The Solution to Corruption: Not Lokpal

The Lokpal Bill has become the worst nightmare for Congress. The arrest of Anna Hazare before he could start the fast highlights the fact. The arrest was, no doubt, undemocratic and unconstitutional. Freedom of Speech is the fundamental right of every citizen, and its violation is the highest disregard of the principles of democracy. This act shows the half-thought panic reaction given by the Congress. The arrest has further intensified the support for Anna’s team and it looks like Congress has stabbed its own back.

Just a day after the Independence Day, a Gandhian arrested for protesting peacefully has brought the the images of Gandhi being arrested by the British Government in the minds of people. The movement has gained momentum since people see Congress as the cruel British Government and Anna as the new Gandhi. The show has cropped up a lot of patriotism in people and they have taken it to the streets. The arrest is the biggest blunder made by the Congress.

Of course, we do require a law to deal with corrupt people, and not just some, but all corrupt people, from a clerk in local municipal corporation to the Prime Minister. Yes, I agree that PM should be brought under the ambit of Lokpal Bill. But the demands of Anna Team to bring the Judiciary under the Lokpal is a little too much. Judiciary is above everything, (at least on paper it is), and that should be the way it is. If we go by the way of team Anna, Lokpal will be an all-power body which answers to no one, and such power can be exploited at will.

But my question is that are these efforts justified? I have always been a supporter of “Prevention is better than cure”. Why do we have such policies that breed corruption? Why do we require the signatures of government officials at every stage? See, for example, the Income Tax Department. Everything is computerized. Even tax returns can be e-filed now. With technology and precision everywhere, there is no place for corruption. Similarly, we should aim at altering those policies, those loop holes which give rise to corruption. It is high time we change the system and policies that are there since the British Government.

Consider the scenario: A computer program has clear guidelines for the companies eligibility for allocating 2G spectrum, and after submitting the e-documents, the computer decides the eligibility and either accepts or rejects the company’s offer to participate in the bidding. At a particular time, bidding starts online, and after few rounds of bidding, the licences are awarded online. Where is the question of corruption here? The thing that gives rise to corruption are the policies, the manual work that involves people in between. If college grads can make a virtual bidding system with full security, I think the government can do it too.

Effective way of tackling some menace is not by making new laws, but to find the root of the problem and repair it from there. We need to root out corruption, not check it. Change the policies that breed corruption, not try to control it. That is my mantra.