The corrupt rate of growth

The growth rate of the socialist India before 1991 was termed as ‘The Hindu rate of growth’. This term was coined by Indian economist Raj Krishna but was widely used by many authors, journalists and critics all over the world. The Hindu growth rate was a symbol of stagnating growth. The growth was around 2-3.5% while many other ‘non Hindu’ countries in the South Asia were marching well ahead of India. One of the reasons for this was the contentment of the Indian society and the fatalism that their present actions have no bearing on the future.

Though India was able to come out of the ‘Hindu rate of growth’ with the help of easing of the economy, the growth which we saw till 2007 was the ‘Pseudo growth’ because merely by saying that we are witnessing a growth rate of 7-8% we do not become efficient and effective. Since there was a huge growth deficit in the past, the difference created this surge in growth.

Our real test was to be started with the receding of the 1^st wave of growth phase. We needed more reforms based on careful analysis of the Internal as well as external factors. Unfortunately no analysis took place and what we saw was financial terrorism of astronomical proportion. When corruption can bring the growth of a country from 8% to 4%, it should qualify as terrorism as a handful of people are responsible for playing with the tax payer’s fund.

Naturally the growth which we are currently seeing is the ‘corrupt rate of growth’. It does not ends here the inflation keeps on increasing because the sources of funds which can reduce it are diverted to the coffers of corrupt ministers, contractors and corporate who are agents of cronyism. If we continue to go with this corrupt rate of growth we will definitely witness a negative growth. There will be famines, droughts, epidemics etc. as we will not have any funds for the public use. All the money will be with the above mentioned people who will flee to other countries to make sure that they remain unaffected.

   

Why UPA 3 is Guaranteed

Recently the country is seeing some sort of protests and agitations against the our Honorable Government, Politicians, Bureaucrats and the System itself.

However these agitations cannot be called as the movement of the 'Aam Aadmi' as the actual common man of the country has not given its certificate of support to these movements. It may be surprising and disconcerting to some of the charged up young working classes of the country who have started taking deep interest in the Indian Politics albeit via the cozy comforts of virtual world of blogs, Facebook, twitter etc.

Just have a look at the results of 2009 General elections for Pune, Maharashtra:

General Election, 2009: Pune
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Congress	Suresh Kalmadi	2,79,973	38.12
	BJP	Anil Shirole	2,54,272	34.62
	MNS	Ranjeet Shirole	75,930	10.33
	BSP	D. S. Kulkarni	62,981	8.57
Majority			25,701

Pune had the population of around 28 lacs in 2009 and the voter turnout was 7,34,370.

Statistics prove that some of the tainted party have a assured vote bank, irrespective of the amount of negativity and exploitation they bring to their constituencies or to the country. This CVB (confirmed vote bank) will again try to do the same for the bribe of 5000 Rs (example) of which they receive 100 Rs as down payment from the political goons. The number of the currency note is noted down. Now if the corrupt party wins they can go to the party goons and reclaim their 4900 Rs. Needless to say that these CVB people will definitely vote for the most corrupt party to get their share of the looted booty.
The anti corruption activists are doing their part. can we not do ours and make sure that these CVB's become inconsequential. All it takes is some commitment to enroll ourselves in the electoral list keeping aside the excuses we have and vote for the candidate we feel is best.

If we cant do this, it is guaranteed that IAC or some other honest politician will only end up in diverting the votes of the best alternative we have to the most corrupt party of the country.

Let us put corruption first - A peek into the history

Corruption in India – Some parallels with the history

Now let us go back to history to understand the Psychology of a corrupt.  Though the story might sound mythological and lack evidence but still it draws parallel with the current monarchs and rulers who are ruling us albeit in the shield of democracy and constitution.  In the year 326 B.C. Alexander was marching towards India, the land of opulence and unexplored treasure. He first encountered King Ambi, who instead of showing resistance to the unwanted infiltrator chose to be submissive and became a vassal of him. His next encounter was at the Jhelum river with King Puru who declined his superiority and chose to be contumacious. Though he was defeated in the battle, he never ran or surrendered. Alexander was impressed by his tenacity and fearlessness.  When brought before Alexander, he was asked for his wishes and expectations. Puru told Alexander that he wanted to be treated like a King. Alexander asked him to be elaborate on this but he said that the one line he said is enough. Alexander was so impressed he actually treated him like a king. He gave back his kingdom along with some more land from his previous victories. This treatment melted Puru emotionally; he became the loyal partisan of Alexander. Many other people under his rule accepted the supremacy of the Greek Empire. An invader is an invader and supporting him when he is going to destroy and loot the country is a sin. But in this case Puru clearly demonstrated that a human being shows signs of detachment from the well accepted principles and ethics when huge personal gains are put into the equation.

Consider the current scenario. The Genesis of the ruling party is the dynasty politics. Dynasty politics, coupled with some of the most unfortunate events in the late 80’s resulted in an unintended enforced regime, which by the face of it is not an authoritarian one but it becomes one when democracy and its values are misused.  Today merit has no place in our ruling party or any party for that matter. Look at the obsequiousness of the politicians.  Irrespective of the gravity of the corruption, they will never call a spade a spade and will keep on repeating the concocted stories and irresponsible arguments to hide the shameful acts of their masters.  

