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RUNNING HEAD CORRUPTION FREE INDIA S.S.PRADEEP KUMAR AMRITA SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING TAMIL NADU

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CORRUPTION FREE INDIA INDIA, an age old land with one of the worlds oldest and the only surviving civilization has been facing the biggest threat in its history presently. This is not being inflicted by China or Pakistan, but due to the menace of corruption. Corruption is a cancer that is not restricted to any particular political party. It infects the whole system. If left unchecked it has the capability of becoming a dark chapter in Indias growth story, which will bring about the breakdown of governance. REASONS:Corruption refers to the misuse of public power for private profit. According to Lord Acton, "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Of course we can say that corruption is a usual phenomenon in a country going through its developing phase. But past 65 years of an independent Indias life time is long enough to combat with this evil and emerge victorious. After our independence from Britain, we adopted a mixed economic system of both socialism and capitalism and are more lenient towards socialism. This could be due to the American Cold war policy that "those who are not with us are against us, the support given by U.S.S.R to non-alignment policy and technological help provided by the former Soviet Union. Under Socialism, the essential industries are run and kept under the control of government officials. If this power has no checks on it, then this will be the breeding grounds for corruption. This was what exactly happened in India's case [vesting more powers in the hands of an official without proper accountability]. Secondly, the red tape and complicated rules and procedures of our governance can be said as one of the reasons for corruption. People who want to get their work done without any hurdles are not hesitant to give bribes. The demand of scarce goods and services also leads to large scale corruption. This can be seen in recent scams like 2G scam, spectrum scam of Anthrix Corporation, etc... Electoral drawbacks in our country lead to the involvement of high amount of money for campaigning and yielding corruption in legislatures. This means that there is very less chance for a poor person with right intentions to be elected. In India, corruption prevails mainly in the lower grade officers [like clerks, constables, etc.] and the highly respected legislatures. While the former is forced to take extra money, since the salaries given by the government are very less to sustain his family, the latter is attracted to make even more money because of the high amount of financial transactions that take place in front of him and lack of transparency. Another form of corruption is the accumulation of black money by not paying taxes and parking it in foreign banks with the help of either local banks or direct contacts. This is could be due to a very complex tax structure in the country. These are only a few examples of the growing corruption and the list is exhaustive. RESULTS:The fall of Roman empire, the outbreak of French revolution, October revolution (in Gregorian calendar), Chinese nationalist movement and even the defeat of various parties in power all over the world including that of the Congress party of India in the 1970's ; all these events are the result of corruption in some form or the other. The political-criminal nexus, electoral drawbacks, land mafia and the overflowing black money have tarnished the image and credibility of the country. If an entity wants to establish an industry, it has to be in good terms with many people ranging from parties in power, opposition parties and number of ministers in the government to local politicians and also with non-governmental organizations in order to prevent them from protesting. Land Acquisition Bill which has been tabled in parliament will increase the problems of the corporates. So with these drawbacks, can a country aim to be an industrially and scientifically

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developed country? Will the money, which is wiped out of our economy as black money and parked in foreign banks, be of any use in our countries growth story? Will our country ever be a super power with these levels of corruption? These are only a few questions in an exhaustive list of questions which should be answered by every patriot of India.

