Corruption: a question I put for the option !!

A question I put for the option !!

No one can answer each and every question in their life. I concentrate on few of them & I deliberately ignore many of them…. Especially when they do not directly affect my bread and butter. There is one FAQ which always puts question mark before me but yet I have never paid attention. It is question of corruption.  A question with many options but without a unique answer. Actually I always keep myself busy with many other vital and deep ‘…isms’ so I have been unable to attend it due to lack of quality time. Keeping this question always in mind and behaving like ignoring it, has actually built nice chemistry between us.. No ... Not at All ! I am not a corrupt person. I always say NO to corruption. I am well educated, well cultured, civilized and off course conscience citizen. I never ask for & accept bribes neither offers & pay for it at any cost. Actually I have enough courage but do not have enough time to raise objections on malpractices around me !

Mr. Akshy, my friend is borne with silver spoon in mouth so he spends his time in carrying out important surveys. He has wasted his time in analyzing the corruption in government expenditure (he presupposed the existence of corruption for the purpose of analysis!) It says when amount of Rs. 100 comes out from the Government Treasury for public purpose only Rs. 10 actually serves the common man.(i think i have heard similar words from mouth of great PM Jawaharlal Nehru) But some Government Departments are really disciplined that they serve almost 60% on the common man. In other words some departments are corrupt upto 90% while some are maintaining at 40%. Our Government has to spend money on different tasks like security, military, health, education, roads (excluding toll roads), railways, telecommunications, cultural promotions etc. and last but not the least on various sports. On an average the rate of corruption is, say 50% for all the departments of the Governments. When Government spends Rs.100, Rs.50 disappears!

Government collects all this money i.e. revenue by way of income tax, wealth tax, sales tax/VAT, service tax, education cess, excise duty, customs duty, octri, property tax, professional tax, licensing fees, and through stamp papers which we have to pay for at different times. I pay 20% incomes tax on my total earnings. Further if I spend remaining 80%, then I am paying at least 15% by way of all other taxes. When I earn Rs. 100, I pay  Rs.32 to the Government. Our Governments (Central, State & Municipality) spends all these Rs.32 on public welfare with average rate of corruption is 50% (as all the Governments in India are presenting deficit budget for last many years Government is actually spending more than Rs.32). It suggests that only Rs.16 from my every Rs.100 reaches in corrupt pockets. Oh !! (This amount never goes to swiss banks, never becomes capital for underworld, never shifts market attention on secondary luxurious industries.)

But still it is a fair deal. I am paying hardly 16% from my income and I am at liberty to ignore this question and preserve my conscience intact. The ordinary persons like me and you shall not feel anymore guilt for the Corruption. I preserve the warning in my brain that fighting against corruption is injurious.... rather hazardous to life. We have corruption in all countries and all societies then why to cry so… 

I can afford well education, health services just I have to adjust with infrastructure & security. Then why should I care ? Corruption is like nails. You cannot cut and separate them permanently. After an extent, say every Sunday, you have to cut them to the certain extent only.  Just like supply and & demand curves find their equilibrium on their own in free market; in this beloved democracy, empowered with fundamental rights & liberties, when corruption will reach at unsustainable level, someone will raise his voice and will lose his long term life for restraining corruption for short term.

So now after contributing 16% (I do not pay bribe so am not counting my direct contribution), I am at liberty to deny my passive role in the flows of corruption. Further I assure not to use Right to Information Act or even Google to find out audit reports of any Government Department. I will never ask any political to discuss some of the old bills pending before the Parliament for years like Whistle Blowers Act (it safeguards government employee from transfers, inquiries etc. if he fires corruption in his department), judicial accountability (corruption in judiciary), Sec 195 of criminal procedure code (it requires prior permission of Government to file charge sheet against any government employee). I will never demand to constitute anti corruption department as separate institute from the Police Department.

I do believe that this 16% passive contribution to the unholy corruption is not culpable under any law. I can definitely put this question for option and clear it up for the time being. Further to prove my conscience support for ‘India Against Corruption’, I will like to keep gossip on by quoting few lines by  संत तुकाराम महाराज;

वाटे या जनांचे थोर बा आश्चर्य | न करिती विचार कां हिताचा ||

कोण दम ऐसा आहे यांचे पोटी | येईल शेवटी कोण कामा ||

काय मोल यासी लागे धनवित्त | का हे यांचे चित्त घेत नाही ||

तुका म्हणे का ही भोगतील खाणी | का त्यां चक्रपाणी विसरली ||

Sovereign Immunity in Democracy: A Lokpal Perspective

Dear Friends,

We are discussing about putting PMO and CJI under LOKPAL scanner for last few months. I believe that;

1. Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Member of Parliament, etc. enjoys Sovereign Immunity (Art.75(2) of constitution of India protect from the legal prosecution in any courts to the PM and Council of Minister from anything which is advice to the President. Secondly Art. 105 give protection to the Member of Parliament which is done in the parliamentary proceedings. And thirdly Art.361 protects the President and Governors of any State in India.) For their acts done in OFFICIAL CAPASITY. One cannot sue Mr. PM or any MLA or any of their advisors for any political decision or a strategic decision. One cannot sue PM for relationship with foreign states, one cannot sue MLA for damages for loophole in any law, and one cannot sue the lower judge whose decision has been reversed by the appellate court. Because such decisions are taken by these persons while discharging functions of the CHAIR. But these persons can surely be sued for wrongs done in their personal capacity. There is no such IMMUNITY if the wrong has done in their personal capacity. Judges can be sued if they have not taken the decision in good faith but on corrupt practices. Even any MLA or MoP can sued for corrupt practices.
2. Official Capacity means the decisions taken in chair for discharging the duties assigned to the chair; whereas personal capacity means acts done purporting benefits, interests of the person himself.
3. Problems occur when a person in chair while discharging its duties, undertake certain acts, decisions which are favorable to ‘the person’ in chair and not to ‘the chair’. Such conflict of interest is known as the CORRUPTION.
4. In short, whether such act causing corruption has been done in official capacity (to discharge functions of the Chair) or in personal capacity? (to extract benefits for self) How can a decision of taking bribe be political or strategic decision! How can one say that such decision is taken while discharging functions of the CONSTITUTIONAL CHAIR!! This is nothing but a act done in personal capacity.... (Whether the money or benefits derived by corrupt practices are going to Government Treasury for naming it as Decision taken in Official Capacity??? )

          I think the acts causing corruption are performed just sitting in chair but actually in personal capacity only. Hence any corruption charges against PM are against the person sitting in chair of PM and not against the Chair of PM itself. Thus, countering allegations against corruption, no one can take defense of sovereign immunity. We have example of Hon’ble Balkrishnan, (retired CJI) who is under scanner for corruption charges and no one can guarantee about the honesty of the person acting as PM. It is well said that "Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely"

        The concept of sovereign immunity has evolved from the ancient legal maxim “King Cannot Do Any Wrong”. If we are following the same term blindly after hundreds of years then what are the benefits of DEMOCRACY??

        In short I believe that definition of Public Servant in Section 2 (12) of Proposed Jan Lokpal Bill (Anna's Bill) will NOT water down the powers of sovereign PM or Parliament or Judiciary…...

SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY

In almost all the much developed cities in India like Mumbai, Banglore, Delhi, Chennai, Culcatta, Pune (rather in all developing cities in all developing countries) one of the biggest problem faced everyday by the common man is traffic jams, bad road transport and inefficient public transport systems.
I am resident of Pune, Maharashtra. We have maximum number of two wheeler motors, large number of cars (private vehicles) and much criticized public bus service like PCMT & BRT. Number of private vehicles is increasing with growing population and rising income levels and under so called social influence.  People using private vehicles are troubled with

1. traffic jams
2. parking problems
3. hikes in petrol/diesel/oil prices
4. costly maintenance
5. high investment cost. 
6. risk of road accidents which takes place every minute
7. the issue of pollution
8. Most important is lose of our Time and Energy

On the other hand, People using public bus service (as we have) always complaints about 

1. high tariff rates
2. uncomfortable (not at all luxurious)
3. not running on scheduled time
4. overcrowded buses. 
5. no remote networking (Many people critics that journeys with public buses take longer time as it includes time to cover distance from door to bus stop and again bus stop to door.)

We think that vast roads with procedures like road widening, flyovers are the perfect solutions. It will regularize the traffic flow. But the scene is different.

Flyovers ?
Flyovers often only serves to shift a traffic jam to one point from another.

1. flyovers/widen roads may meet the need of vehicles today we have; it might serve tomorrow also. But what after that?
2. it encourages the number of private vehicles to grow rapidly
3. it stimulates unnecessary demand for petrol which might be consumed in any alternative helpful and fundamental purpose
4. it also increases parking problems. 
5. it is pretty expensive
6. financially it is a dead investment. No revenue is generated from it for the Government or Public. If toll is forced then it will become great burdensome. 
7. it also does not generate any permanent employment. 

All the big cities in the world have gone through this situation. Many of them went on constructing flyovers and widening roads wherever possible. But now they are stuck with them as a nightmare!! Gaining from their experience we can conclude like Suitable Public Transport is the only way out.
If Public Transport has to be made more appealing, it has to;

1. reduce walking distances
2. be very predictable
3. cheap fairs

Why should a common man put himself in a almost miserable public transport systems today we have? In response to such pressures our Central Government has launched the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission in 2006.
Public Transport is a need of time;

1. cheap fairs
2. safety
3. remote networking
4. faster in speed
5. minimum road congestion 
6. lower pollution
7. lower demand for fuel
8. it will also affect real estate prices positively
9. it requires no investment from the common man
10. it needs huge investment for Government but it will also generate revenue
11. promote permanent employment

If fuel prices are hiked, the prices of public transport have to be pull down to discourage private vehicles and  adjust the demand for fuel in society. but this might be false economics because PCMT authorities do not believe in this.

Public transport systems are definitely more profitable individually and in a social context as well. We should think about holding bikes, cars for necessity only rather than as a prestige issue. We have made cars for us and not being made to enjoy the cars only. It will be better to conclude with the fact that energy requirement of Bangalore Metro per passenger per km is only one fifth of that of road based systems and so that is much cheaper.

Regards,
Swaroop Godbole