Agflation and the Public Distribution System.” Economic and Political Weekly (May 3). http://www.epw.in/commentary/agflation-and-public-distribution-system.html.

Suryanarayana, M. H., and S. Geetha. 1993. “Revamping PDS Some Issues and Implications.” Economic and Political Weekly (October 9). http://www.epw.in/special-articles/revamping-pds-some-issues-and-implications.html.

                       

The End of Indian Growth Euphoria? What went wrong

               

RBI’s decision to leave CRR and repo unchanged sent negative vibes into the market.   RBI took bold step ignoring finance ministers hints to lower the interest rate to induce growth.  RBI believed injecting liquidity into market in the current scenario can deteriorate health of Indian economy further. With high inflation, policy paralysis, downgrade of sovereign bonds status to BBB -, global uncertainty in place many are prophesying that the Indian growth story is over. Is it?

                 

          Year 1991 stands tall in the economic history of India .The economic constitution was rewritten to save India, which was on verge of collapse. The reforms carried out changed the face of India. Past Decade India’s GDP growth has broken the intuition of ‘Hindu growth’. The world believed Indian will emerge as an economic super and will take over America by year 2025.Indian successfully steered through the global melt down even when the super powers struggled. So what went wrong? Why are credit rating agencies shrieking India may lose its investment grade for its sovereign bonds?

              

          The root cause for this crisis is set of intertwined complicated issues which are very complex to address. Here are few major issues which led India into this crisis 

1. Policy paralysis

2. Soaring Inflation.

3. Euro Crisis.

4. Depreciating rupee.

5. Huge fiscal deficit.

 Policy paralysis

               

Non cooperation from Allies and frequent stalling of parliament by oppositions for political mileage prevented government to pass crucial bills. The government could not allow increase in multi brand FDI Retail .with stiff opposition from parliament it had to roll back decision. It has great potential to create jobs, cold supply chain.  A series of scams, protests from civil societies made government to be more cautious on the decisions it take. Complex procedures to get clearances for setting up Industries delayed several huge projects like POSCO.  Red tapissim , rampant corruption led to the paralysis of government.

                To reform the current scenario we have to start it from here. Government has to get rid of all non cooperating allies and look for new friends. Opposition also should act more responsibly and let parliament function. The complex procedure to setup industries should be simplified. This will also trim of corruption and red tapissim .

Soaring Inflation

                With a soaring inflation growth slowed down . RBI had no option left other than to suck liquidity from market. Growth is always coupled with inflation.  So to prevent further spiraling  for  past two years RBI has significantly increased the repo rate hoping to tame Inflation. But the strategy misfired with a decline of growth rate. As a breather RBI has cut CRR to inject liquidity into market. But to its surprise the Recent IIP data revealed  stagnation in industrial growth.

                This situation cannot be fixed by RBI alone. It needs a helping hand from government . There are supply side bottle necks due to poor infrastructure. As part of reforms Indian railways has launched a new complete air-conditioned goods train from Surat to Delhi to ferry fruits and vegetables with less post harvest losses. Government has to come out of policy paralysis and invest hugely on these kinds of projects to get rid of supply chain bottle necks.

 Another reason for failure of RBI’s medicines to heal inflation due to existence of parallel economy. Parallel economy is combination of black money and counterfeit currency notes. When designing economic policy RBI always considers the money which is officially in circulation. Existence of mammoth parallel economy is making RBI recovery mechanisms ineffective .Parallel economy has many other repercussions also, so it’s high time that RBI issues new currency notes to get rid of this parallel economy.

A miscalculation now can spiral India into hyperinflation. A combined effort from government, RBI India can pull down the inflation pressure and put us back on the growth track.

Euro Crisis

 Many European nations are sick with contagious sovereign Debt crisis issue.  It started with Greece and spread to other nations. Failure of these Nations has slowed down investment. Now Investors prefer United States of America (U.S.A) sovereign bonds over other nations. A huge Chunk of Foreign is pulled out from India trouble shoot their domestic crisis or to invest in U.S sovereign bonds.

