CAN WE EVER BECOME CORRUPTION FREE?
A brave and farsighted taskmaster like Mr. T.N. Seshan, a pioneer in electoral reforms, sought to root out corruption by streamlining the election machinery, though he set the trend and started the chain reaction for transparency in elections as far as possible, laying clear-cut guidelines for his successors, the task he set for himself and his followers, still remains incomplete. Today, corruption is a thriving industry and you pump in all the resources at your command, it is sure that it can get ten times that amount by the time your term as member of the legislative body expires.
The large-scale demolitions of buildings, the so-called illegal structures, by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi showed the complex path which corruption takes. Why was no action taken when these structures came up? Doesn’t it show that many did connive at the coming of these structures after they got their palms greased?
Calling for national movement against corruption and installing a foolproof monitoring system to look into complaints and malpractices by Members of Parliament, the Communist Party of India suggested the use of a vital weapon like the ‘right to recall’ by the voters. This system is already in trend in the United States. Under this right, one of the Governor was elected in his place by the electorate. Here in India, an elected representative could prove to be a misfit and indulge in all types of corruption and still continue in office till the term expires.
How can we expect our standards of efficiency or morality to remain high when the whole system the bureaucracy, the police, the education system, the public utility services and even the local self-government remains second-rate or of questionable character? How do we boast of our knowledge power, economic prosperity and technological advancement, when it stars stinking in the backyard?
Corruption neutralizes our gains in the other fields. It...