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| Corruption a vampire - let us realize it | | | Vinod Chandrashekhar DixitJamwal Mahadeep Singh | 7/27/2018 10:18:58 PM |
| On the courage of my working experience as Non-Gazetted Officer approximately for six years and as Gazetted Officer for seven years in state government's corruption curbing department i.e. 'State Vigilance Organization", I dare to script the writing hoping it will perk the present dispensation of the organization to understand the corruption, a vampire, in a better way that will boost their working skill.
Corruption is a term known to all of us precisely meaning an illegal, immoral or unauthorized act, done in due course of employment; Corruption means the state of being bad and dishonest especially in matters concerning money. Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority. Literally it means, 'inducement by improper means to violate duty. It involves abuse of discretion, favoritism and nepotism. A very accurate definition by 'Transparency International' is: 'Abuse of entrusted powers for private gain'. Everyone censures corruption at a societal stage but that does not mean that everyone had escaped from the infection of corruption. It is not limited to administration only but it is very much prevalent even in legislation and judiciary. Most suffered is the educated and intelligent future of our Nation, as it is divesting them from their futuristic options, for better jobs and their talent is snatched by corruption mystification. It reduces economic growth rate and increases poverty. It also plays a great role in allocation of funds in budgetary provisions, diverting funds away from less lucrative sectors to high kickback area. Let us go for the DNA profiling of the corruption myth.
Causes of corruption: Mostly agreed causes are money greed, power lust, personal enrichment, standard of living, and competitions for more show of. The corruption is also because of reasons that we have; weak law enforcement, the accused escapes from judicial process, very minimal punishment is also one of the main causes of corruption. No incentive for honesty. It requires some incentives for whistle blowers and honesty awards. Successful parallel economy as noticed in medical shops, schools, training institutions etc. Secrecy system; the record is kept so secret that people cannot have dig at that.
Categories of corruption: It stands defined generally in following categories; Bribery; is an act of dishonestly persuading someone to act in one's favor by a person. Embezzlement; is misappropriating funds in ones control. Facilitation; is generally a payment to someone to speed up the legitimate work. Fraud means deceiving someone to get illegal advantage. Extortion means to obtain something under threat.
Forms of corruption: Broadly speaking it can be classified as;
l Collusive Corruption: a system of corruption where public and private partners join hands. Bribe is willingly given and it is seldom reported. in this case the bribe is paid willingly and there are bleak chances of its reporting directly. It involves such as obtaining contracts, licenses, supply orders etc. Generally speaking the corruption emerges as a facilitator to obtain undue benefits, and in the process both bribe giver as well as bribe taker are consenting parties. Hence such type of corruption is almost never reported and becomes visible only when somewhere misuse of official position is detected.
l Forced Corruption; where to obtain bribe the circumstances by the position holder are so created that one is forced to pay the same and this type of corruption is prone to reporting.
l Moral Corruption; means when we do not differentiate between good and correct and fail to apply the common sense, owing to certain considerations and sometimes may be without it such as favoritism.
l Political Corruption; is a way of life mostly affiliated with politicians and is adopted to win elections for power. Sometimes in this form of corruption involved are kidnapping, murder, violence, injustice, wealth and everything among people, but law on the subject deal with them, under criminal acts. Administrative Corruption; is prevalent in all type of government employees. By money we can get anything difficult easily. In this form of corruption, an office holder or other government employee acts in an official capacity, for personal gains and to confer undue benefit to some other.
l Professional Corruption; it is in the form of adulteration, duplicating and sub standard productions.
l Bureaucratic-political nexus corruption; leading to big scam and is the most dangerous form of corruption. Bureaucratic-political nexus corruption leads to big scams and is the most dangerous form of corruption.
Levels of corruption: Corruption can occur on different scales and can be categorized as;
l Petty corruption: Involving small favors. Mostly by low paid employees who cannot afford living on salaries. It is from moving of files to arranging meetings etc.
l Systematic Corruption: is so prevalent in a large scale, that it is part of the everyday structure of society.
l Grand corruption: affects the government such as scams and scandals.
Effects of corruption: The myth of corruption effects people, society and economy;
l Effects of corruption on People: Lack of quality in service such as municipality services, electricity, water supply, relief distribution, and lack of proper justice; chances of employment, poor health and hygiene, pollution, accidents etc.
l Effects of corruption on society: Disregard for officials, lack of respect for rulers, lack of trust and faith on the government.
l Effects of corruption on Economy: Decrease in foreign investments, delay in growth, and lack of development.
What above all this does not mean that various governments have allowed growing this virus of corruption unchecked. Various laws and agencies are in place to tackle this virus, infecting every sphere of the society. Many Non Governmental Organizations are also on forefront, playing a great role of check, expose and aware, in this great war against corruption. At different levels we have;
l Transparency International: It is a global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, placing these countries in the order of their Corruption Perception Index. Transparency International India demanded; An early appointment of Lokpal, stringent law to deal with corruption in private sector, compulsory audit of accounts of political parties, electoral reforms to prevent tainted politicians from contesting election and holding the position of power, enactment of legislation for forfeiture of illegally acquired property, speedy trial of criminal cases against Ministers, MP's and MLA's, passage of Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Bill to check black money in India. What we do not find any advancement of government to consider these stringent measures, recommended by 'Transparency International India' which somehow exposes the concern of the Government. India is not at a satisfactory placement in order of the list; it was ranking at S. No 74 among list of 180 countries in the year 2008, it ranked 94 out of 177 countries in 2013 and it has slightly come down to S. No 85 position in 175 countries in 2014 and to 76 nations out of 175 countries in 2015 & 2016.
l Administrative Reforms Commission: The first Administrative Reforms Commission was set up by GOI in 1966, to give consideration to the need for ensuing the highest standards of efficiency and integrity in the public services. The second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up by GOI in 2005 to prepare a detailed blueprint for revamping the public administration.
