In the era of coalition politics, the priority of any Government is to survive. It is not about ushering in transparency in the working of the administration or making the bureaucracy efficient and responsive
I was invited by a group of industrialists in a very important State to speak to them on a subject of my choice. I exhorted them to rid India of the evil of corruption which is eating into the vitals of the country, and explained how we have become one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
In the question and answer session, I was told by the industrialists that at times there were 65 inspectors from various Government departments visiting their factories every month. Each one of those inspectors had the power to shut down their factories even if they were complying with all the rules and regulations. I asked the industry-owners why they had to bribe the inspectors, if everything was in order. I was told that the inspectors’ words were law — no superior officials entertained complaints against them as they made their own cut in the process.
When I asked if any higher-up also had a share in the extorted money, one person in the audience asked me back if I was referring to Ministers. I said: “Yes”. He told me a story about a businessman who wanted approval for setting up a new industry. A certain amount was agreed upon, and the Minister cleared the file. When the required amount of money was not delivered on time, he called for the file and added the word “Not” before the word “Approved”.
The businessman was in a dilemma. He found another middle man, who said that now the amount of bribe would be double, as the reputation of the Minister was involved. Once he had received the bribe, the Minister called for the file and added an “e”. The status was changed to “Note Approved”. This is, of course, not to say that all politicians are dishonest.
Regarding the mid-day meal scheme, I once ran into a contractor who boasted that, no matter which party was heading the Government, he was the one who would always get the contract because he knew the price of each person involved in the assignment process. He also added that he was changing the name of his company, as it had been held responsible for the death of students.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Mr Narendra Modi, made a veiled reference to the removal of Ms Jayanthi Natarajan from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, when he sarcastically told a rally in Panaji: “We had heard of income, sales and excise taxes, but for the first time we heard about a ‘Jayanthi tax’ in Delhi, without which nothing was moving.”
Ms Natarajan replied: “It is a targeted personal attack. I totally deny what he says. It is completely baseless. There are major green violations in Gujarat. He was destroying the environment. I was opposed to his destruction of the environment.” Of course, she did not specifically refer to any project or proposal. Her ‘resignation’ had triggered speculation that it was due to reported complaints from the industry that she was holding up environmental clearances.
When the new Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr Veerappa Moily, took charge, he found that nearly 350 files had been held back by his predecessor. Documents accessed by a newspaper showed that as many as 180 of these files were returned from Ms Natarajan’s residence on December 22, 23 and 24, 2013, and they were all unsigned. But 119 were signed files which were still held back by the Minister, while another 50 were retained by her staff. As many as 28 of these were sent to her in 2012, while two or three date back to 2011.
The former Union Minister had also drawn flak for delaying crucial projects during her tenure. She had even sat on Haryana’s 2,800MW nuclear power project at Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district for over a year. On September 24, 2012, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd sent a pre-feasibility report, draft terms of references, the public hearing report and request on prescribed pro forma to the MoEF, seeking environmental clearance.
During the period Ms Natarajan was the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, she reportedly held over the file without giving any reasons. The project was given a go-ahead by her successor and cleared on December 27, 2013. The foundation stone for the Rs 23,502-crore project was laid by the Prime Minister on January 6.
Indeed, corruption, delay and inefficiency are inter-linked and cannot exist without one another. As a District Superintendent of Police in Karnataka, I had once promoted a young Muslim constable to the rank of head constable for risking his life to arrest a desperado, and for suffering a gunshot wound from the criminal’s illegal weapon. Since I was heading a relatively small district, I could visit all the police stations in a month.
During my next visit I found the person, who should have received his promotion orders a month before, was still doing the duty of a constable. I asked him whether he had got his promotion orders. He said, “No”. I launched an inquiry into the matter. On returning to the office, I found that the letter signed by me had not been issued for over a month.
Two days later, I got a report that the despatch clerk of my office wanted Rs 100 for mailing the letter. When I officially called for an explanation, the clerk came up with the excuse that there was too much work and the file might have been buried under other files. I checked the Receipt and Despatch Register and discovered that on an average 10 letters were received or dispatched daily. When I confronted the clerk, he had no explanation. I suspended him and finally dismissed him for dereliction of duty.
It is a known case that when a Minister or his family’s NGO was charged in the media for misusing a few lakhs meant for the underprivileged, one of his colleagues had remarked: “I do not think that he would have done it as it involved a small amount.” The people of the country also cannot escape blame, as the votes are mostly given on caste, religion or region. After all, politicians are selected from among the people. In the era of coalition politics, the priority of any Government is to survive; it is not about ushering in transparency in the working of the administration or making it efficient and responsive.
The only principle of a politician or a political party is to become the ruler — the ruled be damned. We have all kinds of regulators and inspectors whose real job mostly is to extract as much money as possible, notwithstanding the grand claims of politicians. Rajiv Gandhi had said in 1988 that out of one rupee meant for the poor, only 15 paisa reaches the beneficiary. It remains the case today.