 Who will guard the guards?

This question becomes all relevant when everything is in the hand of the politicians. They are the policymakers and it is all but natural for them to make the best policies for them and reject the one’s which might bring slightest of the inconvenience to them. Thus they will sing together in one tone and will show their exuberance by thumping tables in the parliament when bill for increase in the MP’s salary is announced. On the contrary they will tear apart the anti corruption bills like the Lokpal.

Becoming an MP is such a feast for the politician that he will not relinquish his position no matter if he gets a call from his age, conscience or most importantly the people who have sent him there with a selfless purpose to serve them.   Recently one of the highest ranking ministers of the country visited a college with his huge entourage. The college ground was destroyed to make a helipad for him. And if that was not enough, he denied walking from the helipad to the nearest exit which was just 30-50 meters. To accommodate his wishes a small road was dug from the helipad to the exit so that his high end Mercedes can reach the door of the chopper and he does not sweat or feel a pinch of heat. From there he was taken to the air conditioned hall where he was supposed to recite a speech. He had special commandos working for him like his servants. He could not settle in the chair, he could not pour water in his glass; he could not carry the piece of paper carrying his rehearsed speech to the microphone. For everything there was the servant or the commando or whatever you may call it.

This is just a page from their super luxurious lives which ends only with their demise and till then they continue to get themselves pampered on the tax payer’s money.

So when the question of parting with this lifestyle or to continue to serve their masters like a sycophant comes, they always chose the latter. One of the ministers of the ruling party admitted this in front of the camera.  When asked if he is the minister of the country or the minister of his party? He lost his cool and left the discussion midway. The sane thing for him from the political point of view was to recite some soft words for the country without compromising on his sycophant adrenaline gush.  Such was the level of catharsis and love for his political demi Gods, he chose to ignore the important question on the responsibility as a minister he has for his country and its citizen. He bluntly said, “We will do everything to teach lessons to the clunks who try to malign the name of the best people of this country.” He further added that he is ready to die for his Political masters because they are the reason for his existence and not the ordinary citizen. Sorry Mr. Minister but you have got it wrong. You are not there because of your leadership. You are there because the people of this country had voted for this party. You should be ready to die for the people of the country and not the deified mortals you have discovered in your leadership.

Let us put Corruption first

India Today – Has the threshold of patience being reached

Recently Union Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, said in a function in Pune – “People of this country have a very weak memory.  They will forget the Coal scam very soon just like they forgot the Bofors scam”. Though after the media and public mew he clarified that whatever he said was just to prolong the vivacity of the evening. The reality on the other side is that he was dreadfully serious. Each and every word uttered out of his mouth was as serious as the condition of the country which is at the verge of a collapse. It was as serious as the condition of a young girl who had been gang raped and her identity is divulged to the media by the incorrigible police; It was as serious as the starving families of the farmers who have committed suicide because of the failure of rains and the unpardonable mismanagement by the Agriculture ministry; It was as serious as the expressionless face of a mother whose child has died in her arms because she does not have any money to buy the medicine which cost thousand of rupees; It was as serious as the meddlesome eyes of a child worker who gets lost in the imaginary world whenever he sees more fortunate children and the inequality in this world.

Many of us will agree that Shinde’s words were very serious and real.  It does not need any special attention of one to be aware of the catastrophic corruption we are seeing today. 2G scam, Coal scam, Thorium scam, Granite scam, Irrigation scam, fodder scam, NRHM scam, Aadarsh scam and the list is never ending. There is no point in discussing the scams again. People like to forget them and let them do that. Now it is time to focus on the way to either move away from corruption or whole heartily embrace it. The middle path of ‘chalta hai’ will be a strong disservice to the less fortunate people of this country.

Dream of a corruption free India – A Utopia?

Lately we have seen few individuals who have tried to give corrupt people a run for their money. Though they remained defiant in their efforts for some time, slowly they are losing steam because they were not able to figure out the cohesive which can keep them united. Their fight which was supposed to be a revolution is fizzling out in the form of an unsuccessful melee. On the other hand the corrupt have been able to up the ante of corruption with the help of unity of money, resources, windfalls etc. They have been instrumental in managing such a colossal Empire which is much more difficult to manage than a multinational company.

However the CEO’s of various companies can learn lessons from these crusaders of corruption. Just take the case of coal and irrigation scams. Let us not get into the details but it is irresistible to accentuate this interesting piece of parody – One of the minister is a director of one of the many companies he is having stakes in. He lobbies for the allocation of the country’s resources for his company. He gets the desired resource almost for free for his company.   The valuation of the company goes up he reaps the windfalls. This minister also helps to get contracts of Irrigation to his business partner and friend. When the contractor fails to complete the work, his payment is held back by the Government for some or the other reason. This minister again writes multiple letters to the Government to expedite the release of money for the contractor with no mention of the shoddy work if at all was done by the shoddy contractor. All these communications are preserved for future generations to consider them as precedence of The Great corruption the country has ever seen. The bottom-line is that if the government documents cannot be evidence of this humongous corruption, nothing else can.