At national level Laws and provisions to tackle Corruption available are; The prevention of corruption act, 1988, India and the United Nations Convention against Corruption 2003 (UNCAC) to strengthen international co-operation in fight against corruption, The Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 to tackle ill-gotten wealth in foreign countries, The Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003., The Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999, to deal with middle man, touts brokers, Right to the Information Act, 2005, The public service Guarantee Act, The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 1944, to Freeze, Seize and Confiscate the Properties.
Corruption scenario in Jammu & Kashmir; The State of J&K has attracted an alarming position in corruption, which is a matter of concern for the State rulers, government functionaries, and common people and above all, by agencies invested with powers to tackle and investigate the corruption cases. A joint and sincere approach to tackle this problem is required in a coordinated manner as mere registration of cases under prevention of corruption laws, initiating enquiries, setting up commissions are not sufficient measures. In J&K agencies dealing with, corruptions are; Local Police, State Vigilance Organization, The State Accountability Commission, State information Commission, and Judicial Courts.
The most eyes are set on Vigilance Organization which disposes of corruption complaints by one of the methods such as; by registration of FIR, holding of preliminary enquiries, ordering a joint surprise check, an enquiry by the departmental vigilance officer, and secret verification. But surprisingly such a structural organizational setup is under continuous attack by the courts and people, owing to the poor investigation, almost zero conviction, unnecessary delay in completion of Investigations that facilitate the corrupt fraternity to enjoy their service till last day. In the State of J&K, the various traditional provisions and Laws which acts as 'Tool to Curb Corruption' are:
l The Jammu and Kashmir Ranbir Penal Code, 1989 (1932 AD)
l J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006 BK (1949 A.D.).
l J&K Public Men and Public Servants Declaration of Assets and Other Provisions Act, 1983 A.D; By virtue of this act, the elected representatives of various public bodies, MLA's and Ministers were brought under the purview of corruption laws and filling of annual property returns was made mandatory for all public servants and public men and failure to comply the provisions of the Act were made an offence punishable under P.C. Act 2006 Bikrami (1949 A.D.).
l The State Accountability Commission Act, 2002; as provided under this act, State Accountability Commission has been set up by the State Government to inquire into grievances and allegations against Public functionaries and for matters connected there to. There are recommendations of second administrative reforms commissions report on 'ethics in governance' set up by Government of India. The recommendations of the Commission are that Jurisdiction of Accountability Commission be restricted to investigate the cases of corruption against Ministers and Members of Legislature only. For the purpose, the Jammu and Kashmir Accountability Commission Act has been amended to restrict its operation mainly to case of corruption by political executives like Chief Minister, the Presiding Officers of the State Legislatures, Ministers, Advisors including Advisors to Chief Minister, The members of State Legislature and persons holding the status of a Minister.
l The Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2009: This is an act to provide for setting out, the regime of right to information for the people of the State to secure access to information, under the control of Public authorities and penalty provisions provide teeth to the Act.
l The Jammu and Kashmir Public Services Guarantee Act, 2011: This is an act to provide for the delivery of public services to the people of the State within the specified time. The Act provides right including to:- Have access to the public services; Receive public services within the specified time limit; Receive public services in a transparent manner; The providing of services in a specified time limit is a great step towards eradication of corruption and wastage of time by service seekers. The Act also provides appeal provisions and penalty provisions for not providing services in time notified by the government for every service.
l The Jammu and Kashmir State Vigilance Commission Act, 2011; the act provides constitution of a commission to function and have powers to; exercise superintendence over the functioning of the Vigilance Organization in so as it relates to the investigation of offences under PC Act 2006.
l The Concept of Preventive Vigilance; It was given push start vide issuance of a Circular GAD-12 0f 2003 dated 26.05.2003, by the State Government, with the concept of 'Departmental Vigilance Officers' and 'Joint Surprise Check' introduced and Verification through 'Departmental Vigilance Officers.
How to Combat Corruption; Common man needs to reform as it always wants short-cuts to everything. The anti-corruption strategy rests on pillars of parliament, the political will, administrative reforms, democratic reforms, public awareness, media, private sector, strong civil society, watchdog agencies, judiciary, the presence of rule of law, and above all transparency is vital. The basic requirement is 'education', an un-educated person does not know about the process, provisions, and procedures through which they can get justice. The basic institution of governance needs to be strengthened and we have to shift from secrecy to transparency, E-governing, E-tendering, E-payments on web portals and digitalization of records and information. The law enforcing agencies are required to be free from political interference. The capacity and integrity of enforcement needs to be enhanced. The best law has no value if not enforced. The judiciary is guardian of law and integrity; it needs to be corruption free. The system requires democratic change; where there is a criminal case against a person he cannot seek job where as criminal politicians are allowed to contest elections to make law for we people.
Before laying down curtain on the subject, I will like to say that at Government level the agencies responsible for prevention, detection and combating the corruption, somehow are failure and peoples do not appreciate the working of these organization/agencies. The tools available with the public are not in full domain of common people as to obtain its benefits. The human services are directly related with the corruption for better services and treatment. The fight for corruption-free ethical society will have to be fought against greed and replace it with 'what can I give' spirit. We have to focus on law, procedure and administration and simultaneously on law enforcing agencies also. The laws should be so perfect, that law enforcing agencies should get, no choice to escape or track a wrong path or discriminate. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, 'Missile Man of India' on corruption "If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher". |
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