  

This crisis has slowed down growth in Europe. Some states are even experiencing negative growth. Europe is the one of the largest export market for India. With decline in demand for goods and services in Europe the Indian export market is finding tough to survive. With decline of exports and stable imports the trade deficit ballooned

With current uncertainty in global economy and recent downgrading of Indian sovereign bonds is making investors looking for stable markets. With non-conductive atmosphere in the country India Firms are also diverting their investments abroad. Last year a sum equivalent to 60% of total FDI inflows into the country were invested across globe from India. Projections are that in the current year inflow of FDI will be balanced by outflow. So RBI is reluctant to reduce interest Rates as this can deplete the foreign reserves further and may push us back to Balance of payment crisis.

            

              India which steered efficiently through turbulent waters of Melt down. Started giving in to Euro Crisis. This issue can be resolved by promoting exports and instill confidence in investors. This can happen only if inflation is in under control with no policy paralysis.

Depreciating Rupee

                The rupee has reached all time low. This phenomenon is a direct impact of strong dollar. As mentioned above due to change of preference in investor back to U.S sovereign bonds the dollar is emerging strong against the world currencies.  Depreciated rupee is a blessing for export industry .But India is not able to exploit as there is a decline in external growth. The Huge Trade deficit and FDI movement out of nation has further pressurized rupee to decline.

                This issue can be resolved by opening up more sectors for FDI and liberalizing FDI inflow. Tobin tax also can be imposed to prevent instability in FDI.  The government also concentrates on bilateral agreements to boost exports so that BOP can be lowered.

Huge Fiscal deficit

               

IMF extended support to India on the condition that India would curtail its populist schemes and reduce its expenditure in non productive areas. But government is back to populist subsidy schemes. Subsidies are main reason for the ballooned fiscal deficit.  Diversion of funds into non productive schemes made government handicapped to invest in infrastructure.

                It’s high time for government to cull all the non productive schemes and reduce the fiscal deficit and use other funds to boost growth. In short government should believe in inclusive growth than subsidizing. Inclusive growth will improve purchasing power of people

               

                It’s evident that all the above issues are interrelated and can are very complex. These issues are critical in nature but can have solutions to put India back on growth spree. Lets hope government acts responsibly and steers us out like how it did during melt down.

The Story of Indian Brothels

                Yes you read it right its the story of brothels.  A Dictionary defines brothel is a place which houses prostitutes. But I believe it’s a place where destitute people live. 

                The Documentary ‘Born Into Brothels’ opens with an interview of  9 year old kid, kochi born to a prostitute.  kochi expresses her desire to get out this line and have a good life. You can find thousands of kids like Kochi in Red Districts of India who are searching for a ticket to get out of this misery.

                Prostitution is not something which emerged recently. Its one of the oldest profession of the world. It dates back to era of Babylonians. Even our Indian history speaks about devadasi system and brothel houses across kingdoms. But these houses don’t have king’s patronage any more. With advent of democracy in India the status of Prostitutes in the society got degraded further .The ministry of Woman and child development reports that there are 2.8 million sex workers in India out of which 36% of them are forced into flesh trade by 18 years.  Statistics also say that by 2025 in India every one child of 5 girls will be a child prostitute.

              
 It’s not the women who makes choice to lead life as a prostitute. In majority of cases Parents, husbands; relatives force woman and children into prostitution and work as pimps for easy bucks. There are many incidents where woman are sold to brothel by traffickers who lure them with the hope of employment or give false hope in the name of love. Of course there is also increase in College students indulging into prostitution to lead luxurious life. We can’t also deny high profile prostitution which involves demy gods. College students and models are involved to support their luxurious life.  But what this country is concerned now is about prostitution out of poverty. 