The history of corruption in our country, as everyone considers, didn't start at Jeep Scandal of 1948 but dates back to several centuries. One of the most adverse and direct impacts of corruption on our country is seen in the battle of Buxar,1757 between Siraj-UdDaula and British East India Company where the company bribed the officials of the Nawab which lead to the seizure of power in Bengal. This is only one of the many examples where corruption took the toll on our country. The nuisance of black money in our country is not an unknown one. It runs a parallel economy to the Indian Economy and is called Black Economy. Tax evasion is the main cause of the accumulation of Black money. Another reason is the printing of counterfeit coins in our neighbouring countries. It is a well-known fact that no country, which has been suffering from corruption, has ever flourished and this will gradually corrode the society and, of-course, lead to its disintegration like that of U.S.S.R. Even our judicial system is not immune to this virus and started deteriorating the ethical and moral values of the country from where it derives its pride. The Judicial Accountability Bill which is in the parliament is a welcome step by our government to introduce the element of accountability to our judicial system which is until now left unchecked. Our Public Distribution System which is far from scoring at least an average not only added to corruption but also increased its rate by smuggling goods like kerosene to neighbouring countries. Corruption has also lead to rise of human trafficking across the borders. Its becoming harder and harder for a civilian to get his rightful work done in a government office. So there is a need from every corner of the society to eliminate this evil practice. STEPS TAKEN:One of the first steps taken by our government to tackle this menace was by introducing Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 which repealed the earlier enactment of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. It deals with corruption of public servants. Main drawbacks of the act are: a) the court cannot proceed in a case without the prior sanction from competent authority. b) In this era of globalism, capitalism, and liberalization, the role of private players is also well established in corruption. But this act cannot deal with private players. Some of the other important legislations are: a) Special Courts Act, 1992 b) CVC [Central Vigilance Commission] Act, 2003. The Central Vigilance Commission act, 2003 gives powers to CVC to inquire into allegations committed under prevention of corruption act, 1988. It has the supervisory powers over CBI. The CVC also has an online whistle blower compliant mechanism available on its website. The office of COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL [CAG] plays an important role in unearthing corruptions and wrong auditions by scrutinizing all the financial reports of the public undertaking and tabling their report in parliament. It has produced several reports on state departments revealing many financial irregularities, suggesting lack of monitoring of public expenses, poor targeting and corrupt practices in many branches of government. In recent times, Union government has faced the wrath of the CAG for irregularities in 2G spectrum dealings, coal blocks allocation and few more. But the CAG, after all, is an advisory body. It has no real power to execute. Its reports can be a potent tool in the hands of Opposition and Civil societies.

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INDIA is also a signatory to the UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION [UNCAC]. Along with this ratification, India has signed agreements with many countries for co-ordinating in matters of money laundering, tax avoidance, etc. Agreements with tax havens like Cayman Islands, Mauritius, etc. are also in place for unearthing the huge amount of black money kept in foreign banks with the money going round and coming back to India as foreign currency. An agreement with Switzerland has already started showing the results.

While talking about the measures taken by the government, one cannot ignore to mention about the RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005 which makes right to information as one of the fundamental rights and allows the civilians to know how the government is spending their money. It has promoted transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. It has helped in unearthing some of the biggest ever scams in India, like 2G case, adarsh scam, coal scam to mention a few. Attempts were made by the government to curtail the reach of RTI Act, but were repelled successfully, thanks to the opposition. Even LOKYUKTAS, established in some states, has proved to be giving better results. They have aided in prosecution of some chief ministers. One of the important projects of the UPA government is the AADHAR project, which digitalizes the information of all the 1.22 billion citizens of our country, making it easier to track financial transactions, movement of people, etc. This helps in dealing with irregularities in Public Distribution System by directly transferring the amount to the beneficiarys bank account by using Aadhar information. This also comes handy for projects like MGNREGA. The SUPREME COURT of India has played a vital role as a crusader against corruption. Some of its verdicts like that of 2G case, VINEET NARAIN vs. UNION OF INDIA, Prakash Singh Badal Vs. State of Punjab, etc. fills hope that the judicial system of our country will not allow it to fall prey for corruption. SUGGESTIONS:

