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A few of us friends decided to move into rural development after our university education. And fired up by Schumacher and Gandhi, we refused to pay bribes and tried to be as ascetic as possible. One friend moved on to work with an international development agency that required him to travel to Bikaner from Delhi on a regular basis, sometimes suddenly. On one trip, he had no reservation. It was night and he asked the TTE if there were any free berths. He said wait, checked and said there is a berth available and asked him go to seat 7 and wait for him. Sometime later the TTE came made a receipt for the extra amount to be paid and my friend paid him the extra. The TTE stood there and said you need to give me more. My friend said in a loud voice, you are asking for a bribe, in the land of Gandhi you are asking for a bribe. The TTE quietly walked away. Nice story, but the sting in the tail was the next time, on a cold December night, he was on Bikaner platform with no reservation. He asked the TTE if there were any seats available. The TTE looked at him, smiled, said hmmm and then a big NO forcing him to shiver the night away.
Bribe, corruption and all other words we use for this has only increased. I cannot quote anyone for no one will tell me on record, but we all know it is high. Whispers speak of 2 crores for a CMO’s transfer in a small state. And then one hears about ASHAs having to pay to get their dues cleared. On public record there is the 100 crore demand from bars in Maharastra. A 40% demand has been spoken about in Karnataka. Other than that we rarely see this elephant being spoken about.
The only time we talk about corruption is it hits us like potholes, or when our report is lost because of a power breakdown, when a pipeline bursts and we have no water or when our pavements are taken over by shops. The moot question is why do we hesitate to talk about it? If I talk about this to the policeman who recommends my passport approval, I fear he may not give the right report. It has come to a stage where all of us have a self-interest built into not speaking out. On the other hand, we all speak about our taxes being wasted.
There is, actually, a benefit in taking the bull by its horns. Our roads will be pothole free, our power supply will be steady, our refrigerators will not need stabilizers, we can do away with battery backups, among others.
The next moot question is who will bell the cat. What worries me is that it should not be something catastrophic. I recall the time when rear seat belt enforcement came in being. Mistry had to pay the price.
Personally, I think that if all the politicians sat down together and agreed on a sum that they need to run for elections and sustain them when they fail, then this is a figure we need to give them. And then if any whiff of corruption comes then the person should be bulldozed out. The fight to restore their name can be done outside the people’s chambers. Legally. Once the politicians stop, then they can ensure the people under them are corruption free.
I have to admit that I have not smoked anything exotic and am wide awake, not dreaming. I have to hope for that is all that keeps me from being depressed. My hope is that the ‘hopeful’ tribe grows and reaches its tipping point. Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
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