Public Participation in Combating
Corruption
The theme for the Vigilance
Awareness Week 2016 is ‘Public participation in promoting integrity and
combating corruption’. The very core idea of the Vigilance Awareness Week
being observed under the initiative of Central Vigilance Commission is that the
Commission realized that in a huge country like India, we cannot promote
integrity and combat corruption unless there is participation of the public.
What is ‘Integrity’ and ‘Corruption’
Integrity is basically the state in
which there is complete coherence and no division. From a practical point of
view, integrity means honesty or straightforwardness. As the Central Vigilance
Commission deals with the issue of integrity, it looks up it in three different
angles. One of course is the integrity relating to intellectual integrity, the
second is financial integrity and the third is moral or ethical integrity.
The word corruption is defined by the
World Bank as use of public office for private gain. So far as the strict legal
aspect is concerned, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 defines the
objective conditions for the court to decide whether the act of corruption
taken place or not when a case comes before that forum. For our analysis in
this paper we may adopt World Bank definition of using public office for
private gain is relatively accurate and broad based and easy for understanding.
Public Participation
We may now examine the theme of
‘public participation for promoting integrity and combating corruption’ in the
context of our country and the government of India.
It was Shri T.N. Seshan, the former
Chief Election Commissioner of India who suggested that if the Central
Vigilance Commission were to observe one week in a year as a ‘Vigilance
Awareness Week’, it will help focusing the attention of promoting integrity and
combating corruption right across entire spectrum of government organizations
which directly come under the jurisdiction of the CVC but will also have a
multiplier effect by way of bringing the whole issue in the public domain.
What was visualized by Shri Seshan, has
today set an excellent track record and as we look back at the history of the
past two decades, we will find that the youth of today can immediately find
resonance with the concept of integrity and combating corruption as the sine qua
non for good governance.
In a way, the Vigilance Awareness
Week has set into motion of virtuous cycle, one good development following another.
It will be appropriate, on the occasion the Vigilance awareness week to quickly
trace the developments in the area of public governance in our country since
2000 when the Vigilance Awareness Week was launched.
To begin with, the background of the
changes brought about by the Central Vigilance Commission and the focus on
promoting integrity and combating corruption in public life is in reality, a
saga of the changes that public participation has brought about.
The Advent of RTI Act
Ironically, the beginning in recent
times of public participation demanding accountability on governance and
checking corruption was in Rajasthan, one of the most backward states of the
country. Different states in our country are at different stages of development
and though there is a cultural integrity of India, we are a multi ethnic, multi
lingual and multi speed country. From the very backward States like Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh compared to other States like Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu and Punjab, there is a vast difference when it comes to development
in various sectors.
It was in Rajasthan that a
Non-Government Organization, Mazdur Kisan Shakti Sangatan (MKSS) lead by a committed
social activist Aruna Roy who earlier was part of Indian Civil Services, spread
awareness among the people of the villages that they should know whether the
huge funds which were being made available to Panchayats for the development of
the villages were being properly used. The theme she underlined was that Tax
revenue is ‘our money, give us an account of how our money is being spent’. “Hamara
paisa, hamara hisab’’ was the theme on which she was able to quietly and
systematically work in the villages of Rajasthan. This triggered into a
powerful movement which finally lead to the enactment of Right to Information Act
in 2005.
The Act was indeed revolutionary. It
was a diametrically opposite concept under which the States had so far ruled and
especially, from the colonial period. So far, there was no method by which the
citizens were taken in to confidence and informed about what the government
intended to do and how their tax funds were being spent. The RTI proved to be
a game-changer as its enactment ensured public participation which lead to
overall awareness about how transparency can be brought out in the governmental
system and how government can be made accountable.
In 2010, Anna Hazare, who has been active
for more than three decades in the village of Ralegan city in Maharastra,
became the leader of very popular movement India Against Corruption[IAC]. It
grabbed the attention of the entire nation as if it was a second movement for
independence. It got an unpresented boost, thanks to the 24/7 electronic media
and the all embracing social media.
The growth of the internet and especially
the social media what is SCAM (Social, Cloud, Analytical, Mobile) areas of
development in communication today have virtually placed tremendous powers in
the hands of practically every citizen and voter so that he/she can access
information and also spread ideas and opinion on a scale not only nationally
but internationally and the impact of this have been very dramatic especially
in more backward place where physical infrastructure might not have developed
but the accessibility of mobile and information technology have empowered
people.
In a country like ours, this continuous
participation of the people in promoting integrity and combating corruption,
especially in the last decades have led to situations that set political
agendas and electoral issues. The 2014 elections were largely shaped by the
civil society agitations and media coverage of various scams. It is, therefore,
appropriate that this year’s theme of Vigilance Awareness Week is focuses on
public participation on promoting integrity and combating corruption.
This can be a broad overview. Our
experience in the last two decades and more has also shown us that there are
multiple aspects of public participation and one has to be clear that we do not
do injustice to anyone and we are fair. In fact, the manner in which the
anti-corruption movement and public participation have evolved in the last few
years, seem to highlight some negative dimensions. In this context, a mention
about role of media would be pertinent. The electronic and print media play a
large role in highlighting the issue of corruption and lack of integrity in
public life. Though there is not only the ostensible objective of doing the
public service but on certain occasion, there is also tremendous commercial
interest. In the case of the electronic media, there is a continuous
competition for getting higher Television Rating Points. There is a
possibility that truth and objectivity get suppressed in the process.
With all these, we should appreciate the
remarkable role played by our judiciary which has been able to maintain the
focus on really bringing guilty to book and laying down standards so that the
agencies who are fighting corruption function on the right lines.
In fact, various scams which marred the
reputation of past governments in recent times, are all the results of the
gross and brazen misuse of powers for private gain which came out in the public
domain thanks to the alertness of the media and the activists. Transparency is
the best guarantee against corruption. We have a law now of the Lok Pal but one
does not know how effective it will be, because, ultimately the responsibility
for integrity is on the individual himself.
As we observe the Vigilance
Awareness Week this time, this author would like to emphasize one very
important aspect. This aspect is that now we have the inspiring leadership of
our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He has given supreme importance to the
issue of good governance from the day he assumed charge as the Prime minister. Every
step taken since he became Prime Minister, is for realizing that supreme national
vision. We can all therefore look forward to a great future for the country.
The initiatives taken by the Prime
Minister, right from his days of the Chief Minister and the way in which he
conducted the campaign and every measure, he has taken, have shown that he realises
that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Under his leadership, we are on
our way to become one of best countries in the world drawing inspiration from
our own ethical cultural roots.
