Anil Gupta: Need for an informed debate on Jan Lokpal Bill

I have high respect for Anna who taught me at IIMA and also whose work I had the opportunity to see with him way back in early 80's. I have no doubt that the model of watershed development he developed is a viable one and deserves to be replicated. I have also no doubt that his campaign for removing corruption is well intended and must succeed.

However, I do not think that the idea of any one institution having too much power is ever good for a democracy. After all, institutions are run by people. Citizens bring values and sanskar to the society in which they live. There is no reason to assume that merely the character of the chair will change the character of the people. But the reverse is true. The character of the people can indeed change the character of any chair they occupy.

My problem is that people who join a campaign should show the character and take a vow that they will not pay any bribe, no matter what. I made this suggestion when the protest was going on at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi and I make it again. I also believe that we are all human and capable of doing mistakes. Confessions of these mistakes can help in creating a constituency for transparency. This suggestion was made and ignored. I see no reason why everybody who has bought a property and has not paid any black money to a builder cannot say this openly. I am willing to say this and hope that others will also do it.

The largest amount of black money is generated in construction sector. There are of course other sectors where even larger amounts have been generated on an episodic basis. Unless we increase accountability, we cannot remove corruption. The Right to Information Act has empowered people like never before. Maybe we should strengthen this act and bring more institutions under its purview. Likewise, let us do a survey of all the properties sold in the last five years. If price paid and market price differ significantly, the amount of black money can be easily calculated. Punishing an illegal act after its commission is necessary in democracy but preventing such acts is even more necessary. We have to tackle the problem at several levels. Generation of black money must be tackled first. Expenditure on social functions must be tracked by citizen watch groups. Government has to be blamed for many things including corrupt practices. But, will a government servant be able to extract rent and get away with it if his or her life style is regularly monitored and his investments are regularly tracked? I see no reason why us citizens should not first undertake the acts which are in our hands. That is a flat 'no' to bribes.

Tendency to cut corners and use influence for partisan purposes rather than for a public purpose or for helping the disadvantaged has to be condemned. We don't need one super institution to track the morality of the entire bureaucracy. We need several layers of ombudsman. We have several regulatory authorities and some of the regulators are cooling their heels in jail; maybe more would do if vigilance was stronger.

The answer is not to do away with all these authorities. We need to bring outstanding experts in different authorities so that professionalism increases and excessive bureaucratization decreases.
anilgb@gmail.com