Prostitution is definitely an Evil. It’s a torture for women who are into it. But they have no choice other than to stay in it, as society won’t accept them back as a normal human being. It’s a open secret that brothels houses exploit sexual workers by under paying them and forcing them to live in harsh environment. These sex workers stay in brothels not by choice but by force.  Prostitution also involves drugs and illicit liquor .Prostitutes are forced into drug abuse by customers. This is further deteriorating the health condition of sex traders. Sex workers can’t seek help of any government or court as their employment is not legal

Many Indians believe that prostitution is illegal India.The truth is prostitution is legal and our law allows women to exchange sex for her material needs. But maintaining brothels, pimping, seducing customers, indulging in sexual activity close to public places are punishable offenses in India.Constitution of India guarantees its citizens protection from exploitation and from human trafficking. Government of India took many steps to suppress prostitution. It  signed UN convention on immoral trafficking in 1950. As a result ‘suppression of Immoral trafficking ‘(SITA) act was passed by in 1956. This was further amended in 1986 to create Prevention of Immoral Trafficking (PITA) act which forces government to provide rehabilitation if sex workers demand for it.

Prostitution is a blooming 100 billion dollar industry globally. Many countries like Thailand legalized it and are using it for promotion of tourism .off late Indian red districts are also attracting tourists from abroad. This trend was observed during common wealth games. The big debate now is whether to legalize prostitution in India as an industry.

Legalizing prostitution is the only way to protect these outcasted people. It can light up fading lives of sex workers by

1.     restricting exploitation of brothel houses and will ensure proper wages for sex workers.

2.       providing them an identity in the society and will let them live in dignity.

3.       Sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV can be controlled as license will be issued only to healthy people.

4.       It will help government to effectively deliver rehabilitation programs and support to pull people who want to come out of flesh trade.

5.      It will socially elevate prostitutes who are being treated worse than animals now.

6.       It can prevent children being forced into prostitution.

7.       proving advice on safe sex to prostitutes.

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It won’t be fair if other side of coin is not discussed. Legalizing of prostitution will have its own impact society.

1.       Will allow them to set up brothel in notified areas also.

2.       India Will experience sharp raise of woman moving into prostitution as its easy way to earn money.

If the government is not ready to legalize this industry it has to at least implement following for betterment of prostitutes. 

1.       Government has to religiously implement PITA, which deals with rehabilitation and safe houses for woman who is willing to give up prostitution.

2.       Vocational training to provide alternative employment.

3.       Free Boarding schools for children of sex workers.

4.       Educate prostitutes to have safe sex and not to indulge in drug abuse . With this government can check spread of STD and HIV.

Prostitution is a one way opportunity. There is no coming back. Society is not ready to accept rehabilitated prostitutes. That is the sole reason why despite of government efforts prostitutes are not willing to join main stream of society.  This needs a change in our attitude towards them.. After all they are humans who are into flesh trade to fill their hungry stomachs. When society can accept corrupt people who sell their soul for money why can’t it accept people who sell their body for money?

The Nosy Government

Invention of internet by Tim Berners-Lee revolutionized the way world used to communicate. Almost a decade later social networking sites came up with new way to share thoughts.  The social networking wave has taken world with it, Indian youth are no exception. With more than 4 % India’s population as active social networkers the websites turned into a forum to express their opinions.

                        Posts on social networking sites are viral in nature and it can reach millions around the globe in a short span. “Kolaveri Di” song is an apt example for viral nature of social network. Past few years’s people effectively exploited the viral nature of social networking sites to organize protest against government.  Egypt is the forerunner to utilize the social networks to topple the autocratic government and establish a democracy.  The revolution in Egypt is a concrete proof of what social network sites can do to a nation.

We can observe this trend among Indians users also. During Anna Harare’s campaign for lokpal ,social networking played a key role to educate people to protest for a strong lokpal.  Off late Youth started using social networking sites to show their dissent against government. Few cartoons and morphed photos which are certainly objectionable became viral. This made government to take a decision to monitor posts on social networking sites.

