dna edit: Time for some transparency

Transparency is a four letter word in Indian politics. A parade of scams — from the Commonwealth Games fiasco to 2G spectrum and coal allocation — has demonstrated that comprehensively. Little wonder the Congress, BJP, CPI(M), CPI, BSP and NCP have resisted coming under the ambit of the RTI Act. But the Central Information Commission (CIC)’s move on Monday — confirming the parties’ “character as public authorities”, thereby bringing them under the Act and directing party presidents and general secretaries to appoint public information officers and appellate authorities at their headquarters in six weeks — has, hopefully, left them with less space to manoeuvre.

At the core of the spate of scams is crony capitalism. An opaque system of governance has encouraged politicians and business houses to forge links that have robbed the economy of lakhs of crores of rupees. It’s common knowledge that all parties enjoy patronage from industrialists who fund their electoral campaigns. Once they come to power, favours are returned by doling out contracts and sundry other incentives. The level of dependence is so deep that neither of them can survive without it.

The role of the RTI in tackling this sort of corruption is paramount, particularly with barely a year to go before the 2014 elections. The CIC division bench has pointed out that rules are flouted to get huge government accommodations at the disposal of political parties at dirt cheap rates. IT exemptions and free airtime on AIR and Doordarshan are part of the bouquet of offers.

Today, there is a crisis in confidence regarding all political parties because they have been abusing their power for far too long. In the eyes of the common man, a politician will use his clout only to enrich himself and his cronies; development figures nowhere on the list of priorities. These perceptions can change only when leaders are elected on the basis of the good work they have done. And the way to do that is to use the RTI Act to compel openness when it comes to campaign financing and sweetheart deals, leaving politicians no choice but to get down to the business of governance.

According to Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perception Index, India ranks 94 out of 174 countries and territories. This state of affairs cannot continue. In a democracy, the people have a right to know how political parties are cash-rich while the people they represent continue to wallow in poverty. And as taxpayers, they demand to know how and where their money is spent.