Anna, Bribes, Lokpal Bill, Corruption and India's progress

Ob-pf059_anna_e_20110818031504

I think the biggest misconception right now in the minds of the people of India is due to the mix-up of all these topics or concerns i.e.

  1. Anna Hazare - an individual who is leading a people to stand for a bill to be passed in the Parliament which does not change anything in the country until its tried and tested
  2. The habit of giving/taking bribes in India which citizens of India are so used to
  3. Lokpal Bill that essentially empowers an independent team to prosecute corrupt government officials
  4. Grass-root level corruption in government offices
Obscurity in our minds:
  1. Anna Hazare is Jesus Christ against Corruption
  2. The habit of giving and taking bribes directly is a bad thing and if you do take or give bribes, you have no right to support Lokpal because you are responsible for the corruption as a part of this "system" (Oh yeah, some people love saying this!)
  3. Lokpal Bill when passed, government officials will stop taking bribes
  4. Grass-root level corruption in government offices is responsible for everything that goes wrong in this "system"(I love using this word too!)
Let's get real:
  1. Anna is not Jesus Christ; he is simply Anna for God's sake. He is most certainly a gentleman who has a point but it is just a means to the end and not the end itself and that is something all of us need to realize.

  2. Just because you take a bribe or have given a bribe (I admit I have) does not mean you can't stand for an anti-corruption protest. Corruption is beyond taking or giving bribes. I read somewhere recently that our parents and grandparents were born in an age where bribing was the way to get things done. This is still the way in a lot of places and you can not deny that. Forget urban areas, in villages bribing is often the means of survival (ration). It is sad to see how some people compare these small acts of bribing with the thousands of crores of money laundering scams of politicians and corporates in our country! Come on, give me a break. In that context, yesterday's Mumbai Mirror's take on this was a cheap shot. "If you have never paid a bribe then write to us and you get to meet Anna" (Again, he is not Jesus Christ that I would really want to meet him). 

    Bribing has less to do with corruption and more to do with incentives and compensation policies set for government officials at the grass-root level. No protest and Lokpal bill can bring an end to these bureaucratic issues. If we are talking about "corruption", we should be worried about the black money stashed by politicians in Swiss Banks which never return to our economy!(I'm not endorsing grass-root level corruption. It is not a good idea and I would love to see that change as well but let's not mix that up with >  Lokpal, Anna, 3G Scams, Politicians getting away with things, etc.)

  3. As explained above, Lokpal has less to with grass-root level government officials but more to do with politicians who get away with scams that cause a deficit in our economy. Unfortunately, it is being propagated as a common man's fight against day-to-day bribing. BS. Even if that were to happen, I'm pretty sure, the judiciary will need to recruit a million more judges to see every case. Quite frankly, it does not make any economic sense.

  4. If corruption alone were the problem, we would not have the wrong people in the Parliament and we would not have a weak judiciary. There are other things we need to start thinking about:

  1. A rusty old Constitution
  2. Compensation policies in government offices 
  3. Examine more closely why there is corruption in the first place: Was there something wrong with the way we set policies to give out 3G licenses in the first place? Have we given too much power to the politicians? Do we need a new way to govern this country? 
  4. and a lot more I'm sure
Until then, God bless Anna. And yes, I support his cause but not the way a lot of people do with candles, torches, silence or Facebook profile badges! :-D