Democracy of some, by some, for some: Santosh Hegde

“Nothing will come out of Lokpal. Corruption won’t be eliminated. I can only feel sad about corruption and I know that Lokpal will not succeed,” said HT Sangliana, former MP, at a public discussion on ‘Latest innovations in corrupt practices,’ held at St Mark’s Cathedral, on Thursday.

“No Lokpal Bill would bring transparency in the government. Who will implement it? Corruption has percolated into every segment of the society including the police.”

On the occasion, former Lok Ayukta, Justice N Santosh Hegde, said, “People of my generation have seen corruption grow in its true sense and also felt its impact. When I was 10, that was 62 years ago, we required 5 fingers to count corrupt officials. Today, we require five fingers to count the honest ones.”

It’s all a farce
On democracy being a farce, he said, “In 1950, we adopted democracy. Although the right to vote is a statuary decision, qualification to contest elections was the question everyone raised. In the parliament, a person raised the simple logic.

Back then, India had a population of 40 crore. When he pointed out that 80% was uneducated, while only 20% was learned, there would only be 20% democracy. Everyone agreed to this. The level of discussions held in the parliament was of some intellectual standards. Today, parliament does not have full attendance.
A recent report said of 540 odd members, only 174 of them have spoken in the Lok Sabha in five years,” he mocked.

He said, “In 61 years of democracy, an elected member asked me how I can tell them how to run the country. Is that democracy? This is democracy of some, by some and for some,” he said.

Calling democracy a joke, he said, “We claim that we have 5,000 years of heritage and culture, but we rank No. 87 in corruption. Corruption was born with the birth of civilisation and we cannot eliminate it. We can only contain its grown. In all, if I write a book, I will call it Who am I?” he said.

Accountability curbs corruption
Will the Jan Lokpal Bill remove corruption? Why is the bill, in its present form, called dangerous? Who will be in its drafting panel? How will corruption be checked within the Lokpal?

Those were questions from students to former Lokayukta N Santhosh Hegde who used the opportunity to drive home the point that corruption is all-pervasive and not restricted to politics alone.

Addressing students of management and economics, Hegde said corruption could be contained although it could not be removed completely. That would be possible if everyone became more accountable and ethical.

This applied to corporates too. Their role in the recent scams had to be acknowledged and those entering the industry should contribute to a corruption-free country, he said. Students supported his views.

As part of the inter-college fest Frission 2011 held in the campus, students of Jain University made a presentation on ‘Feasibility of Jan Lokpal Bill.’  Quoting from an article by JNU professor Arun Kumar, they said 50% of the GDP is black money. India would have become the second largest economy if it had taken steps to contain corruption from the 70s.

Corruption had existed even before the nation’s independence, said Hegde.

As successive governments ruled the country, the size of scams grew over the years. Hence, it is high-time to create a mechanism to check corruption. But youth should not stay away from the political process.

They should take utmost care in selecting their representatives.
“A politician seeking your vote should know who you are and who he is. You are a citizen and he is a public servant,” he said.
“However, the citizen’s responsibility doesn’t end with voting. The government alone cannot be expected to deal with it,” he said.

Students, some of whom had campaigned for Anna Hazare, said they did not have great expectations but were ready to do their bit.