Social networking sites are also being used to spread inflammatory content about religion. By Religious fundamentalist to turn youth against other religions. They are also being used for illegal activities like drug trafficking, child pornography etc. All these can be serious internal threats.

Its moral responsibility of government to protect its citizens from offensive content .So government has every right to monitor and censor inflammatory posts for national interests. But the Indian government should not turn autocratic like Chinese government and start censoring posts on internet against it. Government has to selectively exercise its power to censor posts. It can do it as long as it can justify its act to censor any post

            The Constitution of India guarantees fundamental right “freedom of expression” to its citizens. Constitutional framers did not want people to be deprived of freedom of thought from their colonial rule experiences. But this is not an absolute fundamental right given to the citizens. Government can suspend it on grounds of threat to national integrity, stability of government and armed rebellion.

It’s all about choice. Misuse of any right can deprive us of that. Citizens should also responsibly exercise their freedom of speech. Just because constitution assures them a fundamental right they should not misuse it. Instead of posting derogatory comments they have participate in constructive discussion. In a democratic country like India every individual has a powerful tool called ‘VOTE’ to vent his/her anger against the government. Once citizens start responsibly using internet there won’t be any necessity for government to monitor and control social networking sites. 

After all none of us want to head back to colonial age!

The Indian Magic Wand

Corruption has broken the back of this nation and slowed down its progress. It can slip us back into abyss if we fail to treat this rot in society. Corruption is defined as “Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery”.   Corruption is a punishable offence in India under Indian penal code and anti corruption laws. Anti corruption law passed in 1988 made offering a bribe also a crime. Every citizen of this nation knows bribery is a punishable offence and with numerous laws passed, constitutional and non constitutional bodies we still failed to curb corruption. There are numerous reasons for growth of corruption but the root cause for all the reasons is “degradation of moral values in society”.

             Proposal are brought in to create an ombudsman “ lokpal” to investigate corruption which covers all executive and government employees as early as 1969 but it could not be passed in parliament.  Off late civil societies are aggressively advocating need to bring in lokpal to reduce the corruption. Can lokpal be a magic wand to reduce the corruption??

         As The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) said “the Lokpal can remove the sense of injustice from the minds of deeply affected citizens but also necessary to instill public confidence in the efficiency of the bureaucracy “. Yes an effective Lokpal organization can reduce corruption.

  We have effective organization like CBI, CAG(its report revealed 2G scam) and CVC at central level and Anti corruption Bureau (ACB) at state to tackle these corruption. Even after having effective organization Corruption is rampant in India because of

  1. Snail paced judiciary process.

  2. Low conviction rate.

  3. Lack of teeth for existing organizations.

  4. Interference of politicians and bureaucrats in investigation.

                                    Most of aggrieved people are not approaching these organizations as they believe justice won’t be served to them. Creation a strong Ombudsman like lokpal can address all these issues. Institution like lokpal proved to be effective in Scandinavian countries and New Zealand and  turned them into corruption free countries.

But creation of lokpal without the following reforms can turn lokpal into a toothless tiger. 

1.      Red tapism is a major reason for corruption. Liberalizing government policies and relaxing the norms in non critical sectors can reduce Red Tape

2.      As per the new public Admistration theory, government has to roll back from the areas of exercise. By doing this it will minimize the role of public servants.

3.      Passing new laws to give teeth for existing organizations. Such as suo motu rights for investigation.

4.       Setting up fast track courts to convict criminals as soon as possible.

5.      Society has to inculcate high moral values.

    No one can predict whether lokpal can be right medicine for corruption. But its worth to give a try. The concrete solution for corruption is to morally elevate society to take an oath not to accept /offer a bribe. But institutes like lokpal can defiantly substantiate our efforts to reduce it.