A complete independent and autonomous authority of lokpal at the centre and lokyuktas at state under the command of lokpal should be setup as early as possible, as stated in the two Administrative Reforms Commission of 1966, 2005. Central Bureau of Investigation should be removed from the clutches of the government and made independent under CVC. Cases which are given to the CBI by lokpal should be investigated under the control of the latter. Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, has to be amended so that the prior sanction of the authority is not required and a mere complaint by individual should be enough to start an inquiry. Whistle Blowers Protection Bill must be passed immediately and further deaths of RTI activists should be stopped. Citizens Charter Bill should be passed and it should apply to state government officers also. Public Distribution System should be revamped and the subsidies should be directly transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries. Electoral reforms should be taken up at an appropriate pace by introducing: a) Right to recall an elected representative with a certain safeguards like requiring 70% of the

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peoples consent. b) By saying good-bye to first pass the pole method and introducing proportional representation. Observing closely how the anti-corruption bodies work in Singapore and Denmark. Give more powers to CAG to audit even the private companies and giving the real powers of comptroller to CAG by making it mandatory to get approval from him for expenses from CONSOLIDATED FUND OF INDIA, NATIONAL DISINVESTMENT FUND. More stringent laws should be provided to deal with money laundering, black money, illegal foreign accounts, etc. Judicial Accountability Bill has to be passed in such a way that it should neither hinder nor take away the independence of judiciary. Giving opposition parties a respectable role not only in parliament, but also in government, like that of U.S.A. There should be effective decentralization of the anti-corruption institutions. An independent anti-corruption police system, free from executive interference, should be established. Greater independence to media should be given only after the political-press nexus is destroyed completely. A multi member panel should be formed for vital government departments. Administrative reforms should be taken at a faster pace and should be in a direction led by the two ARC's. The Economic Offenses Unit of the states needs to be strengthened to effectively investigate cases and there should be better co-ordination among the existing units. Digitalization of all the services should be done at a faster rate. Just like the government institutions being responsible to government, the elected representatives should also be responsible to the citizens & it should be mandatory to answering the citizens queries from their constitution. All the politicians and jurists have to announce the properties of their kith and kin, including those of their close aides. Each state should have a State Vigilance Commission to look into the cases of corruption against state government officials. The Anti-Corruption Bureau [ACB] has to be brought under the control of State Vigilance Commission.

CONCLUSION:Good governance does not occur by chance. It must be demanded by people and should be encouraged unequivocally and consciously by a country. Concept of governance is undoubtedly linked with the citizens right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is secured in a democracy only through the rule of law. In Francis Fukuyama's words, "the mission of the modern politics is to tame the power of the state, and to direct state activities towards what is regarded as legitimate by the people it saves, and to subject the exercise of state power to the rule of law. The admission and recognition of how we contribute to the corruption is the first step towards any change. Civil societies have a major role in creating awareness among the people of the ill effects of giving and taking bribes and should simultaneously help the government with their new innovative ideas to tackle the menace of corruption. Civil societies have played a very critical role in advocating the right to information for the citizens. This has been proved by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan by launching a campaign against the corruption in Rajasthan government department & fighting for the right to access the documents of government which resulted in the RTI Act of 2005. We can think about a corruption free India only when everyone thinks that, to oppose

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corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism" [By Edward Griffin]. A corruption free India would show the world what we can achieve and we can rightfully seal a place we deserves in the international arena in fields of economy, political, ethical, moral, military, and technical and many more. So every individual in our country has an important role to play in making India corruption free and a Super Power. The presence of strong civil society, including free press and independent judiciary, is a pre-cursor for our corruption free country. It is time to remind the functionaries of the state that they are the servants of the people and not their masters. According to DR. B.R.Ambedkar, "By independence we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for anything going wrong, we will have nobody to blame except ourselves. The executive and judicial officials play important roles not only in upholding supremacy of rule of law but also in shaping traditions, customs and institutional cultures that are integral part of the Liberal Democratic Machinery. Therefore, to control and eliminate the menace of corruption in the country, an ombudsman, based on the pillars of independence, impartiality, fairness of procedure, credible review process and confidentiality, is the need of hour.

Bibliography: 1. PRS legislative research. 2. Mathrubhumi year book. 3. India since 1526, V.D.Mahajan.