Subir Roy: It's not the same old corruption

Indian public life is currently in the grip of one of its periodic corruption fevers which have in the past determined the outcome of major elections. Congress governments have been particularly vulnerable to attacks on this score. While Bofors was the single howitzer that felled Rajv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao fell victim to a spray of bullets — securities (Harshad Mehta), sugar (Kalpnath Rai), urea and Chandraswamy.

But the present outbreak is different in several ways. First, although again it is a Congress government at the Centre which is embattled, it is led by a squeaky clean Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Despite this, he himself has not been entirely free from controversy. The affidavit filed on his behalf in the Supreme Court on why he has not acted on Subramanian Swamy’s request for permission to initiate proceedings against A Raja on the spectrum allocation issue can be very convincing, but it is still significant that he had to go to some length to defend his record.

The Supreme Court asking for an affidavit to be filed to explain his apparent inaction is a mark of its new assertiveness, first demonstrated by its resoundingly rhetorical question as to why Raja was then still there in the chair. But the second major difference in the present climate from the past is that the court itself has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Shanti Bhushan made a tsunami of an allegation that close to half of the last 16 chief justices were corrupt. We have not heard the last on this issue as the contempt proceedings into which Bhushan impleaded himself and made the earth-shaking assertion have not played themselves out. But none should miss the irony in an assertive Supreme Court being itself under severe scrutiny. All that can be said right now is that if the court has decided to give the political class as good as it gets, then that can only be beneficial to the political system.

The third difference from the past is that while earlier it was the government of the day which was usually shaken by an assault over corruption, thus paving the way for a change of government, this time the leading opposition party, the BJP, is itself under a major attack over corruption in Karnataka which has the only saffron government in the south. Some of the confidence with which the Congress leadership has gone about taking action against those who have come under a cloud — Suresh Kalmadi, Ashok Chavan and A Raja — must stem from the fact that the Opposition cannot occupy the high moral ground as it did in the past and the Mr Clean prime minister can still be used to project a core of integrity in a world of dross.

The fourth and a key difference from the past is the present role of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). Gone are the days when it used to stick to mostly technical “transaction audit”. It is now into “performance audit”, examining whether the government is getting the right value for its money. It has also in recent years bravely and speedily investigated key issues which are of intense public interest. Raja’s goose was finally cooked by the CAG’s report to Parliament on spectrum allocation. Suresh Kalmadi’s goose began to be cooked by the initial CAG report and the final report may complete the task.

The fifth and equally key difference today is the role being played by civil society. Much of the information on the Adarsh issue came out as a result of the implacable assault of the Medha Patkat-led NGO, National Alliance of People’s Movements, armed with the new weapon of the Right to Information Act. Similarly, the Supreme Court’s examination of the spectrum issue is in response to the moves by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation. It can well be argued that today absolutely no section is free from the controversy over corruption because the weapons to fight it have developed to a stage that they never did earlier.

The crowning irony is that at a time when corruption is seen to be all pervasive, in a way in which it never was — engulfing not just politicians and bureaucrats but also the armed forces, sports administration and even doctors — it should have been on the decline. It is the Licence-Permit Raj and the discretion that it gave to officialdom and the political executive which, theory said, was the fountainhead of corruption. Liberalisation was expected to let the market prevail and reduce the ambit of influence peddling. And liberalistion has not just taken root but is thriving, as the 8 per cent plus growth rate indicates. But far from withering away, corruption is thriving in this new dispensation.

Several realisations should follow from this. One, to get the best marketplace, you also need the most honest policeman. Two, no matter how efficient the market may be in price discovery and allocation, there will always remain a crucial role for policy. Hence the scope for corruption will never go away. Three follows from this — corruption will go down only when ethical levels improve. Four, don’t lose heart. Civil society, empowered by instruments like RTI and PIL, will make this a better country, though things may not look that way right now. Five, think poorly of businessmen who will happily influence people like Mr Raja and at the same time belittle civil society activism. And finally, six, don’t waste time reading market fundamentalist scribes who make fun of civil society.

subirkroy@gmail.com